The Star Wars metaverse

Of late, I've seen multiple discussions about the notion of a 'multiverse' in Star Wars. This is no doubt sparked by the almost certainly spurious rumours regarding the supposed impending creation of one. I've written about that notion here, and I personally think you could do some fun things with it. But putting those rumours completely aside, let's talk about the notion of a multiverse in general. I know some people don't like the idea, and they may well have solid arguments to support that position.

I'd like to argue, however, that Star Wars actually already is a multiverse. Or, to put it more accurately, I think it's a metaverse. After all, the term "multiverse" can be understood in two general ways, in fiction. In one meaning, you have points of divergence, resulting in different parallel universes where "things went otherwise". (In the context of Star Wars, a comic like Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope is an example of this, providing a glimpse into a "what if" where Luke fails to destroy the Death Star.) In the other meaning of the word, you just have intrinsically different versions of the setting. (In the context of Star Wars, the old EU and the new EU relate to each other in this way; more radically, you have something like the comic series The Star Wars.)

When the decision was made to designate everything except the prequels, the OT and The Clone Wars as "Legends", it was explicitly voiced that this didn't somehow invalidate that whole expanded universe. It simply became a separate reality, updates to which would become sporadic (mostly limited to SW:TOR), while a newly-created "canon" reality would be receiving most of the attention. The old and the new continuity have no shared origin point; not only their stories set in the future (as seen from the OT) are different, but also those set in the past. They are not different timelines sprouting forth from a point of divergence. They are wholly different realities that share points of commonality.

From this, we can infer that Star Wars already is a multiverse in that meaning of the term. In the old continuity, at least, it was also a multiverse in the other meaning, since there were comics explicitly asking "what if?" and peering into might-have-beens. Into different timelines where things went otherwise. All in all, I can identify at least seven clearly distinguishable "realities" within the resulting Star Wars metaverse, and many more less-defined or less-certain ones.

We can identify with confidence:

1) The original continuity, consisting of the prequels, the OT, The Clone Wars seasons 1-6, and the old EU.

2) A different timeline in the original continuity, diverging during ANH. It consists of the prequels, all of ANH up to the point of divergence, The Clone Wars seasons 1-6, all of the old EU up to the point of divergence, and Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope.

3) A different timeline in the original continuity, diverging during ESB. It consists of the prequels, ANH, all of ESB up to the point of divergence, The Clone Wars seasons 1-6, all of the old EU up to the point of divergence, and Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back.

4) A different timeline in the original continuity, diverging during RotJ. It consists of the prequels, ANH, ESB, all of RotJ up to the point of divergence, The Clone Wars seasons 1-6, all of the old EU up to the point of divergence, and Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi.

5) A different reality, as depicted in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. It consists of ANH and said book. (Possibly, this reality also includes those parts of the old EU that occur before the book begins and which don't contradict any information in the book. This can't be determined.)

6) A different reality, as depicted in the comic series The Star Wars, which was based on early drafts for what eventually became ANH.

7) The new continuity, which consists of the prequels, the OT, the sequels, Rogue One, Solo, The Clone Wars seasons 1-6, The Clone Wars season 7, Rebels, The Mandalorian, and the new EU.

So we have two different continuities (one of which has at least three alternate timelines), and we additionally have two different realities (one of which includes ANH, and one of which is a radically different version of the setting altogether). And that's just what we can be reasonably sure about. There's also a number of serious "non-continuity" stories, such as those found in Star Wars: Tales, as well as several non-serious stories (such as Skippy the Jedi Droid, Star Wars: Tag & Bink and LEGO Star Wars). All of these can be treated as separate realities as well, adding yet more strands to the metaverse.

Everything discussed thus far has been officially put out there. These are statements on continuity and canonicity not just sanctioned, but handed down. But is this whole concept of canonicity even valid? What about the big "Han shot first" controversy, and the other differences between the theatrical versions of the OT films and the special editions that LucasFilm insists are the "true" ones? The theatrical versions exist. The creation of the special editions doesn't make them not exist. It makes them... yet another separate reality? One that George Lucas certainly likes to insist isn't real (anymore), of course— but who made him god? Death of the author, don't you know?

Which of course opens the door to another matter altogether: every fictional (meta-)reality is shaped by its audience as much a by its authors. Fans pick and choose what they like, and often, what they recognise as "true". Most famous example, probably: The Clone Wars. There are (or at least were, back in the day) quite a few vocal fans who felt that the series contradicted too much established EU lore, and that the Clone Wars multimedia project (which had been created first, and was partially retconned by the series) was the "real" version of things, in the context of the EU. When it turned out that The Clone Wars would also be included in the new continuity after the sale of LucasFilm to Disney, this even gave rise to the quite serious argument that The Clone Wars should be "Disney-only", and thus removed from the old EU.

But that (predictably, inevitably) creates issues of its own. For starters, if you excise The Clone Wars from the old continuity, you also have to remove the series tie-in materials, collected under the moniker "The Clone Wars Legacy". But furthermore, the last major novel series of the old EU, Fate of the Jedi, also has connections to elements and ideas introduced by The Clone Wars. So that series has to be cut out, as well. And if you remove that series, certain books and short stories that tie into it have to be removed (namely Millennium Falcon, Imprint, First Blood, Getaway, Roll of the Dice, X-Wing: Mercy Kill, Crucible and Good Hunting). Which is feasible, of course. The old EU then gets somewhat truncated, and concludes with the Legacy of the Force series. (Actually, it ends on the fairly low-consequence novel Riptide, which is kind of like ending a huge epic adventure with a side quest, but whatever.)

Although this particular notion is a fairly popular one, you're still setting the terms for your own personal "canon". Cutting out what you don't want, and retaining what you like. There are people with hang-ups about canonicity who balk at this, but (as is probably clear), I consider this approach to be totally valid. And the resulting "selectivist canon" is just as real and true as any other. That is: we may regard it as just one more strand of the metaverse. And although "leave out The Clone Wars and the stuff tied into it" is probably the most popular among such exercises, it's no more or less legitimate than any other. Every selectivist canon is a valid reality unto itself.

The metaverse, if you ask me, is truly infinite. There are people who stop reading with The Unifying Force. There are people who don't want to include the prequels, and only enjoy the OT and the EU up to 1999, culminating with Vision of the Future (or one of the more minor works that function as epilogues to it, at any rate). There are people who only care about the OT, and nothing else. There are people who write and/or read fan fiction, and some of them consider some of those stories just as true as anything "official". And I say: why not? Why shouldn't there be room for all of those things? Why should some be seen as more valid than others? It's all just stories, in the end, and haven't we learned, by now? All stories are true. The only question is which ones we like— and that's something we all have to decide for ourselves.