A Q&A Event at the Star Wars Celebration Reveals The Old Republic is No Longer Part of the Star Wars Canon

This year’s Star Wars Celebration could be considered the biggest in the event’s history bringing with it huge reveals and news. Fans were able to get: their first look at the new Battlefront game from DICE, an unbelievable trailer for The Force Awakens, plus the announcement of a new tie-in novel from a writer at BioWare. Mixed in with all of that fantastic news however was another cut to the Star Wars Canon.

After being bought out by Disney the Star Wars Universe has been going through big changes. That’s been confusing to a lot of fans, especially the choice to cut away the majority of the Extended Universe. To help clear up the confusion Peter Hidalgo, a man who has been adding to the Extended Universe for years, was chosen to do a Q&A session.

Hidalgo has been part of the team deciding the limits of the Star Wars Cannon since the Disney buy out. At the Star Wars Celebration he was eager to help clear up fans lingering questions about all the changes that were made. One question in particular has stood out:

Q: Are The Old Republic expansions canon?

A: No — BioWare “has created their own universe that is so fantastic,” we’re not going to change it, says Hidalgo.

The Old Republic has been met with mixed reactions from fans since its release; so this change doesn’t come as a complete surprise. That doesn’t mean fans won’t be disappointed; fans of the Old Republic are sure to be sad its characters won’t be playing a bigger role. Unfortunately it doesn’t have much choice but to try cutting back on the Star Wars Cannon by taking out lore like the Old Republic. The franchise has had decades of uncontrolled lore build up that has to be cleaned up to keep it on track.

Hidalgo did leave fans hope that the Old Republic’s character may make a return. Suggesting that non-cannon events may appear in new official lore. Disney may be planning to tap into the Old Republic later on as they continue to expand the Star Wars Universe. They have already announced plans for spin-off movies, TV shows, and a long list of new novels. All of which could explore the potent time period that the Old Republic is set in.

The move will still cause rumbling among fans but in the end they can be happy that BioWare still has the option to be part of the Star Wars Universe. Disney has big plans for the franchise which is sure to include all new games. BioWare is sure to be one of the first studios they turn to when the time comes for a new story driven Star Wars game.

Source: Star Wars.com