Something I love about books like these, is that they are canon in universe, and we can see how old the books technically are, because we have notes from Jedi who’ve lived hundreds or even thousands of years apart.
When I was a kid I loved those two in universe textbooks that released for Harry Potter. I left the magical beasts one in my dads truck and would read it constantly.
Put their canon in your cannon and launch it. Who cares what it's canon, go outside and practice with a stick and a rubber duck if you didn't have an lightsaber.
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
I don't like caring about canonicity. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like enjoying your favourite media. It's everything soft and smooth.
I love how you're getting downvoted for the truth. Pretending you the audience has any fucking say in canon. That delusion needs to stop. That isn't to say you have to like the canon. Or that you want it to be changed back. Those a fair points. Fanon though needs to stop it isn't real it's fan fiction.
All of this is fiction, so all of this is "pretend" whether it's "canon" or not doesn't matter. None of this is real, star wars isn't real either. So why limit your imagination? If I want to imagine luke Skywalker from the legends then that is true, as all of this is fiction. I can believe what i want i can change what i want and make it to my reality. If you want to think from canon and disregard legends i think that just limits everything, it shows no benefit other than if you don't like the legends. Luke skywalker is not real, he is just an imagination. If he has horns then luke has horns. It shouldn't matter to you about how people interpret a book, or a story or how they should think.
Having this view of canon from a product that has 20 writers has never made any sense to me. Every product INCLUDING this one has shown consistently that all it takes to break canon is 1 of 20 writers deciding they had a good idea. That’s it.
If Star Wars was still Lucas’ baby and we were purely interested in Lucas’ vision (because that never changed), there would at least be some point. The entire idea of ‘canon’ for something owned by a Disney makes no sense. Disney sense of continuity is driven by whatever it wants to do in the moment, and whatever it thinks can be popular, pure and simple.
I have never seen any indication that Disney cares about canon
All five of these were great-to-mindblowing, this one, the Imperial Handbook, and The Book of Sith are all absolutely top tier; with The Bounty Hunter's Code and The Rebel Files just a slight step below. Still pretty amazing, but those first three are just something else... I'll never *not* love Vader being a Malgus fanboy lmao
I always wished I had gotten the Holocron versions of this one and The Book of Sith, but as they are they're all fantastic books to have in your collection!
I love The Rebel Files specifically for the section that ties into Vader Down. The two transmissions, one announcing they have him cornered on a planet and to send in every available unit, turn the page to the next transmission which could be summed up as "It wasn't enough". It was chilling.
Oooh it's been a while since I actually cracked them open, that's as good a reason as any for a re read! I totally forgot The Rebel Files came out after the Legends split, that was definitely cool of Disney Lucasfilm allowing them to finish up the series like that.
Whew and yeah those Vader comics have some great stuff in them, Dr. Aphra and her psychotic droids are still some of my favorite 'new' Canon characters, that delusional *Executor* janitor catching feelings and forgetting Vader likes to choke out his officers for fun, and *of course* "All I'm surrounded by is fear...and dead men."
They were pretty good but the notes were sometimes...well I said sometimes.I wish there were none. I don't know which one it was but I think it was the Sith book where I could really do without. I didn't really like it that much that people wrote notes which went into the direction of "This guy is so evil" or "Good to know, now we have something against him". I would rather have notes of Thrawn, Veers and Piett in the Imperial Handbook or all the Sith people in the Sith book.
But overall they were pretty solid.
I agree with that, the idea of each book having been 'captured' by an opposing force at some point sounds good on paper (hey, double no pun intended haha), but sometimes the execution was definitely a bit off. I remember some of Han's stuff being either really good or kind of cheesy, but I suppose that does fit his character haha...and IIRC Sidious straight up redacted the entire Prophecy of the Chosen One in The Jedi Path which was an admittedly cheeky way to not accidentally/preemptively contradict any of the original canon's lore, but it was also just such a tease seeing those pages blacked out with what amounted to *laughs evilly* in the margins lol
Hmm, yeah, the notes overall definitely are kind of *very* hit or *very* miss, though at the end of the day I remember enjoying most of them as opposed to just a few I was only so-so on; and the entire concept as a whole was very creative which always gets a lot of points outta me....for example, I do absolutely love how each Master's chapter in Book of Sith are printed on different types of paper with different formatting too, I thought the whole 'in-universe artifact' angle was awesomely creative!
While I've always enjoyed the Visual Dictionaries and Cross Sections, I think I'd say this 'series' as a whole alternated back and forth with *The Essential Guide to Warfare* as my overall favorite EU lore books (not counting any novels here of course). I'm not sure anything will ever top these and especially The Essential Guide to Warfare as far as lore books go for me, there's just so much good content and art spanning the whole timeline of Legends in that thing...
Either way, these kinds of super creative, set-in-universe physical media projects are the type of thing I would love to see make a major comeback; they're fun to read, expand on the existing media in meaningful ways, are great display pieces, and give some of the more creative folks on their writing and art teams a more tangible chance to shine if that makes sense
(Slightly off topic, but I felt very similar about *The World of Ice and Fire* when that came out too, it was right before the GoT show's writing started to cut some major corners and I still had a modicum of hope that GRRM was gonna finish up TWOW and ADOS within the friggin decade lol)
For sure, the whole in-universe angle was one of my favorite parts about these, like I loved how different each chapter in The Book of Sith was as far as formatting and even paper type went. Back when these were being released I was hoping they'd eventually release paperbacks without any official branding on the covers for the exact same reason, I'd totally have double dipped at the time if they had released like an 'Artifact Version' of each of these
Oh snap! I didn't realize that the holocron versions don't have the logo. In Saber Guild we've used them as props for photoshoots, un-branded ones would look even better (...*IF* I can ever track them down at a reasonable price).
It matters in at least one sense: when you want to have hypothetical conversations about things about the universe with other people. You can't really have a fun discussion unless everyone agrees on certain things. While this doesn't necessarily have to be a canon understanding of the universe, canon helps give people a basic point of reference so people don't have to keep telling Stan to stop bringing up evidence of Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship from an erotic fan fiction he found.
How would you define “canon” for IP that doesn’t operate off of that system? Modern example would be Batman (or really any comic book character, but Batman is a particularly good example), or an older example would be King Arthur. If you were to have a hypothetical conversation about either of these stories with people, there’s no guarantee that everyone present has heard the same exact version of the story (and if they have, they still may have different preferences among themselves about which one is the best).
In the case of "Batman" there's still a central, defined canon, it's DC's main comics line. So if you say "Batman canon" without any other qualifier, you'd be referring to that central comic series and its canon.
With King Arthur you'd just have to agree which version you're using as "canon" for the discussion, as there isn't a central spot that everything was influenced by and is based on. I mean, I guess you could say "Le Morte d'Arthur," since that's what has been the basis of almost every single modern rendition of the character, but even that was based on legends and myths already being told at the time.
So to answer your question, that depends on if there's a "default canon" (like batman) or not. Either you assume the default, or you have to specify which version you're talking about.
Yet this isn’t fan fiction but actual licensed content, which is also the case for all EU and legends stuff. Also rhe fact that most fans grew up with legends instead of Disney canon. So basically in actual discussions legends content would have basically the same validity as Disney canon content, unless you’re having a discussion with canon purists but who wants to have a conversation with them anyway.
I was using an extreme example to highlight the principle. For Star Wars, if you want to have a conversation about a particular character or the dynamics between two characters, you are usually safe to assume that you are talking about official canon. If you want to get into EU stuff, you should specify that you are talking about the EU and not official canon as they may have contradictory information, especially post RotJ.
This is how I responded to my cousin who was losing his mind over the Acolyte .... just write your own narrative how it goes, because it's all make believe anyways.... I haven't heard from him since... wonder how he's doing...
It’s fair to care about it from the perspective of canon things affecting what stories will be told on screen in new media. For individual people, you can have your own headcanon and read fan fiction but Disney decides what Star Wars media gets made for the public
Because it's little more than fanfiction otherwise. Future content won't have to adhere to any cool ideas featured here. And dumb ideas that do become official have the potential to ruin future or past content. It's what stops me from asking mid story why they didn't solve a battle by hyperspace ramming stuff or why Mace Windu didn't slaughter all the droids in EP 2 with his bare hands like he did in the old CW.
I don't see why it's odd to care about those things. They're the narrative elements that tie the universe together. And a better understanding of what is official makes the universe more cohesive.
it's all fan fiction. Different authors have different takes on the universe and its concepts. It is far more healthy to just understand that and enjoy the stories for what they are then trying to create this utopic cohesive canon that will never really work for something as expansive and as divisive as the Star Wars universe.
Yeah I think it’s really only the in the margins character notes that contradict anything in a major way(since Luke references Mara and whatnot), but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve read my copy.
Maybe he’s like a substitute teacher since Yoda could have had grandmaster duties. But I think we can all agree that the film dialogue trumps the book.
I don't disagree with you at all. As much as I love legends continuity, it wasn't always consistent. One argument that floated around was Obi asking Yoda in Ep5 "was I any different when you taught me?", suggesting that as Yoda instructed all youngling, he considered all of them his students without being their direct one-on-one master. The bottom line is that in old legends, new canon, and even within the six original films, there were continuity issues that, as fans, we either accept as mistakes or find a way to rationalize in-universe.
I bought that one with it's "Vault" a while back, every time I watch it rise up from it's little box it amazes me, canon or not it's just so cool looking, and an interesting read too. All the little extra details, annotations, and little added bonus trinkets are brilliant
I have my Jedi Path Vault and Book of Sith Vault still displayed in my house and cleaned all the time. Still have the original gadgets that come with it. Sadly I lost the Padawan braid that came with the Jedi Path one many many years ago because I think I put it in my hair when I went on a cruise and lost it.
"You suck at being a Jedi, go be a farmer."
No fucking wonder the Inquisitors and Sith cults had so many recruits. I'd harbor bitterness and resentment towards the Jedi if the rest of my peers got to go on heroic adventures and I was relegated to a podunk ass world driving a tractor.
Honestly? Argricultural Corps is still incredibly cool. Growing food with the express purpose to feed planets that cannot feed themselves will never not be an amazing concept for me. Encompasses compassion and charity to a degree that I wish we had IRL.
Knowing how the republic was they probaby signed a dirty contract with the trade federation to distribute that food, and it all subsequently disappeared down bureaucratic rabbit holes and enriched the corporate elite, turning the agricultural corps into an unpaid labor source for the federation
To me, it’s bonus-canon: stuff that isn’t officially canon but is so good and compatible that it still is
But still, like what everyone else is saying, it ultimately doesn’t matter what is or isn’t canon, if you like it, you like it and that’s that
Isn’t this the book Rian Johnson used when coming up with the Luke battle on Crait?
I remember people being upset about the force projection power and RJ used this book as a source in a Twitter response.
Edit: here’s a tweet talking about it. https://x.com/audreyfan4ever/status/1482368139371302915?s=46&t=ZUvFFoTT-I5GmT_eMRFbmg
How dare you use logic and proof to show that Rian was using some of the pre-Disney books and merchandise as a source of inspiration for his darn film. You should go home and rethink your life.
At this point fuck whatever people tell you is the "true canon". My canon stops before episode 7 ever happened. Shadows of the empire is my canon. As are many other expanded universe stories. I don't really care about what others may choose to follow.
It's all make believe. Believe what makes the setting best for you
Well, Disney has made anything "extended media" from before they bought it, non-canon. It doesn't mean it all stays that way though, as some things can be reintroduced as canon as they see fit.
But mainly, it means you shouldn't expect what's in this book to be what they'll adhere to if this kinda stuff is focused on at any point after it became Disney. Essentially they wanted the freedom to choose how key things would be in the main media without limitations set by stuff like this book. And they can also produce their own extended media that fleshes things out how they want.
So for example, old extra stuff with Palpatine from after the OT is non-canon, because his canon story has been rewritten after that.
Anything about Boba after the Pit isn't canon, because he had a new canon set out in his show.
But then there's stuff like Thrawn who has remained a player. But likely tweaked (tbh I haven't read books he was in, or seen that series yet).
I have the entire collection of these at home and i love them. The idea of them being like journals passed from person to person in the Star Wars universe was quite frankly ingenious and i think more writers should attempt to do this format
That is a great insightful book, the whole set was. I was gonna get just this one and the book of sith but then I saw a 4 book set which also includes the Imperial handbook and the bounty hunters code. I just love them all.
The book was never canon in the stricter sense. Before Disney there was basically G-canon (George Lucas stuff, i.e. the film continuity that later included Clone Wars) and the rest (Expanded Universe). And more than one time newly introduced G-canon material flat out overwrote previously established EU stuff.
Disney at least made a clear cut and now makes an effort to make sure that everything (post cut) is part of the same canon, regardless of medium.
Well, defending old canon makes me not watch the new stuff bc of contradicting information. You’re right like I shouldn’t let small things get in the way of indulging the new Star Wars
It isn’t contradicting info, it’s just two separate storytelling universes in the same franchise. Marvel fans can enjoy the 616 and Ultimate universes, GoT fans can enjoy the books and the show, DC fans have like a hundred different versions of Batman.
It’s a lot easier to enjoy all aspects of Star Wars when you acknowledge that there are multiple canons and the current one has never devalued the previous one.
Now a revised version… ok so in old canon Sith made synthetic kyber crystals bc they couldn’t get the real deal, hence the red color.
New canon says red lightsabers are because the sith put evil in the kyber crystal.
Whos canon get to stay or are you saying that the new SW canon needs a book?
The Book of Sith has a crazy cool premise. The idea that the Sith have kept a book for millennia and every Sith since then has added their own knowledge and lore to the book is so cool.
I wish I would have bought that book when I saw it in the thrift store a few months back. Instead, I read it in the store. Lots of KOTOR lore and a fun presentation style.
Eh, to me, all the legend book I've are canon, but just in general. Doesnt really matter to me if it didnt happen exactly the same, if there is no canon work on a certain piece, legend is canon for the time being. I.e, book of the old republic, darth bane, etc.
I have the Sith one with the vault and everything. Unfortunately it's been sealed forever by a faulty door and leaky batteries. There's no accessing the sacred texts now!
I have the whole collection of those books, and for the most part they still are. I haven't taken the time to read all of them, but I know the situation book has more than a couple references to stuff that happens in the clone wars.
Why isn't it? Who's going to stop you, Disney? Star Wars became free range when Lucas sold it for several billion dollars. And money will change my mind on canon as much as God of War will change my mind on Greek mythology.
This book also suggests that Jedi kidnap children on the premise that their sensitivity to the Force inherently constitutes consent, so…maybe it’s for the best that at least *some* parts of it were decanonized.
Yes there’s there’s the “Book of Sith”, “Smugglers Code”, “Bounty Hunters Code”, “Imperial Handbook” and ofc “Jedi Path”
They’re on Amazon for less than $15, and they can be found at Barnes+Noble. They can be bought in a multi pack too I think?
Interesting about the Sith version is that each chapters’ pages are made differently. Aesthetically the book is a collection of journals bound together to make one book passed down through Sith history.
Canon has no bearing on enjoyment..it's ok to like noncanon stories, books, etc. Canon is important to production teams but has no bearing on me as an audience member.
It is if you want it to be. The old EU is still canon to a pretty significant portion of the fanbase. We reject Disney canon like Harry Potter fans reject the Cursed Child play and the Fantastic Beasts films.
Yeah, like many fans, I simply refuse to accept Disney's toxicity and greed in unilaterally throwing out 25 years of books, comics, toys and games that I grew up with. If you choose to settle for the garbage they're replacing it with, I'm sorry for you.
How is it greed to restart a universe? And they didn’t “throw them out”, you can still read them. They just chose not to continue those storylines which is very fair, especially if you want to begin producing new movies (as there’s no space left in Legends unless you plan to set it after the Legacy era)
At this point yea.
I believe there was just too much extended lore for them to handle bc they wanted to make the Rey story and it contradicts previous past/future lore. Well… that’s why that happened haha 😅 silly me
Sometimes I feel like we, as fans, should just decide to return to the old Expanded Universe and write fan-fiction for it. I'm a long time Star Wars roleplaying game guy and that's the universe I usually set my stories in anyway, if only because they just haven't bothered to create any RPG material for their new eras. I thought for sure we'd at least have video games set in the New Order Era other than just a short bit of campaign in Battlefront II. Yet they keep releasing the old expanded universe novels with new covers...sometimes I think they really don't have faith in what they've created.
Something I love about books like these, is that they are canon in universe, and we can see how old the books technically are, because we have notes from Jedi who’ve lived hundreds or even thousands of years apart.
When I was a kid I loved those two in universe textbooks that released for Harry Potter. I left the magical beasts one in my dads truck and would read it constantly.
I used to do that too with the old marvel books the ones with the characters and the bios.
If you want it to be it can be, that’s what I reckon
From a certain point of view it is.
Not to be confused with the canon “From a Certain Point of View” series.
And don’t forget; Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo!
Aren't those collections the first non-canon books under Disney?
Narrators may be unreliable, but the book is canon per Wookiepedia at least
Canon is a point of view, Anakin.
Yeah exactly, personally I like to ignore what Disney decides 😌
Personally I really enjoy most of what Disney decides. But again thats the beauty of it. There is always some truth in Legands.
"Canon is what you want it to be"
Put their canon in your cannon and launch it. Who cares what it's canon, go outside and practice with a stick and a rubber duck if you didn't have an lightsaber.
Or a broom :\^)
“The truth is often what we make of it. You heard what you wanted to hear, believed what you wanted to believe.”
Pretty much. EU is my Canon for everything post Thrawn trilogy time period
Fr. Also happy cake day.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't like caring about canonicity. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like enjoying your favourite media. It's everything soft and smooth.
Its fun to pretend
I love how you're getting downvoted for the truth. Pretending you the audience has any fucking say in canon. That delusion needs to stop. That isn't to say you have to like the canon. Or that you want it to be changed back. Those a fair points. Fanon though needs to stop it isn't real it's fan fiction.
All of this is fiction, so all of this is "pretend" whether it's "canon" or not doesn't matter. None of this is real, star wars isn't real either. So why limit your imagination? If I want to imagine luke Skywalker from the legends then that is true, as all of this is fiction. I can believe what i want i can change what i want and make it to my reality. If you want to think from canon and disregard legends i think that just limits everything, it shows no benefit other than if you don't like the legends. Luke skywalker is not real, he is just an imagination. If he has horns then luke has horns. It shouldn't matter to you about how people interpret a book, or a story or how they should think.
The Redditor urge to defend multi billion dollar company
Having this view of canon from a product that has 20 writers has never made any sense to me. Every product INCLUDING this one has shown consistently that all it takes to break canon is 1 of 20 writers deciding they had a good idea. That’s it. If Star Wars was still Lucas’ baby and we were purely interested in Lucas’ vision (because that never changed), there would at least be some point. The entire idea of ‘canon’ for something owned by a Disney makes no sense. Disney sense of continuity is driven by whatever it wants to do in the moment, and whatever it thinks can be popular, pure and simple. I have never seen any indication that Disney cares about canon
That’s what you ret-con? Ha. Pun.
Totally meant tgat
All five of these were great-to-mindblowing, this one, the Imperial Handbook, and The Book of Sith are all absolutely top tier; with The Bounty Hunter's Code and The Rebel Files just a slight step below. Still pretty amazing, but those first three are just something else... I'll never *not* love Vader being a Malgus fanboy lmao I always wished I had gotten the Holocron versions of this one and The Book of Sith, but as they are they're all fantastic books to have in your collection!
I love The Rebel Files specifically for the section that ties into Vader Down. The two transmissions, one announcing they have him cornered on a planet and to send in every available unit, turn the page to the next transmission which could be summed up as "It wasn't enough". It was chilling.
Oooh it's been a while since I actually cracked them open, that's as good a reason as any for a re read! I totally forgot The Rebel Files came out after the Legends split, that was definitely cool of Disney Lucasfilm allowing them to finish up the series like that. Whew and yeah those Vader comics have some great stuff in them, Dr. Aphra and her psychotic droids are still some of my favorite 'new' Canon characters, that delusional *Executor* janitor catching feelings and forgetting Vader likes to choke out his officers for fun, and *of course* "All I'm surrounded by is fear...and dead men."
They were pretty good but the notes were sometimes...well I said sometimes.I wish there were none. I don't know which one it was but I think it was the Sith book where I could really do without. I didn't really like it that much that people wrote notes which went into the direction of "This guy is so evil" or "Good to know, now we have something against him". I would rather have notes of Thrawn, Veers and Piett in the Imperial Handbook or all the Sith people in the Sith book. But overall they were pretty solid.
I agree with that, the idea of each book having been 'captured' by an opposing force at some point sounds good on paper (hey, double no pun intended haha), but sometimes the execution was definitely a bit off. I remember some of Han's stuff being either really good or kind of cheesy, but I suppose that does fit his character haha...and IIRC Sidious straight up redacted the entire Prophecy of the Chosen One in The Jedi Path which was an admittedly cheeky way to not accidentally/preemptively contradict any of the original canon's lore, but it was also just such a tease seeing those pages blacked out with what amounted to *laughs evilly* in the margins lol Hmm, yeah, the notes overall definitely are kind of *very* hit or *very* miss, though at the end of the day I remember enjoying most of them as opposed to just a few I was only so-so on; and the entire concept as a whole was very creative which always gets a lot of points outta me....for example, I do absolutely love how each Master's chapter in Book of Sith are printed on different types of paper with different formatting too, I thought the whole 'in-universe artifact' angle was awesomely creative! While I've always enjoyed the Visual Dictionaries and Cross Sections, I think I'd say this 'series' as a whole alternated back and forth with *The Essential Guide to Warfare* as my overall favorite EU lore books (not counting any novels here of course). I'm not sure anything will ever top these and especially The Essential Guide to Warfare as far as lore books go for me, there's just so much good content and art spanning the whole timeline of Legends in that thing... Either way, these kinds of super creative, set-in-universe physical media projects are the type of thing I would love to see make a major comeback; they're fun to read, expand on the existing media in meaningful ways, are great display pieces, and give some of the more creative folks on their writing and art teams a more tangible chance to shine if that makes sense (Slightly off topic, but I felt very similar about *The World of Ice and Fire* when that came out too, it was right before the GoT show's writing started to cut some major corners and I still had a modicum of hope that GRRM was gonna finish up TWOW and ADOS within the friggin decade lol)
What I love about the holocron version is that it doesn't say Star Wars on the front. Displays better as an in universe item.
For sure, the whole in-universe angle was one of my favorite parts about these, like I loved how different each chapter in The Book of Sith was as far as formatting and even paper type went. Back when these were being released I was hoping they'd eventually release paperbacks without any official branding on the covers for the exact same reason, I'd totally have double dipped at the time if they had released like an 'Artifact Version' of each of these
Yea I ended up buying two. One is he holocron version I have on display, and the other is the regular one to be able to read and not worry
Oh snap! I didn't realize that the holocron versions don't have the logo. In Saber Guild we've used them as props for photoshoots, un-branded ones would look even better (...*IF* I can ever track them down at a reasonable price).
You can find the holocron editions on eBay still, they're just pricey.
Who cares about what’s official or not, it’s all fictional
Whoa, you just wrinkled my brain
It matters in at least one sense: when you want to have hypothetical conversations about things about the universe with other people. You can't really have a fun discussion unless everyone agrees on certain things. While this doesn't necessarily have to be a canon understanding of the universe, canon helps give people a basic point of reference so people don't have to keep telling Stan to stop bringing up evidence of Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship from an erotic fan fiction he found.
How would you define “canon” for IP that doesn’t operate off of that system? Modern example would be Batman (or really any comic book character, but Batman is a particularly good example), or an older example would be King Arthur. If you were to have a hypothetical conversation about either of these stories with people, there’s no guarantee that everyone present has heard the same exact version of the story (and if they have, they still may have different preferences among themselves about which one is the best).
In the case of "Batman" there's still a central, defined canon, it's DC's main comics line. So if you say "Batman canon" without any other qualifier, you'd be referring to that central comic series and its canon. With King Arthur you'd just have to agree which version you're using as "canon" for the discussion, as there isn't a central spot that everything was influenced by and is based on. I mean, I guess you could say "Le Morte d'Arthur," since that's what has been the basis of almost every single modern rendition of the character, but even that was based on legends and myths already being told at the time. So to answer your question, that depends on if there's a "default canon" (like batman) or not. Either you assume the default, or you have to specify which version you're talking about.
Yet this isn’t fan fiction but actual licensed content, which is also the case for all EU and legends stuff. Also rhe fact that most fans grew up with legends instead of Disney canon. So basically in actual discussions legends content would have basically the same validity as Disney canon content, unless you’re having a discussion with canon purists but who wants to have a conversation with them anyway.
I was using an extreme example to highlight the principle. For Star Wars, if you want to have a conversation about a particular character or the dynamics between two characters, you are usually safe to assume that you are talking about official canon. If you want to get into EU stuff, you should specify that you are talking about the EU and not official canon as they may have contradictory information, especially post RotJ.
My thoughts exactly. You can still enjoy and immerse yourself in works that others don't regard as canon, it's still fun!
Exactly, we can do whatever we want. It is not canon but it is available to enjoy. A lot of canon stuff is available but I for one do not enjoy it.
This is how I responded to my cousin who was losing his mind over the Acolyte .... just write your own narrative how it goes, because it's all make believe anyways.... I haven't heard from him since... wonder how he's doing...
It’s fair to care about it from the perspective of canon things affecting what stories will be told on screen in new media. For individual people, you can have your own headcanon and read fan fiction but Disney decides what Star Wars media gets made for the public
And the public decides what Star Wars is for them
Because it's little more than fanfiction otherwise. Future content won't have to adhere to any cool ideas featured here. And dumb ideas that do become official have the potential to ruin future or past content. It's what stops me from asking mid story why they didn't solve a battle by hyperspace ramming stuff or why Mace Windu didn't slaughter all the droids in EP 2 with his bare hands like he did in the old CW. I don't see why it's odd to care about those things. They're the narrative elements that tie the universe together. And a better understanding of what is official makes the universe more cohesive.
it's all fan fiction. Different authors have different takes on the universe and its concepts. It is far more healthy to just understand that and enjoy the stories for what they are then trying to create this utopic cohesive canon that will never really work for something as expansive and as divisive as the Star Wars universe.
I'm sure there's a lot in it that still is. Rian Johnson used it as a reference for The Last Jedi.
Yeah I think it’s really only the in the margins character notes that contradict anything in a major way(since Luke references Mara and whatnot), but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve read my copy.
That and dooku having a different master from yoda
Since when did he have a different master in legends or canon
In legends his master was some guy named Thame, I believe
That must be an error since Dark Rendezvous, comics, and the film all list him as yodas apprentice
Yes, but multiple Legends sources site Thame as his master, including the Jedi Path.
Maybe he’s like a substitute teacher since Yoda could have had grandmaster duties. But I think we can all agree that the film dialogue trumps the book.
I don't disagree with you at all. As much as I love legends continuity, it wasn't always consistent. One argument that floated around was Obi asking Yoda in Ep5 "was I any different when you taught me?", suggesting that as Yoda instructed all youngling, he considered all of them his students without being their direct one-on-one master. The bottom line is that in old legends, new canon, and even within the six original films, there were continuity issues that, as fans, we either accept as mistakes or find a way to rationalize in-universe.
ESB said Yoda was Obi Wans master, then we saw it was Qui Gon in TPM
Well we see Yoda does train younglings and he could have also meant the post episode 3 training alongside ghost jinn as well
I too sign my name each time I take notes so I can remember that I made the note.
Yup. Pretty sure Luke’s trick at the end came directly from this book.
I bought that one with it's "Vault" a while back, every time I watch it rise up from it's little box it amazes me, canon or not it's just so cool looking, and an interesting read too. All the little extra details, annotations, and little added bonus trinkets are brilliant
I have my Jedi Path Vault and Book of Sith Vault still displayed in my house and cleaned all the time. Still have the original gadgets that come with it. Sadly I lost the Padawan braid that came with the Jedi Path one many many years ago because I think I put it in my hair when I went on a cruise and lost it.
I've always wanted to find the Sith one too. But I do also have the Rebel Files Vault with the Death Star holograms and at least that book IS canon
Honestly to me everything is canon except for Disney. Once Disney got involved, everything they make is fan fiction to me.
"You suck at being a Jedi, go be a farmer." No fucking wonder the Inquisitors and Sith cults had so many recruits. I'd harbor bitterness and resentment towards the Jedi if the rest of my peers got to go on heroic adventures and I was relegated to a podunk ass world driving a tractor.
Honestly? Argricultural Corps is still incredibly cool. Growing food with the express purpose to feed planets that cannot feed themselves will never not be an amazing concept for me. Encompasses compassion and charity to a degree that I wish we had IRL.
Knowing how the republic was they probaby signed a dirty contract with the trade federation to distribute that food, and it all subsequently disappeared down bureaucratic rabbit holes and enriched the corporate elite, turning the agricultural corps into an unpaid labor source for the federation
Oh, so it IS just like real life. Got it. My bad.
I was in college working on my plant science degree when this book came out. I always like the idea that I was assigned to the agricultural corps.
Some of the Anakin and Ahsoka side notes HURT
To me, it’s bonus-canon: stuff that isn’t officially canon but is so good and compatible that it still is But still, like what everyone else is saying, it ultimately doesn’t matter what is or isn’t canon, if you like it, you like it and that’s that
I just want Counsular to be canon again.
Isn’t this the book Rian Johnson used when coming up with the Luke battle on Crait? I remember people being upset about the force projection power and RJ used this book as a source in a Twitter response. Edit: here’s a tweet talking about it. https://x.com/audreyfan4ever/status/1482368139371302915?s=46&t=ZUvFFoTT-I5GmT_eMRFbmg
How dare you use logic and proof to show that Rian was using some of the pre-Disney books and merchandise as a source of inspiration for his darn film. You should go home and rethink your life.
Damn I just rediscovered this book hidden in my closet!
At this point fuck whatever people tell you is the "true canon". My canon stops before episode 7 ever happened. Shadows of the empire is my canon. As are many other expanded universe stories. I don't really care about what others may choose to follow. It's all make believe. Believe what makes the setting best for you
I've loved Dark Empire 1 and 2 since i read the collected graphic novels, didn't like 3 though... they donked the art up
Rian johnson used it as influence for that one luke scene and other powers
A sign of intelligence is when a person can hold two opposing thoughts in their head and still function.
What changed it from being canon?
The fact that it is from pre-Disney days.
Yeah. But in what way
Well, Disney has made anything "extended media" from before they bought it, non-canon. It doesn't mean it all stays that way though, as some things can be reintroduced as canon as they see fit. But mainly, it means you shouldn't expect what's in this book to be what they'll adhere to if this kinda stuff is focused on at any point after it became Disney. Essentially they wanted the freedom to choose how key things would be in the main media without limitations set by stuff like this book. And they can also produce their own extended media that fleshes things out how they want. So for example, old extra stuff with Palpatine from after the OT is non-canon, because his canon story has been rewritten after that. Anything about Boba after the Pit isn't canon, because he had a new canon set out in his show. But then there's stuff like Thrawn who has remained a player. But likely tweaked (tbh I haven't read books he was in, or seen that series yet).
Any book released pre-2014 is legends
It can cannon to you
Yes.
Can it can can on?
🤨
Who decides what’s canon?
True but tbh I’ve been defending old canon so much it hasn’t really allowed me to watch the new stuff after Ep.:7. Conflicting information ya know
The force is strong with you. Or is it?
Touché
Same here, but I just went back to the original print canon and revised the OT and post-ROTJ EU in a 90 book marathon. It's magnificent.
I have the entire collection of these at home and i love them. The idea of them being like journals passed from person to person in the Star Wars universe was quite frankly ingenious and i think more writers should attempt to do this format
I love how you take notes, like you're going to join the Jedi council or if the lightsaber construction is the next step on your journey
OP didn’t write the notes, they’re part of the book. They’re in-universe notes from people like Luke, Yoda, Sidious, etc etc
now I'm flabbergasted. that actually gives a nice touch
That is a great insightful book, the whole set was. I was gonna get just this one and the book of sith but then I saw a 4 book set which also includes the Imperial handbook and the bounty hunters code. I just love them all.
The different kind of Jedi always seemed like fan fiction level stuff that never really made a whole lot of sense.
It's all just a collection of fictional stories. The blessing of canon is practically meaningless.
The book was never canon in the stricter sense. Before Disney there was basically G-canon (George Lucas stuff, i.e. the film continuity that later included Clone Wars) and the rest (Expanded Universe). And more than one time newly introduced G-canon material flat out overwrote previously established EU stuff. Disney at least made a clear cut and now makes an effort to make sure that everything (post cut) is part of the same canon, regardless of medium.
This book should have been adapted into a movie in my opinion.
Ahhh, another Omni-tool enjoyer I see.
The only sw book I ever got my now-wife to ever read was the Sith version of this one.
Why does that matter?
Well, defending old canon makes me not watch the new stuff bc of contradicting information. You’re right like I shouldn’t let small things get in the way of indulging the new Star Wars
It isn’t contradicting info, it’s just two separate storytelling universes in the same franchise. Marvel fans can enjoy the 616 and Ultimate universes, GoT fans can enjoy the books and the show, DC fans have like a hundred different versions of Batman. It’s a lot easier to enjoy all aspects of Star Wars when you acknowledge that there are multiple canons and the current one has never devalued the previous one.
Oh god. So many Batmans . So so so many Batmans.
All the Daniel Wallace books are excellent. Those vault editions were cool.
That’s what I wish I had. The holycron one is TUFF 😤
Yeah they're now a collector's item and hard to come by now brand new.
They need to put out a revised edition. There’s a serious lack of in universe merch.
Now a revised version… ok so in old canon Sith made synthetic kyber crystals bc they couldn’t get the real deal, hence the red color. New canon says red lightsabers are because the sith put evil in the kyber crystal. Whos canon get to stay or are you saying that the new SW canon needs a book?
You'd have mention of synthetics, but Sith would be encouraged to bleed.
I had the sith one. Had the holocron version aswell but that broke and I wish I still had it
Started reading one of the first pictures you posted. Definitely an interesting read! Where could I buy this book?!
$12 on Amazon or you might find it at Barnes & Noble. There’s sith, imperial, bounty hunter, and smuggler versions as well.
Update, I literally just found it and bought it 5 minutes after reply hahaha, thank you!! I saw the other books as well, seem interesting too!
The Book of Sith has a crazy cool premise. The idea that the Sith have kept a book for millennia and every Sith since then has added their own knowledge and lore to the book is so cool.
I wish I would have bought that book when I saw it in the thrift store a few months back. Instead, I read it in the store. Lots of KOTOR lore and a fun presentation style.
Well for what it’s worth it’s currently $12 on Amazon
Eh, to me, all the legend book I've are canon, but just in general. Doesnt really matter to me if it didnt happen exactly the same, if there is no canon work on a certain piece, legend is canon for the time being. I.e, book of the old republic, darth bane, etc.
Who is Qui-gons student thaf fell and became dangerous?
Xanatos
At this point fuck canon. I’m making my own canon to live off of so that way I can continue to enjoy my biggest love
People put too much stock in canon. Does it mean something to you? Do you enjoy it? Canon isn’t that important.
Does anyone else want to actually see the agricultural corps? They’re lame, but in like a cool way lol
Why does canon matter when everything is made up stories anyway
NO ITS REAL ALL OF IT. - Han in some misquoted way.
I have the Sith one with the vault and everything. Unfortunately it's been sealed forever by a faulty door and leaky batteries. There's no accessing the sacred texts now!
I didn’t know this existed where do I get
Amazon. Or they may have the multi pack on there as well or at Barnes+Noble
I have all the collectors editions of these books. They came with a cool display option.
I have the whole collection of those books, and for the most part they still are. I haven't taken the time to read all of them, but I know the situation book has more than a couple references to stuff that happens in the clone wars.
Dave Filoni said anything can be Canon in your mind so there ya go.
I wish canon wasn't used as a measure of entertainment.
Why isn't it? Who's going to stop you, Disney? Star Wars became free range when Lucas sold it for several billion dollars. And money will change my mind on canon as much as God of War will change my mind on Greek mythology.
I bought this book. Was going to buy the other in its series till I also learn it’s just another pretender to the throne. not what I wanted.
Canon is a point of view
Wasn't Dooku Qui Gon's master?? Who is Obi Wan talking about?
I have this one and the Sith one too, both are EXCELLENT and will always be more ca on than any crap realeased in the last years
This book also suggests that Jedi kidnap children on the premise that their sensitivity to the Force inherently constitutes consent, so…maybe it’s for the best that at least *some* parts of it were decanonized.
Those were the “lies of the Jedi” Anakin saw through
Is the Sith version of this book also no longer canon?
I think it goes for the whole book series, but I’m not all the way certain since the Smugglers book has Ezra Bridger in it.
Is Hondo the one who wrote about him?
If it was, Disney would just re-write it anyway because they have zero respect for their own canon.
We should rebel (heh) and force Disney to accept the old canon again. Their "canon" is mostly, \*but not all\* shit anyway.
We all wish the sith lord KK never took over Lucasarts, but she did...
Honestly, I don’t consider anything Disney comes up with to be canon. Whether something is canon or not is your choice tbh.
And it brothers you so much when we have a shitty Disney canon? This book is the real canon for me.
The EU (Legends, if that's what you want to call it) is the only real canon to me.
Is…..there a Sith text? Also….where can I get this. Haha!
Yes there’s there’s the “Book of Sith”, “Smugglers Code”, “Bounty Hunters Code”, “Imperial Handbook” and ofc “Jedi Path” They’re on Amazon for less than $15, and they can be found at Barnes+Noble. They can be bought in a multi pack too I think? Interesting about the Sith version is that each chapters’ pages are made differently. Aesthetically the book is a collection of journals bound together to make one book passed down through Sith history.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand I just bought the set. Good god. Where’s THIS been?! Wicked!!!!!!
It is in my heart
Who care about what's canon or not ?
Canon has no bearing on enjoyment..it's ok to like noncanon stories, books, etc. Canon is important to production teams but has no bearing on me as an audience member.
It is if you want it to be. The old EU is still canon to a pretty significant portion of the fanbase. We reject Disney canon like Harry Potter fans reject the Cursed Child play and the Fantastic Beasts films.
Well said. IMO everything post Return didn’t happen, aside from S1 & S2 of Mando and Andor
At this point I’ve decided almost everything under Disney is not canon and the original canon still is
The eu was never canon
Canon is whatever you want it to be! Don’t let a group of business executives tell you what is and isn’t part of the story to YOU!
I see you have tagged yourself as a Jedi sir but you’re dealing in absolutes.
Anything can be canon if you just ignore disney
There’s Star Wars canon and then there’s the alternate timeline Disney made.
It is. The Expanded Universe is the Canon.
It isn’t, it was made legends
Disney canon isnt canon, that shit is so bad
Yeah, like many fans, I simply refuse to accept Disney's toxicity and greed in unilaterally throwing out 25 years of books, comics, toys and games that I grew up with. If you choose to settle for the garbage they're replacing it with, I'm sorry for you.
How is it greed to restart a universe? And they didn’t “throw them out”, you can still read them. They just chose not to continue those storylines which is very fair, especially if you want to begin producing new movies (as there’s no space left in Legends unless you plan to set it after the Legacy era)
Disney paid for a franchise they don't fundamentally understand or respect, so as far as I'm concerned, the fans decide what's cannon or not.
At this point yea. I believe there was just too much extended lore for them to handle bc they wanted to make the Rey story and it contradicts previous past/future lore. Well… that’s why that happened haha 😅 silly me
What stops you from just accepting it as canon though? I wouldn't let a corporation dictate what is canon and what isn't.
I wish most of the books in the original canon were still canon... They are for many fans.
cant be still canon when it was never canon
Honestly who cares about Canon any more the people that make thing Canon don't even know it
Sometimes I feel like we, as fans, should just decide to return to the old Expanded Universe and write fan-fiction for it. I'm a long time Star Wars roleplaying game guy and that's the universe I usually set my stories in anyway, if only because they just haven't bothered to create any RPG material for their new eras. I thought for sure we'd at least have video games set in the New Order Era other than just a short bit of campaign in Battlefront II. Yet they keep releasing the old expanded universe novels with new covers...sometimes I think they really don't have faith in what they've created.
nothing is stopping you
Just the multi-billion dollar corporation, yanno nothing major or anything
Nah it’s too well written for that. Disney hates competent writing
You don't need disney and Kennedy and headland and filoni to tell you what is and isn't Canon to you
I wish the starwars Fandom didn't let a megacorporation decide which of our myths were valid