Star Wars Chronology and Canon

One of my niche areas of interest, in terms of science fiction and general nerdery, is the way that the Star Wars saga evolved over the years. I’ve lived through very nearly all of it–Star Wars, now known as A New Hope, was released in 1977, and I was born in 1979–and have had a front row seat for the series as it grew and changed (and was ultimately slaughtered and carved up into a parody by Disney, but that’s another story. Uhh…apologies if you are a Disney canon fan–stick around, it has a few good points too).

Corran Horn. Courtesy of Wookieepedia.

In this area, I’ve mostly done my own work; I haven’t read much of the material that’s been written about Star Wars, but have worked from the stories themselves. That’s my disclaimer here: I could be wildly wrong in some things I say. I think, though, that I’ll keep it simple enough here that we can be confident in what I suggest. It’s not much, anyway, at least for today’s post.

George Lucas’s vision for Star Wars seems to have been very different in its original form. (Even the term “original form” is misleading; it’s not clear that he had a cohesive vision at all to start with, as evidenced by how often even the character names changed!) That’s not at all unusual–every story has its rough drafts–but it comes as a surprise to people, because Star Wars is such an institution these days. It all feels very codified and canonized–but that’s never been the case, not even once. There’s always been spinoff material, since not very long after the original movie (looking at you, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, you wonderful and bizarre old friend), and it’s always told tales that didn’t quite jell with the films, or even with its own components. And that’s not even getting to Disney’s change in canon!

I first became aware of this phenomenon many years ago, when I–still a child–picked up a copy of the novelization of the screenplay of what was then called simply Star Wars, now redubbed Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope.  (That it’s the novelization of the screenplay is significant; the book preceded the movie by much of a year.) The prologue jumps in immediately with changes; Emperor Palpatine, for example, is said to be “controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office”–a far cry from the Sith lord we all know today! But it’s the closing attribution of that prologue that told me there were secrets here. It reads:

From the First Saga

Journal of the Whills

And just like that, I was hooked. I had to know more.

That phrase appeared in print forty-four years ago, and I’ve been alive for forty-one of them. Today we know more about the Whills, or at least, the version that Disney-Lucasfilm has given us; but what we have is still somehow less, in my opinion, than what was hinted so many years ago. Star Wars still has mysteries to tease out, and an entire galaxy–far, far away; you know the drill–of history to uncover.

This post isn’t about that particular mystery. I’ll discuss the Whills another time (for the record, I think they’re one thing the Disney canon does well, whether or  not it matches Lucas’s original plan). But let’s talk about something else that I find interesting: The chronology of the Empire and the Rebellion.

It appears that Lucas originally intended for the Empire to have been established for considerably longer than the approximately twenty years that was eventually established in film. As always, sources conflict. Still, it seems to have been the intention from the first film’s release that the Clone Wars were much earlier than we eventually see–perhaps twice as early. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s visible age seems to suggest that he’s older than he’s later revealed to be, and that the Clone Wars were in his youth. Aiding this conclusion, a number of stories seem to indicate that the Jedi Purge at the Empire’s establishment was a drawn-out event, not the Order 66 extermination that we saw in Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars. (This discrepancy has been mitigated by more recent stories establishing that Darth Vader and others hunted down Jedi not killed at Order 66–but the point is that Order 66 itself is a later addition, and the purge was seen as a crusade in the older material.)

Why does it matter? It’s just a few more years, right? It matters because from the beginning of the Expanded Universe’s revival in the nineties, this concept was woven into everything up until the films contradicted it. Enormous portions of the post-Return of the Jedi EU (or Legends, as it’s now called, but I prefer the older term) deal with Luke Skywalker’s quest to re-establish the Jedi and reconnect them with their history. The fact that he had such a tough time of it owes to the Empire’s suppression of Jedi history–and that process itself relied heavily on time and the power of forgetting.

Consider:

• The Jedi Temple was not known for most of the post-RotJ EU. Later stories would show and/or retcon that it still existed in various corrupted forms, but the fact that the Empire expunged its memory so thoroughly that Luke couldn’t find it is a monument to…well, to something terrible about them. But you don’t do that overnight. There are still people on Coruscant that lived in that neighborhood!
• The Jedi never had just one temple. They had a presence on many worlds besides Coruscant, such as Illum, Ossus, and the world of their founding, Tython.
• The Chu’unthor was so forgotten, there was only a single obscure reference to set Luke on the path to finding it. If you’re unaware, the Chu’unthor was a ship fielded by the Jedi five hundred or more years before the Battle of Yavin as a mobile training academy. Although it crashed on Dathomir long before Luke’s time, it was the namesake of a second Chu’unthor during the Clone Wars–and we can safely conclude that references to that ship were also heavily obscured, or else Luke would have gotten on this path sooner. (And that is not a later addition; the first Chu’unthor first appeared in The Courtship of Princess Leia in 1994, and the second was first mentioned in the novels Darksaber (1995) and Planet of Twilight (1997).
• Jedi holocrons, a common teaching tool right up to the Jedi Purge, were exceedingly rare and close to unknown in the post-RotJ era, at least at first. 
• The earliest examples of Jedi who survived the purge, were all elderly. (Same with their clones–looking at you, Joruus C’Baoth with two u’s!) The implication was that they had had years to age. This, too, was retconned in various ways, but we’re talking about earlier contributions.

The bit that brought this topic to my attention today, however, is of a smaller scale–a downright familial scale, one might say. I’ve been slowly working my way through the post-RotJ EU novels (too slowly, if I’m being honest). Some months ago, I finished the third volume of the X-Wing series; in that novel, Corran Horn escapes the Imperial prison Lusankya, and in the process he learns that his family history has been, at least in part, a well-meant lie. In the opening of book four, The Bacta War (which I have just started), he muses on the situation:

Throughout his life Corran Horn had come to believe his grandfather was Rostek Horn, a valued and highly placed member of the Corellian Security Force. His father, Hal Horn, likewise was with CorSec. […] His grandfather had always admitted to having known a Jedi who died in the Clone Wars…

Corran found it no great surprise that Rostek Horn and his [i.e. Corran’s] father had downplayed their ties to [pre-Clone Wars Jedi Master] Nejaa Halcyon. Halcyon had died in the Clone Wars; and Rostek had comforted, grown close with, and married Halcyon’s widow. He also adopted Halcyon’s son, Valin, who grew up as Hal Horn. When the Emperor began his extermination of the Jedi order, Rostek had used his position at CorSec to destroy all traces of the Halcyon family, insulating his wife and adopted son from investigation by Imperial authorities.

Stick with me for a little math. According to Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki, the Clone Wars (in both Disney canon and EU canon) lasted only three years, from 22 BBY to 19 BBY (“Before the Battle of Yavin”, the dating convention used by fans and official materials to describe dates in Star Wars, although almost certainly not the calendar used in-universe. The Battle of Yavin, of course, is the climactic battle of A New Hope, in which the first Death Star was destroyed). Corran Horn was born in 18 BBY, making him one year younger than Luke Skywalker. Meanwhile, Nejaa Halcyon is said to have died during the Clone Wars, before the Jedi Purge that began in 19 BBY with Order 66. Also before the purge, Rostek Horn had to have had time to cozy up to Nejaa’s widow, marry her, and adopt Valin/Hal–so, Nejaa’s death probably happened early in the Clone Wars. (Wookieepedia actually gives it an uncomfortably tight date of 19.5 BBY.) But, there’s another piece of crucial information: Valin/Hal was not close to adulthood–and therefore parenthood–at the time of adoption. Corran says that Valin grew up as Hal Horn.

Can you see the conflict here?

Of course, it all works out fine if the Clone Wars were earlier and/or lasted longer. And that was almost certainly the intent of the writers; after all, in the 1990s they didn’t have the depth of material we have today, from which to draw context and canon. The Bacta War was published in 1997; The Phantom Menace would not launch until 1999, and Attack of the Clones, until 2002. Certainly there was a scramble to make things fit when the films came out; that’s why you’ll find contradictory statements, such as Wookieepedia stating that Nejaa was killed after the Clone Wars, allowing them to also postulate that Valin was his father’s apprentice. Of course, it can’t all be true.

Or, can it? That is a decision left to the reader, because the end result is that Star Wars has a practically byzantine maze of layers of canon. It really comes down to what you choose to accept; but this fandom, despite its occasional habit of biting its own, has a spot for everyone.  It’s all a product of Lucas’s original policies on what constituted canon, which were both efficient and constraining all at once (honestly, we didn’t know how good we had it back then). Those policies have become something of a morass today, and especially under Disney–but the result is that there’s really something here for everyone.

For myself, since I consider myself a diehard fan of the post-RotJ EU, I usually choose not to think too deeply about the timing of the Clone Wars and their related events, at least when reading these books. If the books suggest that the Clone Wars were decades ago, I can go with that for now. And when it’s time to deal with something that canon has given a definite date, well, we’ll cross that spacelane when we come to it.

I was going to dig a bit into the topic of the Empire’s propaganda machine in this post, and how they were able to suppress the memory of the Jedi so thoroughly when there were literally still living Jedi, but that’s a topic for its own time.  For now we’ll stop with this minor history lesson. Happy reading!

Revisiting Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron (X-Wing #1)

Every part of the Expanded Universe (EU, also begrudgingly known as Legends) has its fans and devotees; but there will always be differences of opinion. Few entries in the series reach universal heights of adoration and devotion, however. You have the Thrawn Trilogy, and…well, that’s very nearly it. If you hang out in fan forums and comment threads, you’ll find criticism at some point for nearly everything else. That’s the nature of fandom, and it’s not a bad thing—we’re all entitled to like what we like and dislike what we dislike.

There is one other corner of the EU, though, for which I can’t recall ever seeing complaints. Today, we arrive at that corner, and it is great. I’m talking about the X-Wing series of novels by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston. Today, we’re looking at the first book in the series, 1996’s X-Wing: Rogue Squadron (which, coincidentally, is the first Star Wars novel not to include Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, or Leia Organa).

First Edition Cover. Courtesy of Wookieepedia.

I’ll say up front that the X-Wing series has been a blind spot in my Star Wars experience. Back in my days of heavier EU reading—before I mostly switched from print to ebooks—I read whatever I could get my hands on, and I never managed to acquire the X-Wing series. The beauty of the EU, however, is in its interconnections and shared canon (more on that another time), and so I was familiar with the aftereffects of the X-Wing novels, even without having read them. It was no big secret that this is the series where the New Republic takes Coruscant from the Empire, for example. The Rogue Squadron pilots themselves appear again and again in the series. Series protagonist Corran Horn goes on to become my personal favorite Jedi (so, spoiler that he doesn’t die…?).

That last point—the matter of Corran Horn—made me excited to finally read this series. There’s not a bad or ill-conceived character here, so far at any rate; but Corran, as I said, is a favorite of mine. I’m excited to finally learn some of the background that led to the events of I, Jedi and his duel against Shedao Shai for the fate of Ithor in Dark Tide II: Ruin. Of course, the other Rogues are no slouches themselves, with such luminaries as Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu among their numbers.

So, let’s dig in! But, a few things first: Here is the timeline we’re using for this readthrough, starting with The Truce at Bakura, but omitting some of the children’s books such as the Jedi Prince series. We’re taking the series in order, which means that the next seven posts (including this one) will be X-Wing novels, so be prepared! Then we’ll get a lengthy break that includes some very well-known and popular novels, and then we’ll be back to this series briefly. Also note that I use the conventional fan- and behind-the-scenes system of dates that centers on the Battle of Yavin in Episode IV; this story takes place in 6.5 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin). Also, as always, Spoilers ahead for anyone who has not read this book! It would be nearly impossible to avoid all spoilers and still discuss the novel, so read at your own risk!

X-Wing: Rogue Squadron is the story of Wedge Antilles’s reinstallation of the famous Rogue Squadron. This team of starfighter pilots was originally formed after the Battle of Yavin from survivors of other squadrons, notably Red Squadron, the squadron in which Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles flew during the attack on the first Death Star. The fledgling New Republic makes the decision to re-form the squadron for a dual purpose: To take the fight back to the Empire and strike fear into their hearts, and to inspire worlds to join the Republic. To that end, Wedge selects a diverse group of pilots: Lujayne Forge, a human from Kessel with a chip on her shoulder; Erisi Dlarit and Bror Jace, Thyferrans from powerful Bacta-producing families; Riv Shiel, a wolflike Shistavanen; Aril Nunb, the Sullustan sister of Nien Nunb; Gavin Darklighter, cousin to former X-Wing pilot Biggs Darklighter; Rhysati Ynr, from Bespin; Nawara Ven, a Twi’lek and former attorney; Peshk Vri’syck, a male Bothan; Andoorni Hui, a Rodian; Ooryl Qrygg, an insectlike Gand with a rigid code of honor; and Ooryl’s wingmate, Corran Horn, a former member of Corellian Security with a difficult past, but phenomenal flying skills. He also recruits former Rogue Tycho Celchu as his executive officer, but this comes with a price; Tycho was previously held in the notorious Imperial prison Lusankya, and the Republic refuses to trust that he has not been compromised.

The book takes our recruits through the growing pains of becoming a squadron—and not just any squadron, but Rogue Squadron, a unit famed for daring—and receiving—death. The Rogues are thrust into action early when the Republic sets its sights on Coruscant, the Imperial capital world, now held by former Imperial Intelligence Director Ysanne Isard. Isard is no easy enemy, though; and she has many tools at her disposal. One such tool is a partially-disgraced Intelligence operative named Kirtan Loor, who has much to prove—and a special hatred for one Corran Horn. The novel carries us through the first and second battles of Borleias, an Imperial world with a direct line to Coruscant—and secrets of its own. In the end, the Rogues win the battle—but not without cost, as they suffer their first losses in what promises to be a protracted war.

As can be expected, much of this first volume consists of laying groundwork for what is to come. There’s characterization to be built, settings and scenarios to be established, and emotional weight to be installed. We’re dealing with an entire squadron of twelve pilots here, plus supporting characters and villains, and many of them appear for the first time here; in short, there’s a lot of ground to cover. Don’t let that fool you into thinking nothing happens, though; one of Michael Stackpole’s strengths seems to be the ability to strike a balance, or so it seems thus far. He gives us plenty of character moments; but he also gives us the twin Battles of Borleias, great set pieces of starfighter combat. There are other, smaller battles scattered throughout the book as well. Stackpole also seems to be adept at using a minimum number of scenes to establish drama; for example, pilot Lujayne Forge only gets one in-depth scene, but it’s enough to make her death, the first in the squadron, carry a great deal of weight for her fellow pilots, and for us as readers. (I very much wanted her to live, and I’m not quite ready to forgive Stackpole for letting her die first.)

Stackpole doesn’t shy away from deaths, either. By the end of the book, three pilots—a quarter of the squadron—are dead, with no replacements yet in sight. That’s quite a number for an introductory novel. The shadow of death always looms large over the Rogues; it’s reiterated many times that all starfighter squadrons have high death rates, and Rogue Squadron more than most.  The best course of action for the reader, it seems, is to assume that if the character is newly created for this series, one should not get too attached to him or her.

As I mentioned, we focus on Corran Horn. Horn is a hotshot pilot from Corellia, a former member of Corellian Security (aka CorSec), forced to go on the run to escape the evil intentions of Kirtan Loor, who was the Imperial Intelligence Liaison at Corran’s branch of CorSec. Corran will one day be a Jedi, like his grandfather before him; but he knows nothing of that yet. Fortunately for us, it appears Corran’s future was planned to some degree in advance, because there are definite hints of his Force abilities here, although he doesn’t recognize them as such. Much time is spent discussing his past with CorSec, especially as it relates to Kirtan Loor, Corran’s father Hal Horn, and former supervisor Gil Bastra. Most of this discussion comes through interactions with Lujayne Forge, who hails from the prison world of Kessel—to which Corran routinely consigned prisoners while with CorSec—and smuggler Mirax Terrik, whose father Booster Terrik was apprehended and sent to Kessel by Corran’s father. Early hints also appear of the future relationship between Corran and Mirax, which will precipitate the events of I, Jedi.

The novel leaves us poised for the campaign to retake Coruscant—but other plot threads are left dangling as well. New pilots are needed for the Rogues, with little time to prepare and train. The squadron’s military protocol droid, M3PO (“Emtrey” for short) has secrets which are yet to be revealed. The disposition of Borleias has not yet been shown. Corran’s relationship with Mirax has yet to find its feet. Tycho Celchu’s mysterious past has not been revealed…and Rogue Squadron has a spy in their midst.

Overall: There’s a lot to take in here! I suspect that later novels won’t have to feel quite so busy, and will be able to take their time with the storytelling. That is in no way an insult to Stackpole’s work here; he’s done an amazing job of including everything that needed to be included, while still keeping the reader hooked. There’s always housekeeping to be done in the first novel of a series; but Stackpole does it with efficiency and style. I find myself looking forward to what lies ahead, not just for Corran’s story, but for all the Rogues, and even our villains. As usual, the villains start out as what I like to call “stock plus one”—that is, stock villains plus one defining characteristic. In the case of Kirtan Loor, his “plus one” is an eidetic memory on which he perhaps relies too much; for Borleias’ Imperial General Evir Derricote, it’s his provincial secret-keeping; for Ysanne Isard, it’s her sheer fearsomeness. Already the characters are beginning to develop, however—especially Loor, who is undermined and redeemed several times in the novel. Overall it’s a good mix, and sets us up well for the series. I expected that, while the series would be good, there would be nothing new; and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that that is not the case. I’m enjoying it, and you will as well.

Next time: We’ll attack Coruscant in book two, Wedge’s Gamble! See you there.

X-Wing: Rogue Squadron is available from Amazon and other booksellers.

You can find Wookieepedia’s treatment of the novel here.

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