With the release of the new novel Aftermath, we have begun the journey to The Force Awakens. This is a multi-part plan to tell the story of what happened after the destruction of the Death Star over Endor and ultimately set the stage for The Force Awakens.
This is not the first bridge story that we have in Star Wars. The Clone Wars animated show expertly bridged the three-year gap between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, telling us the story of a galaxy at war during the tumultuous Clone Wars. Following in the wake of the Clone Wars we have the new animated show Rebels and the comic book, Kanan. Rebels explores the rise of the Empire and builds into the events of A New Hope. While, Kanan gives us the story immediately following the events of Revenge of the Sith and Order 66.
However, there is still one large area of the timeline that is yet unexplored in the new canon and was not well touched upon in the Legends era Expanded Universe either, the 10 year gap between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. This era seems rife with stories to tell, but there are only a few that have been told. It strikes me as odd to leave such a large stretch of the story untold. The Legends era only had 3 novels and the Scholastic Jedi Apprentice series to cover those 10 years worth of story. The current canon has no stories about the Jedi’s reaction to the Sith’s return, or what adventures a young Obi-wan Kenobi and his new padawan Anakin Skywalker went on together.
I know these are stories that I want to hear. I want to see Obi-wan training the young Skywalker, his successes, and his failures. What adventures bonded the two and what threatened to tear them apart? When did the Jedi begin their search for Darth Sidious? Were there clues on Naboo to lead them in their search? How did they react to the death of Qui-Gon Jinn? What changes did Palpatine make in the Senate? What more can we learn about Syfo-Dias, Count Dooku and the clones?
I’m sure that Lucasfilm has a plan to tell stories in that corner of the timeline. However, it will most likely be several years before we see anything since the current focus is moving away from the prequel era and on to the original and sequel trilogies. From a business standpoint, of course, this makes perfect sense. That is the era where the future movies will be set, and let’s not forget that Star Wars first and foremost is a film franchise.
As a fan, I can hope that Lucasfilm will make plans to explore every part of the Star Wars timeline, past, present and future.
Author: Paul Depaola
Born in the desert, raised on the beach and now residing in the mountains. An obsessive, compulsive geek with a tendency to bring everything back to Star Wars. In his spare time he is TK-5990, a proud member of the 501st Legion. Paul is also the host of his own podcast, Fanboys Talking.