About Obi and Owen - minor spoiler...

[JMK]

I'm glad, and I hope you are too that the Official Site updated today and confirmed that Owen Lars and Obi Wan are NOT brothers of any kind. Cliegg Lars is Owen's father, and Obi Wan's parents are unknown.

Phew!

[ReaperFett]

I both am and am not. The fact he originally WAS and then changed it is annoying, but on the other I think it's better if it fits the story more

[Jedi Master Carr]

It doesn't really make a huge difference it just conflicts the ROTJ novelization and doesn't really bother me. I think Lucas changed it because it would have made things too complicated for the story, probably originally he thought that would be how it would go but changed some time afterwards.

[JMK]

But it also said at the official site that that info should have never counted because it was old, discarded material that got into the novels.

[JMK]

Incase some are too lazy to visit the write-up at the official site:

"Q:Is Obi-Wan Kenobi the brother of Owen Lars?

A: No. The two are from separate families with no connection through blood. Although a number of spin-off materials were published in 1983 and in subsequent years stating that the two characters were related, those materials were based on outdated and eventually discarded information.

Owen Lars is the son of Cliegg Lars. Obi-Wan's parents are unknown, and he has little to no connection to them having grown up in the Jedi Temple. He is aware of having a brother, but very little information about that sibling has ever been published."

So does this mean that the novels are to be disregarded?

[ReaperFett]

There's an EU character in AOTC. Name and all :)


I can only think of the ROTJ novel that mentioned it, and that would be made with scripts etc.


To me, it just says if Lucas changes something, it happens. It hardly negates something important in the EU

[Champion of the Force]

So does this mean that the novels are to be disregarded?
No - the novels have had things incorrect before (eg. ANH novelisation - Luke's team being called Blue Squadron instead of Red).

When it comes to deciding canon the novels are ranked behind the movies in terms of reliability, so if the movies state something different you simply forget what the novel said about the particular subject.

[JMK]

So what if the movie never explains it in the first place? Like in the case of Owen and Obi. I suspect that it will be a given that we'll know that they aren't related in AOTC, but if the prequels were never made, and it was never mentioned in the OT that they weren't brothers, would we accept them as being brothers even though it never really made sense to us (me anyway).

[Champion of the Force]

That's up to the individual fan - just like it's up to the individual whether they accept things like the EU as SW or not. :)

Generally if the movies don't explain something we just resort to the old 'canon' list (in oreder of importance):

1. Movies
2. Radio dramas/scripts
3. Novelisations

(if I got something wrong I'm sure Reaper will correct me :))

If neither of thos explain something then I guess we resort to EU if you're into that thing (like Shadows of the Empire explained the goings-on between ESB and ROTJ).

[Jedi Master Carr]

There are other things the novels got wrong too, though this is more EU, TESB novelization has Hobbie crashing his speeder into General Veers ATT, this never happend in the film, and nor is it mentioned in any of the other sources SW Encyclopedia, etc. Plus Hobbie makes it into the X-Wing novels etc, I'm sure there are other mistakes I just can't think of any at the moment.

[ReaperFett]

if I got something wrong I'm sure Reaper will correct me
No, that is fine with me. I only disagree if you say some elements aren't canon :)

[JMK]

Well, I only give a s#it about what's in the movies, and the rest I prefer to fill in with my own imagination, although I would want to hear the facts from GL himself.

[Hart]

I never really had an opinion about this. I never really saw how whether they were related was relevant to anything that happened.

[JMK]

You're right, it doesn't have any effect, it was just the fact that everyone seemed to be related to each other in SW universe, and that relation was a useless one IMO.

[Hart]

Well, I originally assumed that they weren't really brothers because Obi probably wouldn't know who his brother was, they don't have the same name, and Owen doesn't have any powers. But on the other hand, I always wondered why Owen was entrusted to raise Luke. Hopefully that will be answered in EpII.

[JMK]

I think it will be, no doubt by at least Episode 3 at least...