In the Rebels animated series, Jedi-in-training Ezra Bridger encounters the World Between Worlds, a dimensional hub of sorts full of portals to different times and places. He hears voices of Jedi and heroes from the past and future alike. Ezra uses one of the doors to save Ahsoka Tano from certain death at the hands of Darth Vader, pulling her out of his relative past. Later, Emperor Palpatine attempts to enter the dimension in order to gain control of the universe, but Ezra and Ahsoka are able to stop him. The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary indicates that the Jedi knew the World Between Worlds as the Vergence Scatter, or the Chain Worlds Theorem. It is clear from the clues in the Visual Dictionary that Luke Skywalker was aware of the World Between Worlds, via the Jedi texts of Ahch-to; Rey probably also learned of it, from studying the same books.
The World Between Worlds also appears in Joe Bongiorno's Supernatural Encounters, a novella expanded from a text once intended for Legends publication. It is unclear if Supernatural Encounters is canonical to Legends; however, the fact that there is no present Legends canon means that readers can include it if they so choose. Until I decide otherwise, I will include Supernatural Encounters as Legends-canon on this site. And so the World Between Worlds exists in Legends continuity just as it exists in that of the new movies. This is a sign that the two Galaxies Far, Far Away exist as parallels to each other--hence why I called this blog "Twin Galaxies." In my previous post I said that the galaxies "develop and influence each other, echo each other, despite their dimensional separations"; some readers took this to mean that I believe the two universes have canonically crossed over, that Kylo Ren had a psychic vision of Darth Caedus or something. In truth I meant this more in a poetic or metaphorical sense, that the Legends stories are going to influence writers who create the new canon. Theoretically, this works both ways: Bongiorno creates a Legends version of Rebels' Lothal in Supernatural Encounters. I could argue that the Force acts across all dimensions, and therefore there is some sort of observable superstructure explaining why Han and Leia's first son turned evil in both universes, but there is no canonical evidence for this. There is only the fact that the World Between Worlds exists for both versions of Star Wars, and it is almost certainly the same World Between Worlds by definition of how that World functions. Therefore, doors exist between the Legends Star Wars universe and the Canon Star Wars universe. The two share roughly the same history until the end of the Battle of Endor; as I will explore in a future post, attempting to reconcile the two post-ROTJ accounts of what happened in the Galaxy Far, Far Away is pretty much impossible. In Legends, Chewbacca dies before the events of The Force Awakens, and Han's death in TFA invalidates his appearances post-34 ABY in Legends. Legends and the current Canon are separate continuities. That's it.
There is a reference in Supernatural Encounters that some have interpreted to reference the creation of the Canon continuity:
"[Splendid Ap],
in essence, created a parallel dimension that would begin to develop its
own separate history and timeline based on—but apart from—its original.
Yet it had no true beginning, save the one he gave it, and its path would
follow a different trajectory from the original. Without the investment of
the Celestials working on it, developing it into an interwoven fabric, and
without even his hand upon it, it would only ever be hollow and sterile, a
pale and broken imitation of a far greater thing."
Notably, Bongiorno has disparaged the
new canon in the past, but he has also made apologies for his more
inflammatory remarks. I should point out that none of the opinions I
express on this site are meant to attack Bongiorno in any way--as a
matter of fact, let me just make it clear that I do not approve of
anybody attacking ANYONE involved in the production of Star Wars or
its fandom. (The only people I really approve of attacking are white
supremacists, but that's a different story for a different arena.) I
believe that there are multiple statements implying the creation of
the new Canon universe within Supernatural Encounters, and
each of these statements can equally be interpreted to mean the
creation of an Infinities (non-canon) universe instead. Nothing goes
against the idea that the Legends and Canon continuities exist
side-by-side. I have full confidence in moving forward with this
premise.*
That having been said! I mostly bring
all of this up to make a point of distinction. Some articles will
deal exclusively with Legends, some exclusively with Canon. Knowing
the difference between them is important even if they do blend and
overlap at times.
Now, do I believe that at some point a
publication will feature a crossover between Legends and Canon? I
think it's inevitable, though if Disney is thinking right they'll
take their time on it. Not only is the fan demand strong, but there
is so much potential. The jaded, exiled Luke of The Last Jedi
could meet the successful and happily-married Grandmaster
Skywalker of Legends' New Jedi Order. Legends Han and Canon
Chewbacca, who saw each other die in their respective universes,
could be reunited. Perhaps Kylo Ren and Rey's Force dyad attracts the
presence of Jacen and Jaina Solo. The possibilities are endless. To
me, the question is more a matter of whether a crossover story would
be considered canon to either continuity. After all, one crossover
story could lead to many, and Legends elements altering Canon ones
and vice versa could end up supremely confusing. The best
circumstance in my mind would be that which transpired with many
"unusual" Star Wars tales: it will start out as non-canon,
but be incorporated somehow later on in essays, articles, and
stories. That would enable it to remain unique
while also allowing it to be canon in some sense. But we'll just have
to see what happens. For now, two galaxies, similar but different, float side by side within the mysteries of the Force.
* I believe that even if this scene
does represent the creation of the Canon universe, it provides an out
to one of the key criticisms of Supernatural Encounters, which
is that it introduces a monotheistic creation myth to Star Wars,
identifying the Maker of C-3PO's exclamations as a real,
Judeo-Christian-type God entity who created reality (including our
universe). The Canon universe, bereft of Celestial influence, is
without a God, and therefore the Force is the supreme power of that
galaxy. Then again, the Maker may well be synonymous with the Force,
meaning the Force retains its status as Star Wars' supreme power
anyway.
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Image Source: Wookieepedia
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