The Star Wars movies accidentally created a notable continuity issue that Legends-era (and later modern canon) materials would solve. In a massive transmedia franchise like Star Wars, continuity errors are, unfortunately, inevitable, which is why it is important to use retroactive continuity to patch up errors when possible. Before its transformation as the alternate Legends timeline, the Star Wars Expanded Universe was the franchise’s official continuity, and it often employed retcons to not only ensure that non-movie materials remained as canonical as the live-action movies themselves but – in one case – provided necessary continuity maintenance for the saga itself.
The modern Star Wars canon, which supplanted Legends in 2014, was in the ideal position to have an even tidier continuity than Legends. Unfortunately, the modern canon has had more continuity snarls in its near decade of existence than Legends had in almost 40 years. The modern canon notably borrows heavily from the older Legends continuity, using it as a wellspring of inspiration for new stories in addition to creating unique lore. Thankfully, one such element of the Legends timeline that carried over into the newer canon is a continuity fix for the Star Wars Skywalker Saga.
How To Watch Star Wars Movies In Order
Here is how to watch all Star Wars movies and TV shows chronologically and in order of release, and how each fits into the Star Wars timeline.
Attack Of The Clones Created A Major Continuity Problem
In A New Hope (formerly known as Star Wars), Obi-Wan Kenobi gives Luke Skywalker (and the viewers) an overview of the Jedi Knights and the bygone Galactic Republic they once served. According to Kenobi, the Jedi Knights served the Republic for “over a thousand generations,” indicating that the Jedi Order and the Republic are tens of thousands of years old. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones would contradict this early on. As the Separatist Crisis intensified, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared that he would not let the Republic, “which has stood for a thousand years,” be divided.
Of course, since Palpatine secretly controlled the Confederacy of Independent Systems in his other identity of Darth Sidious, he did technically keep his Republic unified. While Palpatine’s declaration may seem like the sort of blustering hyperbole one might expect from a politician, his description of the Republic and Obi-Wan’s in A New Hope do not contradict each other. Thanks to the lore established by the Star Wars: Jedi vs Sith comic series by Darko Macan and Ramón F. Bachs, both descriptions are true, with the New Sith Wars and subsequent Republic Dark Age having a profound effect on the Republic.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Years after the events of The Phantom Menace, the Skywalker Saga continues with Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. When Senator Padme Amidala’s life is threatened, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are tasked with her protection. While Obi-Wan uncovers a clone army made in secret, Anakin falls in love with Padme, marking the beginning of his inevitable fall to the dark side of the Force.
Star Wars’ New Sith Wars Fixed Lucas’ Continuity Problem
The Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic existed long before the New Sith Wars, matching Obi-Wan Kenobi’s description in A New Hope. By the end of the New Sith Wars, however, the Sith had nearly brought galactic civilization to its knees, with the Republic existing in name but not in function. The Republic’s resources were debilitated to the point that its member systems outside of the Core Worlds required Jedi to serve as de facto rulers, with Jedi adopting the titles of Lords, Barons, or Kings. The war’s conclusion brought about significant changes for both the Jedi and Republic, however.
The Ruusan campaign brought an end to the New Sith Wars (and seemingly the Sith themselves), and the subsequent Ruusan Reformation saw the reestablishment of a functioning Galactic Republic. Both the Jedi and the Republic were demilitarized and the two entities were separated, making Palpatine’s description of the Republic in Attack of the Clones correct. When Palpatine referrs to the Republic that has “stood for a thousand years,” he is describing the modern Republic that formed in the aftermath of the Ruusan campaign.
Later in Attack of the Clones, Sio Bible – worrying about the impending war with the Separatists – notes that there has not been a “full scale war since the formation of the Republic.” Of course, the full scale war that Bibble references is the New Sith Wars and the formation of the Republic refers to the Ruusan Reformation. While there were plenty of conflicts in the millennium between the Ruusan campaign and the Separatist Crisis, none compared to the sheer magnitude of the New Sith Wars, at least until the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars.
The New Sith Wars Are Still Star Wars Canon
The broad strokes of the New Sith Wars carried over into the modern Star Wars canon. Now known as the Jedi-Sith War, the conflict similarly saw the apparent destruction of the Sith and the reorganization of the “Old Republic” into the modern Galactic Republic seen in the prequel trilogy. While the war is not explored quite as thoroughly yet, it nevertheless allows the differing descriptions of the Republic from Obi-Wan Kenobi and Palpatine in Star Wars to both be correct.
All Star Wars movies and TV shows are available to stream on Disney+
