Not so long ago in our own galaxy, a novel by the name of Heir to the Empire was released. It was the first of its kind—the first time an author was allowed to “expand” the Star Wars universe and write a novel that took place the events of the original films. The novel and its sequels, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command, performed well beyond expectations, and the Expanded Universe was born.
The novels, as acclaimed as they are, suffer from a fatal flaw—certain topics, such as the identity of Luke and Leia’s mother, the Clone Wars, and Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side, were off limits, and they continued to be so until the prequel trilogy was released. Because of this, the galaxy far far away was shaped in a way that did not necessarily mesh with what we learned from the prequel trilogy. Even more, Luke and Leia were left in the dark for many years about their mother as well as the events surrounding Anakin’s fall (even though Obi-Wan Kenobi could have most certainly told Luke much more information about his past during their discussion on Dagobah during Return of the Jedi or even later visits).
Today, the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe is a very different place than during the New Republic era. This is somewhat understandable, as some 35 years have passed in the timeline since Heir to the Empire. But, even more, the landscape has been changed irrevocably by the knowledge gained from the prequel trilogy. The unique Jedi Order that Luke created, and the government that Leia helped shape, has given way to an almost carbon copy of what was presented in the prequels.
