I know I’m late on the Thrawn train, but now that I have the opportunity, I’m more than excited to talk about the future of Star Wars canon.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a massive Star Wars nut. I’m crazy. I will blab on about every single named clone trooper, the rise of the Stormtroopers in the Empire, the philosophy of the Force, and everything else under the sun with those big bold letters plastered on the front. I’ve been a fan since I first saw A New Hope, and my love for Star Wars will never die.
Thus, being a dork that I am, I was disappointed when Disney stripped the Star Wars canon. I understand why they did it — it was something that honestly needed to be done. Star Wars books could range from helpful to little more than wishful fanfiction. There were some fun comics and interesting ideas, but they were few and far between. It took more energy to find the gems hidden in the rough that was the Star Wars extended Universe. But still, there were some things that were brilliant and even genius ideas, and some characters, places, and books that I was going to miss being part of canon.
When Disney made the announcement that Grand Admiral Thrawn was coming back to Star Wars canon in a different time period, I was ecstatic. Thrawn was one of the best parts of Star Wars EU, and it was a shame when he was taken out of canon. And the inclusion of Thrawn meant that the stripped EU, now under the title Star Wars Legends, could very well have bits and pieces reentered into the official Universe.
Here are a few of the things that I hope will come back into canon. How and when they do isn’t as important, but these are things that I personally miss.
- Mara Jade
I think anyone who knows anything about the EU knows where this is coming from. Timothy Zahn, the man behind the creation of Admiral Thrawn, also introduced the character Mara Jade into the Star Wars Universe, and what a character she was. Like the Black Widow of Star Wars, Mara Jade was an assassin, working for the Emperor, whose mission was to kill Luke Skywalker. Now, obviously, that didn’t quite work as planned, and Mara Jade ended up becoming a powerful Jedi, with questionable morals and more snark than even Han Solo. She was truly a character that most fans of the EU want back, as she had a very distinct influence on most of the characters, and she was a brilliant addition to Star Wars, and a loss to it when her character was taken away. - Tionne Solusar
Most people have no idea who this character is, and that’s fine. She was a personal favorite of mine, and I was honestly sad to see her go. Tionne Solusar was one of Luke’s students at the Jedi Academy, and while not being extraordinarily strong in the Force, she was brilliant in her own right. In a time when the history of the Jedi Order had been long lost thanks to the efforts of the Empire to turn the Jedi into a child’s tale, Tionne became fascinated with the old Jedi Order and started collecting stories and artifacts, anything she could find. And as a Jedi Master, she continued her work as a historian rather than a fighter. I like to compare her to Jedi Master Jocasta Nu, who was in charge of the Jedi Archives. It’s always interesting to find Jedi who did not use their position for fighting, but instead took a different route, doing something just as important. Even if Tionne doesn’t come back herself, I’d love to see more Jedi like her in the new canon. - Grey Jedi
Grey Jedi were taken out of the canon, which is a shame. The idea of Jedi who have strayed from the teachings and follow their own paths, not following either Order but still traveling the galaxy and using their knowledge to better the galaxy. With the Jedi Order being as much of a mess as it was, the idea of Jedi who finally turned away from the Order but still kept their noble ideals of protection and defending people and going around to help people on their own was one of the most fascinating ideas, and I’m sad that it was taken out. In the Star Wars Rebels show, we get a taste of that — seeing Ahsoka Tano with her lightsabers but ultimately being out of the Jedi Order — but the term "Grey Jedi" was never officially brought back. I’d love to see more of them, but with the focus now on the future, rather than the old Jedi Order, we might have to wait a little longer. - The Jedi Academy
We start The Force Awakens with the news the Luke’s Jedi academy had fallen, and he was missing. This probably means that we won’t ever get to see the Jedi Academy, which I’m a little disappointed about. Some of my favorite EU stories included the Solo kids (who obviously won’t be making an appearance) in the Massassi temples on Yavin 4, where Luke had built his Jedi Academy. I always had grandiose dreams of them having huge courtyards where they trained, and massive open rooms where they ate and of their little dorm-like rooms they slept in. Luke training the next generation of Jedi was something I desperately wanted to see, and I’m still a little cut up about the fact that we start after it’s already gone. - Tython
The Star Wars EU covered more than books and comics. Some of the most interesting stuff actually came from video games. Tython, as a planet, is still considered canon, but before the canon was changed, it was the birthing place of the original Jedi Order. It is still a large part of the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which takes place long before the prequel trilogy. Almost the entirely of the history of the Jedi Order was wiped out with the change from Disney, so Tython and the ancient Jedi Order are once again in need of being rewritten. I personally hope we get Tython back. It was a beautiful forest planet, and the designs for the Jedi Temples were gorgeous and deserve to be pulled back into the proper universe. - Witches of Dathomir
The Courtship of Princess Leia was a largely interesting book. Writing-wise, it probably could have been better, and the story was anything but simple. But there were a few aspects of the book that I was sad to see go, and one of them was the Witches of Dathomir. Seeing Dathomir taken out of canon would have been sad for me, but thankfully, that was returned to Star Wars canon with season 4 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where it is revealed that assassin Asajj Ventress is one of the Nightsisters, one of the dark Force-users from Dathomir. I do miss the other Witches of Dathomir, though, the ones that weren’t quite so…crazy. The Nightsisters represented just one sect of the witches, and I kind of want the others to pop back in at some point. They trained rancors, had a very female-dominated society, and lived in a tribal setting. I’m hoping they get another reappearance. - Republic Commando
Anyone who knows me knows that if they ask, I will give them an earful about how much I love the clones. For me, they’re the best part of Star Wars. A group of characters, all exactly the same physically, who were taught that their entire purpose in life is to die on the battlefield? Who try desperately to make themselves individual by having fun little nicknames and hair designs and tattoos? Who have no semblance of life outside of the military and get awkward around civilians? HECK YES. So when I heard Republic Commando was going to be taken out of canon, I was not happy. A series of books and games about clone commandos on missions? It was my favorite! I loved the setting, I loved the introduction of the Null ARCs, I loved the exploration of Mandalorians and their mission, and I loved the clones. Most of the books in Karen Traviss’ series were fun to read and brought a lot of life to the Clone Wars era before the show took off, and having more clone characters can never hurt anyone. Reading about the clones being awkward and socially inept and more child than adult was probably what made me love them in the first place. Obviously, there was a lot they had to change, which was probably why is was taken out of canon. Even the planet of Mandalore was very different between the books and the show, but I’m still disappointed we lost the Commandos, and the Null ARCs.
