Star Wars Expanded Universe Timeline Latest News

4/13/21 Ewoks

I've decided to move the two Ewoks films, Caravan of Courage and the Battle for Endor to after Return of the Jedi (technically after the Alliance leaves Endor in the Marvel series). It's never made sense to me to have it take place earlier. Not only does Cindel teach Wicket Basic, but the whole attitude of the tribe is protective towards the Humans, not skeptical or hostile, as with the way Han, Luke, and Leia were treated by them. Also, the Marauders do quite a bit of damage to Bright Tree Village. That couldn't have been fixed overnight. Placing it after the animated series also eliminates the issue of Choka-Trok's death at the end of Caravan of Courage. Of course, if anyone can think of any reason that it shouldn't be post-ROTJ (besides "Because Lucasfilm said so"), let me know! ;)

Site news: I added the trailers for the cancelled Lucasarts game 1313--thanks to Pete Hale!

4/12/21 Site Update

Thanks to Quinlan Vos for his help with Star Wars Mythos, which I'd completely overlooked! All six shorts (and their backup links) are on the timeline now in their respective places! I've also been shuffling around Ewoks stories to better reflect their prospective seasonal cues (often explicit in the books).

4/10/21 Site Update and New Art Coming

As I'm going through the Ewoks episodes again (now that they're on Disney+), I'm rearranging the episodes to reflect the information present in the episodes. For example, Teebo is training under Logray in S1, episode 7's "Curse of the Jindas," but hasn't even started that process until episode 9's "Sunstar vs. Shadowstone," a few episodes later. A comet is seen in the sky at the end of Season 1's "Land of the Gupins," but this isn't resolved until Season 2's "Night of the Stranger," which would place those episodes back-to-back. "The Haunted Village" has the Duloks wishing for soap they could use to stave off insects. In "The Cries of the Trees," which aired prior, they get that relief from Morag.

As to new art, SE now has a second artist onboard! I'll update this page with a sample of new work when I have the first one in hand!

4/1/21 SE Update!

Hey guys, with winter's end upon us, it's time for an update on Supernatural Encounters!

With the help of my amazing editors and proofreaders, I've finished another draft and begun editing the endnotes (which needed some attention). Once those are done, I'll create a physical proof with which, I'll go over what will essentially be the last draft.

By then, I expect to have the final illustration and map (both of which are being worked on as we speak) and can begin the layout process. Upon completion, I'll order another proof copy and go over everything for the last time to make sure it's 100%.

Then, I start shipping out contributor copies... and prepare the web version and PDF.

So, we're getting there! I want to thank all of you for your incredible patience! Everyone on my team has been working night and day to get this done right. The truth is: Continuity is not for wimps!

Of course, the journey doesn't end with SE. We have the German Ewoks stories coming for the first time in English (expect that in late Spring/early Summer), to be followed, at long last, by English translations of the four Hungarian Han Solo books (potentially by year's end)!

(This recovered image appears to be a fragment of a much larger piece--I can only imagine what he's looking at, just out of frame...)

3/14/21 Site Update

I added Jedi Temple Challenge to the post-TPM period... Why? Because it easily fits in the Expanded Universe; because Ahmed Best is great; and because it's a cute "in-universe" kids show with short stories embedded in each of the ten episodes (it would be nice if LFL published those, actually). Perhaps more controversially, I also added Star Wars Theory's Vader fan-films. Why? Because the quality's great, the story fits the EU, and creator Danny Ramirez is someone who genuinely loves and understands Star Wars. I know some of you may balk at the inclusion of one or both, and that's totally fine; you're free to ignore any or all of the above. From my perspective, Star Wars is best when it grows and has a sense of fun. There is no governing body overseeing the Expanded Universe--which is now basically a stalled universe in the sense that there is no new material being produced apart from what few unpublished stories I can dig up from the past [and there's quite a bit of that coming your way this year, from Supernatural Encounters to the Hungarian Han Solo books to the German Ewoks]. So, really, it's us--the fans--who are the governing body as to what is and isn't canon. And that's no bad thing. Thus, I see far more positive than negative in adding to this timeline a fan-film that I think is excellent and beloved by so many. Your mileage may vary (and there's no judgment there), for which reason I've kept the individual eras for strict pre-2014 EU canon. The point of this is simply to say that there's a place in Star Wars for fans of all stripes... and Star Wars stories of all stripes. But this is the start of a conversation, not the culmination of one, and a conversation we'll revisit again in the months ahead....

3/4/21 More Ewoks and More Updates...

I updated the Ewoks and Droids comics to include the extra titles for their 2nd and sometimes 3d parts. I also added the German Ewoks magazines and paperbacks. I've got one more translation coming and then it's done. Special Thanks to Thomas Rathausky for that! As soon as I've given that an edit, I'll release them together online here. There's five issues in total and they're quite good!

As far as Supernatural Encounters is concerned, I anticipate producing a physical proof copy on which to do a final edit some time by month's end. The artist is working on the final illustration, which I expect to have in hand in another month's time, at which I'll begin the layout. Then, I'll order another proof copy--and, if it's perfect--begin sending them out physical copies to contributors and then put it online for the public!

I'll keep you all informed as we move along each step of the process.

P.S. Han Solo fans--translations of the four Hungarian Han Solo books are continuing!

2/27/21 E...E...E...E...E...E...Ewoks

JaajJeej made a good suggestion to move the Ewoks Season 1 to before The Empire Strikes Back to demonstrate their growth and changes between the first two seasons. It makes sense. I also put the young readers Ewoks mini-books a year before that. I've been rereading the comics of late in order to better place the forthcoming German translations. Good stuff!

2/26/21 Site Update

Thanks to Michael Vassallo for pointing out that I was missing the first chapter of Jedi Quest: Path to Truth and the first RPG stories from Star Wars Adventures Magazine (which are adaptations of Obi-Wan's story from Kamino to Geonosis in Episode II).

2/10/21 Site Update

Thanks to Ryan Winter for updates on TOR: Knights of the Eternal Throne, updates 6.0-6.2.

Also, thanks to JaajJeej for providing info on the Star Tours: The Adventure Continues simulator ride theme park attraction, which I added to 3-1 months BBY. His reasoning for the breakdown is as follows:

Opening

Queue and Boarding

Pre-show

Spaceport Sequence: Millennium Falcon version (before the speeder leaves the spaceport)

Spaceport Sequence: Darth Vader version

Spaceport Sequence: Millennium Falcon version (rest of the version, ending with the ship entering hyperspace is also a part of the Vader version)

Hoth (likely the first planet given the intro--also likely the same battle from Rebel Assault--this should be considered non-canon as Hoth was not known until Luke discovered it in "Iceworld" from the Star Wars newspaper strips)

Ackbar Message (this is apparently the first message they receive, although 3PO is surprised by all of them so its possible to put all 3 messages following Kahsyyyk)

Coruscant (to fit with Tatooine leading into Tatooine Trader)

Tatooine (seems to be the first time the ship gets into a chase, so before Kashyyyk)

Tatooine Trader (apparently its a store at Disney right after the ride, but its modeled to be in universe. Must be after they receive one of the messages)

Yoda Message

Kashyyyk (last planet before they receive the final message)

Leia Message

Geonosis/Death Star (final encounter with the empire, scenes before the ship gets to hyperspace only)

Naboo (the glass brakes at the end, so it must be after all other planets)

Geonosis/Death Star final scene (finale of the ride with the ship finding Home One)

The Star Trader (another Disney store around the ride)

1/30/21 Site Update

More fine-tuning on Republic Heroes (thanks to Noam) as mentioned below. I also added Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game (Assault on the Death Star), which featured David Prowse and James Earl Jones reprising their role for a story that takes place right before Return of the Jedi. I'm not sure how the continuity would work (since Death Star II's laser was supposed to be inoperable, but maybe that's what the Rebel infiltrators end up doing?). In either case, it's in-continuity as Abel Pena referenced the events of it in his Dark Forces Saga RPG articles.

1/29/21 Site Update

Thanks to Noam Nederby Jessen for helping me fine-tune the placement of the various missions in the Republic Heroes DS version!

1/25/21 Site Update

Thanks to Vaughn Everlast (and earlier Alex Payne) for pointing out that episodes 4 and 5 of TCW Season 4 were in the wrong place on the Clone Wars Viewing Order. It's been fixed!

1/21/21 Site Update

Thanks again to JaajJeej for an update on the Clone Wars: Republic Heroes video games. Apparently, the DS and PSP versions are different. Also, their missions have now been properly put in their respective locations where they take place!

Thanks to Eddie van der Heijden, I updated the links to all the vanished in-universe Hyperpace articles. While I was at it, I also added links to the author's cut of The Essential Guide to Warfare.

1/18/21 Site Update

Thanks to JaajJeej, I added the Vector Prime commercial, which has a voiceover of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker discussing, in-brief, the events that occurred in that book, which, therefore, makes it in-universe. Coming soon will be the Living Force campaign RPGs, which Mark Thons provided!

1/17/21 Meaning in Words

The words that the Loth-Wolf Dume says to young Jedi Ezra Bridger in the fourth and final season of Rebels, and the implications of it in that eleventh episode of the same name, has meaning for Star Wars fans that I believe we'll see come to pass this year, likely from the forthcoming live-action series by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau... but for those of you who are less hopeful, this phrase, "Restore the past, Redeem the future" has additional meanings that do not depend on the powers-that-be at Lucasfilm to fulfill. We'll discuss these things and more in the year ahead. Stay tuned.

1/8/21 More EU on the Way!

Five previously unknown (to most) exclusive Ewoks prose stories have been discovered and are being translated for the first time into English by a friend. I just edited the first one. What's fascinating is that it's a sequel to issue #4 of the Ewoks comic-book series! Stay tuned for more info and details to come!