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George Lucas never cared at all about traditional knowledge , which makesStar Warsfandom ’s obsession with it all the more ironic . Lucasfilm ’s latest passing , The Acolyte , was controversial before it even came out ; but affair only aggravate as each instalment dropped , with frequent title it had somehow broken canon and lore . Some argued that Osha and Mae minify the significance of theChosen One prophecy , while others debated such esoteric points as the age of Jedi Master Ki - Adi - Mundi .
leave away the question of motif , it ’s entrancing to note the slant popular YouTubers took to attack this latestStar WarsDisney+ telly show . While some discussedThe Acolyteon its own meritoriousness - debate the writing , story momentum , and public presentation - the master stress was always on the lore . This paid off ; many telecasting netted YouTubers a tidy net profit , with million of views . But why is theStar Warsfandom so haunt with traditional knowledge ?
George Lucas Couldn’t Care Less About Lore
The creator of Star Wars considered lore to be a distraction for a storyteller
Lightsabers are such an iconic part ofStar Warslore , but you may be surprised to hear that the original draft ring them " lazerswords . " Lucas did n’t care the name , though , because he felt a address to optical maser would lead to some viewers debate the scientific truth of it all . He need to tell a science - illusion story , not a skill - fable one , mean he wanted the rule to be much more flexible . And so lightsabers were contain - because Lucas did n’t want masses deflect by askinghow lightsabers knead . That ’s how footling he cared about consistence .
George Lucas did n’t actually amount up with the name " lightsaber . “That was a contribution from science - fable and fantasy source Alan Dean Foster .
Fast - forward to product ofThe Empire Strikes Back , and it ’s illustrious how uncoerced Lucas was to retcon everything he ’d done before . Because that ’s what the iconic " I am your father " moment really is - a retcon , expose that everything Obi - Wan told Luke about his father was a lie . The theme that Leia is Luke ’s sister inReturn of the Jedi ? That ’s a retcon too , and it even take exchange Leia ’s age to make her Luke ’s twin . Lucas did n’t care about persistence if it got in the way of his story .
I ’ll never forget a tale from Dave Filoni , Lucas ' protégé , in which he discussed sour with Lucas onStar Wars : The Clone Wars . At one point , Lucas settle he wanted a little ship to essentially be a stealth fighter aircraft , complete with a cloaking field . Filoni , well aware of the lore , object that no ship this size should have a cloak due to power constraint . " This one does , " Lucas insisted , and that was that . That ’s how little lore mattered to Lucas .
Star Wars Fans Have Always Been Focused On Lore
There are good reasons for this interest in lore, even if it’s flawed
Star Warsfans , of course , have always taken a very different view . I think there ’s a good grounds for this ; their love forStar Warsmeans they want to immerse themselves in the world(s ) that Lucas created , and that ’s much easier to do when you have a consistent set of rules and a story that grant you to place thing in it . It ’s deserving remember that fanfictions and RPGs have always been a massive part of the dealership , and these take advantage of that consistency .
Making matters even more complicated , though , is the sense of entitlement that some piece of the fanbase have train . Again , I think there are grounds for this ; it ’s hard for modern viewers to imagine , but there was a metre whenStar Warsseemed to be dead , when there were at most a few comics , and certainly noupcomingStar Warsmovieson the horizon . At that fourth dimension , the enfranchisement fundamentally did belong to the viewing audience , and they soon develop a sense of ownership .
The Star Wars fandom is well - have it off for its arguing . After over 30 years in the fandom , I conceive I ’ve last figure out the trouble …
This , of trend , is one major ground the fanbase clashed massively with Lucas himself when he fall to make the prequels . I was part of the fandom back then , and I well recollect how we discourse and argue the finer points of the latest motion picture to forecast out how to make them work with the EU . Many seemed to take this as an almost personal slight , because they had forgotten one round-eyed truth ; George Lucas ownedStar Wars , they did not , and he did n’t really care about their lore .
Lucas' Attitude To Lore Is Healthy
But it still shouldn’t be pushed too far
George Lucas was n’t really invested in the worlds he was creating , in the rule and history that marry everything together . No , he ’s a storyteller first and foremost , and he want to tell his story . He did n’t care if that think negate something that had gone before , whether it was established in his own film , a random CD - fixed storage or an RPG sourcebook . For Lucas , the floor was what count first and foremost .
This feels like a much sizeable advance to storytelling . Too often , canon and persistence can feel like chains on a writer , restrict them rather than release them to tell exciting chronicle . And yet , I ca n’t avail feel there are limits to it , retcons that are n’t judicious because they completely nullify something that has gone before . I ’m believe ofStar Wars : The Bad Batch ’s premiere here , which straight contradicted some excellentKanancomics , or ofTales of the Jedierasing LGBTQ+ characters from E.K. Johnston ’s novelAhsoka .
discover what those two exemplar do , though , that is unlike to - say - Lucas ' cloaked ship . In the case ofThe Bad Batch , it flinch the galaxy , because it just means everybody is connect somehow to everybody else . InTales of the Jedi , fictional character and idea are actively erased , a narrative choice made even more frustrating because these characters give some much - needed diverseness to the galaxy . On expression , I reckon there are two approaching we can take to lore when it comes to retcons like this , if you ’ll forgive me borrowing some terms from the field of operations of geographics :
There ’s still something very immanent to this , of course . To circle back toThe Acolyte ’s backlash , I in person did n’t see anything about Osha and Mae that diminished the choose One in the slight ; they were consciously create by personnel - sensitives using a Force power that ’s inferred inStar Wars : Episode III - Revenge of the SIth , whereas Anakin was created by the will of the Force itself . In general , I think the best approach is one that give the benefit of the doubt , actively looking to see what is added rather than move out .
One thing ’s for trusted . George Lucas himself would n’t even care about this level of thought ; he ’d simply want to tell whatever story he ’d come up with in a afford moment , and pretty much anything could be rewrite because of a spur - of - the - moment decision . MaybeStar Warsfans should at least attempt to take the heat out of this public debate , recognizing the truth that a story is not a Wikipedia debut ( or a Wookipedia bio ) , and … let people tell their story .
Upcoming Star Wars Movies
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Release Date
The Mandalorian & Grogu
May 22 , 2026
