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Welcome to Star Wars Beyond the Films!
This time on Star Wars Beyond the Films, your hosts Mark and Nathan discuss crowding of content in the Star Wars timeline, specifically in certain areas where there seem to be so many (albeit good) stories set in one, short span of time that you wonder how the characters could possibly get from one place to the next so quickly, and when they might have time to go to the restroom.
They also both had several, exciting announcements to make!
On Friday, March 23rd, Nathan and his girlfriend Jodi got engaged!
On March 18th, Mark become a father once again when Jaina, he and his wife’s little sword of the Jedi, was born!
A hearty congratulations to both of them!
Do we need more Han and Chewbacca stories, more Luke stories, and more stories of that kind (especially if they’re set right after Yavin or in other, heavily explored time periods), when there are already so many stories of the “Big Three”…. Will these stories need to be forcibly shoehorned in just to fit with the continuity and specific time-frames? And, will this be a problem, or something that fan’s enjoy and want?
Are certain parts of the timeline too packed? Does adding one more adventure hurt other stories integrity? Does it even matter?
Star Wars: Scoundrels was brought up in the discussion, but are the Big Three the only characters who could be susceptible to cramming? Will Scoundrels be more like Fast Five Star Wars style? Wait, Nathan’s actually excited about Scoundrels?!
Rebel Force was one of the latest additions to these timeframes, as was Death Troopers, and Shadow Games.
Are there Original Trilogy time frames that are lost to fandom? (Older works that have not been re-written or re-printed.)
Should there be more “Don’t go there” places in the timeline? Places where the EU should have to leave alone for now?
Do fans want more cramming of the OT timeline with more Big Three tales in-spite of that time being already a bit crowded with the main characters tales?
Did the old way of publishing cause more issues with stories being tread over?
In the Insider issue 132 there was an article, Star Wars: Expanding Empire, by Ryder Windham which garnered high praise from both hosts. This Insider article deals with many of these publishing issues.
Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell, the Death Star plans, and a couple other story-lines that have been covered from multiple angles sometime create the potential for issues, yet when issues come up they are sometimes glossed over.
The Death Star Plans have been chronicled in: Interlude at Darkknell, Jedi Dawn, Dark Forces, Death Star, Shadow Games and possibly others.
On the other hand, Invasion was held back until after other stories had finished/were settled.
Should stories that are so interconnected be more well thought out vs, added to over the years with new info added with each new additions?
Another factor in this is: Does the format matter to you as a reader? Meaning, are games less important than the comics to you? Or do the comics mean less than the books? Do the books mean less than the movies? Do they all mean the same barring conflicts, and is it different for each individual?
Has continuity been a less important issue from the corporate perspective?
After much discussion the hosts feel that between 4 and 5 is the most crammed of all the Star Wars timeline. But they do see the merit in telling the back-story of the main characters. What about the other EU Characters though? Mara gets page time, but what about the Solo kids?
The Big Three are the touch stones of the EU in a lot of ways. They ARE the gateway to the EU for many first time readers.
And sometimes you’re not the reader the publisher was aiming at.
Mark rants about the New Jedi Order Era being shoehorned by it’s own “series” and the need of more Tales books, Tales of the New Jedi Order and so forth. Corran Horn’s leave of absence could be fun to explore. And new characters’ back-stories being explored could feel more like mining new information, instead of cramming.
Mark continued with his occasional feelings he gets from the marketing and publishing of the EU. Nathan draws attention to series that play into the other side of things, and balance was achieved.
Nathan brings up the Star Wars Adventure Journals and why they were so much fun, and how many of the Tales stories came from the Adventure Journals.
Nathan ponders on stories that could happen in the crammed timeframe that could work very well, and both hosts feel that crammed eras can have great stories. The stories just need to be done well, and not rushed. A Boba Fett’s past Flow chart may be needed.
Star Wars has proved time and again that it can make things work. You just have to roll with the punches. You can’t have a light side without a dark side, but you do need a Chosen One to bring balance to both sides of the Force!
Enjoy this episode of Star Wars Beyond the Films, and may the Force be with you!
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Author: admin
The Star Wars Report: A Star Wars Podcasting Network and Website.