Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, the subject of what’s canon in Star Wars has been a sore one. The entire expanded universe up to that point was rendered irrelevant to the core timeline of the films. Some has been rewritten and brought over, and now an all-timer lightsaber duel has been made part of the Skywalker Saga.
Few things unite Star Wars fans like The Clone Wars. One of the best animated series of this century thus far, and the best Star Wars series yet, Genndy Tartakovsky’s take on a galaxy far, far away remains incredibly strong in the Force.
Among the iconic moments from the show is a duel between Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress. If you haven’t seen it, the two Star Wars characters go toe-to-toe in a stunning display of ingenuity with the Force. Over the course of the battle, Anakin’s pushed to his limits by the Star Wars villain, and they both manage to walk away after the tense stand-off.
This is one of the most disappointing scenes to lose in Star Wars history, because it really highlights just how inherently strong Anakin was. Now, much to my delight, and hopefully yours, it’s been confirmed that this fight is back in the Star Wars timeline – technically, anyway.
Mike Chen, author of Star Wars: Brotherhood, a novel featuring Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi set during the Prequel Trilogy from 2022, confirmed that his mention of the Asajj fight makes it canonical. “It’s very subtle and comes with some caveats but it’s there,” he said on Twitter, listing plot points he borrowed from Tartakovsky’s work.
Brotherhood only has a passing reference, but that’s enough. I’ve never been too pushed about what’s officially canon and what isn’t. No franchise is 100% consistent about anything, so I just pick and choose the mythology I care about, and make it all meaningful to me. That might be considered a chaotic approach, but I prefer that to getting into the weeds about offhand references and what they mean.
Star Wars is not a religion, we can interpret and believe different things without losing focus on what matters: rewatching the Star Wars movies in order ad nauseum. Anyway, I’m very glad about all of this because it adds more pathos to one of the greatest baddies to boot up a lighsaber. Asajj has been Sith, a bounty hunter, and a Nightsister. And she survived battling a Skywalker. Can she get much cooler?
I don’t think so. Move over, Darth Vader; I want her Disney Plus show ASAP. Check out our guides to the Skeleton Crew release date and The Acolyte release date to see when more Star Wars is coming your way.