I confess I am not a fan of Disney Star Wars. It has been a car crash right from the first sequel movie (with the exception of the Mandalorian and the Book of Boba Fett) and the latest installment continues that fine tradition.
What The Actual Fuck!
I'm just a jobbing DM okay, but I understand continuity and if you are going to write a story in a well established universe then there are some rules you have to follow or you are going to fuck it up.
1. Don't rewrite canon!
Established events are exactly that ESTABLISHED. If it happened in a previous story then it must happen again. If a character says something which ordains a historic set of actions then any prequel story you write must maintain those actions or events.
For example when Leia contacts Obi Wan Kenobi she refers to him as a Jedi who fought alongside my father in the clone wars. This intimates that she has never met him herself and has only heard about him through the war stories her father told her. So don't set up a 6 part prequel TV series with the singular premise of finding and rescuing the kidnapped 10 year version of Leia.
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| Don't worry farm boy, I got this |
Another example would be the meeting of Kenobi and Vader aboard the Death Star in A New Hope when Vader tells him that the last time they met he was but the learner and now he is the master. This clearly refers to their last encounter on Mustafa when Anakin was Kenobi's padawan. Don't set up a showdown that breaks the canon and can only end in a standoff because you can't kill either of the main characters.
2. Be consistent with your characters!
The mark of an incompetent writer is to set up an event and then to back out of it when they realise that they have written themselves into a plot cul de sac. They usually hit reverse with some mcguffin of an idea which further compounds their error and highlights their incompetence.
For example in the quarry standoff between Kenobi and Vader the Dark Lord of the Sith uses his considerable power to drag Kenobi around like a ragdoll and put out flames with a wave of his hand. But when the writer has realised that Kenobi is going to die (which can't happen right) he is suddenly defeated by flames and cannot force grab the droid rescuing Kenobi. Pathetic writing which isn't even consistent with the events of a few seconds ago.
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| Can someone call the firebrigade? |
A lesser event but no less irritating occurs when the stormtrooper tells Kenobi to tell them his "long story" as it's a long ride and then no more than three minutes later that's it the stormtroopers are at their destination. Let's be honest, It wasn't a long story and the stormtroopers were a few miles at best away from their destination. For God's sake was this written by a 10 year old.
If you are going to make Obi-Wan a shadow of his former self then at least stay consistent. When he is confronted by the stormtroopers at the laser gate (oh God, the laser gate...) he instantly turns into John Wick and laser blasts them in seconds despite having a known hatred for "uncivilised" blasters.
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| You killed my dog mother funsta!! |
3. Things don't happen instantly
We know that time is a tricksy thing. You have to allow a certain amount of time to elapse between establishing a thing and then that thing having a consequence. Travel between worlds takes time even using hyperspace. You can't just despatch probe droids one minute and them turn up conveniently in the next scene at exactly the right place. That my dear writer is a mcguffin.
This was an entirely unnecessary element which only served as the backdrop to a power struggle between the two inquisitors. Do the garrison on Daiyu not have communication with Inquisitor HQ? Does the notion of sending a photo not occur to them?
Oh my the force is weak with this one.
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