This webpage is dedicated to rebutting and providing additional context to ComicVine's 2021 "Star Wars debating - meta change" rules instituted by the moderator Frozen. This reading requires basic knowledge of Star Wars canon policy.
The red boxed claims that the LFL canon hierarchy was "thrown out" before 2014 and around 2011/12 are false.
Leland Chee and Pablo Hidalgo have repeatedly stated the opposite.
Leland Chee affirmed the LFL universe is "definitely beholden" to George Lucas's "vision" in August 2012:
Pablo Hidalgo affirmed George Lucas' 'Word of God' powers thrice over in The Essential Reader's Companion in October 2012. Hidalgo wrote that "the most definitive canon" is the material "in which George Lucas is directly involved," that Lucas "always" "trumps publishing continuity" (i.e. C-Canon), and that The Force Unleashed is on a lower level of canon than "movies and television series produced by Lucas." Note that this book was reviewed by Leland Chee:
Leland Chee affirmed the canon hierarchy as active in June 2013:
And again in September 2013:
In retrospect of the Expanded Universe (i.e. the LFL universe) in February 2019, Leland Chee said content clashing with Lucas "would have to bend to fit George's current vision" without mention of any policy change in its final four years:
That's all pretty clear-cut: the canon hierarchy, including G-Canon, was in effect across the early 2010s.
So, what's the fuss? Frozen cites a recent Twitter conversation with Leland Chee. The full interaction is posted below in bold text. Please read the exchange for yourself. Notice that nowhere does Chee state nor imply that the canon hierarchy or G-Canon specifically was "thrown out" before 2014 and around 2011/12. Indeed, how could/why would Chee say that when he and Hidalgo explicitly said the opposite above? Let's break down what Chee actually said.
(I) FAN: Hi Mr Chee, does the previous canon hierarchy (G canon, C canon etc) still exist for the pre disney LFL materials? Or is it moreso a classification system now rather than a hierarchy? Thanks
LELAND CHEE: The classification system remains. Hierarchy? Depends on the needs of the creatives on their projects. They'll pick and choose, often with our guidance, what existing reference suits their projects and personal interests. Who knew for multiple creatives, that would be Jaxxon?
(II) FAN: I see thanks. So since lucas sold Lucasfilm it's been less hierarchial? Seems like the canon system is useful for designating production moreso
LELAND CHEE: Somewhere around 2011/2012, Pablo put together a deck that outlined how he and I, as a team, could help creatives across the company facilitate and bridge the world-building in Star Wars. I have no idea who besides our boss saw that deck. We definitely felt the need was there.
(III) FAN: Wow that's so interesting. Definitely intriguing that the old canon hierarchy changed quickly once Lucas sold it. SW really is a big universe. Thanks for answering!
LELAND CHEE: But is it all that surprising? George Lucas's Star Wars as a singular vision. His. It's since been up to Disney to try and find ways to best fill that void.
The first (I) exchange concerns the 2021 standing of the canon hierarchy in the Lucasfilm Licensing (LFL) universe. However, the LFL universe was abolished and reformed into the Legends universe in April 2014. Ergo, the "pre-Disney LFL materials" fall under Legends, and so Chee stating that there is no hierarchy within Legends is already known: "all Legends content is on equal footing" (link). This claim has no bearing on the state of the LFL canon hierarchy before 2014.
The second (II) exchange concerns the gradation away from a canon hierarchy. Chee informs that he and Pablo Hidalgo put together a plan for better world-building interconnectivity in 2011/12. Chee never says this plan replaced the canon hierarchy nor even suggests a reduction in attention to the canon hierarchy's application to existing content. This plan is for new content, hoping future storytelling can be considerate enough to the rest of canon through LFL guidance that the need for hierarchy is reduced. Also, nowhere is this plan said to feature a "different internal referencing system" as Frozen claims.
In the third (III) exchange, Chee is not acknowledging a movement away from the canon hierarchy in 2011/2012 but rather explicitly at some point after Disney took over. Disney purchased Lucasfilm in late 2012, meaning this shift is necessarily independent of the appealed to 2011/2012 plan. Indeed, this shift did not occur until the April 2014 Legends overhaul, only at which point did Chee move all the C/S/N-Canon fields to a new "Legends" field (link 1, 2, 3). Moreover, even if there were a movement away from the canon hierarchy, that would not mean the canon hierarchy was not still active. We know it was.
In summary:
- Leland Chee and Pablo Hidalgo affirm the LFL canon hierarchy, including G-Canon, in August and October 2012 and June and October 2013 (i.e. the period claimed by Frozen to no longer have the LFL canon hierarchy).
- Leland Chee only says that Legends has no hierarchy and that he and Hidalgo put together a plan to better interrelate LFL storytelling. Nowhere does Chee say the LFL canon hierarchy was abolished before 2014.