Disney Star Wars Stans Are Zombies

Never watched the full show, but I did decide to watch the Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader duel in the final episode.

In the context of that scene alone (and by extension, arguably, the Revenge of the Sith climax) then, sure, it definitely has an emotional gravitas to it; Obi-Wan is overcome with sorrow of everything that has happened and regrets that the bond between him and Anakin has become so broken, while Vader has cut himself off from his past and allowed rage and grief consume him completely, which in turn alleviates Obi-Wan of some of his guilt as he comes terms that Anakin’s choices were his alone, allowing him to move on. Credit does have to be given to Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen for the material they were given and delivering a convincing performance of a shattered brotherhood.

It works… If you just pretend the original trilogy doesn’t exist and don’t care to align with it. Which is exactly what this show does. Drama, even believable drama, doesn’t always mean good writing, which is something I think Disney Star Wars fans don’t get; they fail to take into account the larger picture. You basically covered all the main points of how this dishonours the original trilogy, so I won’t reiterate them, here. But it leaves me a little worried about the future of the franchise – Not to give them ideas, but imagine if Disney decided to remake the original trilogy so it better aligns with this show and their sequel trilogy. If that happens, I think I’ll be beyond caring.

While I’m on this subject, I want to some thoughts off my chest: Over the years, I’ve been seeing some fans clamoring for “Legends” – the old EU – to come back. While I understand the sentiment, I’m not really sure if they truly understand what they’re asking. If anything, we should be thankful Disney decided to jettison the old EU – It’s been eight years, and just look at how much of a mess they’ve made of their own extended universe. At best, you could perhaps pretend bits and parts of it exists within the timeline of the old EU, as long it exists in isolation from the the rest of Disney canon (i.e. Timothy Zahn’s new Thrawn trilogy; but I admit to not having read those books). But it’s mostly vacuous, mediocre codswallop which is difficult to get invested in, and at worst bears insufferable leftist tropes.

If Disney can’t get their own stories right, why on Earth would you trust them with handling the legacy of the original EU? They would’ve undoubtedly butchered it the same way they’ve done to the main saga. Do we really need Mara Jade or Jaina Solo being turned into total “Girl Bosses”? What about Kyle Katarn? Imagine if we finally got a Jedi Knight III after all these years only for him to be given the Jake Skywalker treatment? And there’s news of a KotOR remake; I’m not going to freak out over any speculations which have yet to happen, but I’m going to assume this will probably bring the events of KotOR into the Disney timeline, and by doing so they’ll likely retcon Revan’s canon sex into female. That in of itself isn’t a problem, but if they go that route it’ll very likely be politically motivated as a way to provoke and “piss of the misogynerds” and start online drama.

Bottom line being, in a weird sort of way, we should be grateful to Disney for deciding that the old EU wasn’t worth their time and attention, and they showed first-hand how unfit they are to carry the Star Wars legacy by putting forward products like this which are insipid and uninspired. It’s tragic that the old EU won’t continue, but it’s better off being left alone if this is what the alternative looks like.

@Roas Well, you certainly are more optimistic than I am on that front. A multi-billion dollar company like Disney is going to have its fangs sunk in tight and is going to bleed Star Wars for every penny that it’s worth, and once there’s nothing left they’ll likely just lock it up in a vault, somewhere. Disney paid like, 4 billion or something to acquire Lucasfilm. They’re never going to let go something as big as Star Wars, not even if they were offered twice that amount. They’ll take it with them to the grave (so to speak). I’m in basic agreement with you that getting it out of Disney’s hands is the most ideal solution, I just don’t see it happening.

I probably sound very cynical: Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to put a dour on anyone’s spirits. I’m just stating the situation as I see it. Channels likes yours, I think, are important in some way to show there’s love and appreciation for the old EU, that they weren’t just a bunch of filler like Disney’s new canon. Who knows, maybe what you’re wishing for might happen sooner than we think (if at all): Kenobi was evidently supposed to be a movie, the fact that it was an episodic series instead shows Disney aren’t making as much money as they would like and aren’t willing to invest more than they have to. I don’t know where you go from there. You would think the recent cinematic failures would force Disney to reshuffle the entire Lucasfilm cabinet (and of course get rid of the current official “story group),” but they obviously don’t care and/or there be must some serious political/financial red tape we don’t know of to the point firing a certain someone would be a bigger headache than letting things stay as they are.