Mara Jade (Picture: Star Wars Rebels)

A galaxy of Star Wars fans worldwide are counting down the days – literally – until the arrival of Star Wars Episode VII, dreaming about the possibilities it brings with it and the rich new worlds and characters it will no doubt introduce.

But before then, fans have the new television series Star Wars Rebels to look forward to, set between the third episode Revenge of the Sith and the classic 1977 original A New Hope.

Exciting times, but perhaps even more exciting is this rumour, posted today on Star Wars 7 News that the new television series will be tied in closely with both Episode VII AND the forthcoming Lost Missions, AKA the eagerly awaited 6th season of The Clone Wars. While it seems obvious that such stories would link together, there’s a somewhat more delicate element that comes into play.



Since 1983 and the release of Return of the Jedi, a series of comics, novels, computer games and more have built – exploding in 1991 with the release of Timothy Zahn’s novel Heir to the Empire – what is known as The Expanded Universe.Essentially begun back in 1978 when issue seven of the first US Marvel Comics run saw Solo and Chewbacca in stories set ‘beyond the movie’ the EU has grown, giving back stories and histories to minor and major characters, telling missing stories, spinning mythological yarns and building into a dense history over almost four decades.


But that is set to end as it appears likely that the new film will instigate a new continuity after Return of the Jedi, cancelling out the existing stories and telling new tales unencumbered by the chains of continuity but still linking in the Original Trilogy of 1977 – 1983, the Prequel Trilogy of 1999 and 2005 with the new Sequel Trilogy which begins in 2015.

The EU, while all officially released and signed off by Lucasfilm, isn’t the ‘official’ Star Wars timeline, it is instead ‘based upon’ Star Wars. Going forward, new films, television series, comics, novels and other media (including the possibility of Netflix mini series) will be official Star Wars continuity. Meaning that what happens in a comic, or a paragraph of a novel has as much impact on the Star Wars timeline as anything that happens in a film or television episode.

But this doesn’t mean that the EU as it currently exists won’t be utilised going forward. Perhaps the most popular of all the characters created in the EU is Mara Jade, an agent of the Emperor who later married Luke Skywalker, gave him a son and died at the hand of Han Solo’s son Jacen after he turned to the dark side of the force.

Star Wars 7 News understand that Mara will be brought into the film continuity, a move that will – if true – delight a sizeable portion of those EU fans (and they are legion) who will bemoan the loss of 30 years of stories:

‘It can be said, that Rebels will introduce Mara Jade, into the film canon, sometimes appearing with the Inquisitor and she will be the living mother of Ben Skywalker.

‘Episode seven takes place, in 30 ABY. Jacen, and Jaina will be to Ben what Han, and Leia were to Luke. Ben is around the same age as his cousins. Chewie will be alive, and this is an all new timeline from 4 ABY forward.



‘Pablo Hidalgo, and Leland Chee have been consulting with Kathleen, and JJ, on EU elements, and characters from the database.

‘As of 2015 Books and comics will be part of the same canon, as movies, TV and Netflix. Rebels has very strong connections to the ST, it will bring EU characters, ideas, and planets into the canon and it introduces two original characters for the ST, one Imperial, and one Jedi.’

There is no official confirmation of any of these rumours, as there’s FAR too much key plotline to give away this early in the game. But it gives some tantalising possible pointers to how the storylines may go. One thing’s for certain, whatever storylines come to pass we’re in for an amazing ride through to autumn and the launch of Rebels.