How The Galactic Civil War In Canon Differs From Legends
The Galactic Civil War is the main conflict of the Original Trilogy. It is the story of the Rebel Alliance facing off against an evil Galactic Empire. It is the conflict in which Luke, Han and Leia fought against Darth Vader and the Emperor. Where the Death Star I and II blew up. That is about it when it comes to similarities between how the Galactic Civil War plays out in Canon and Legends. When one examines the events of the canonical Galactic Civil War compared to what happens in Legends, one will see these events start to diverge. Massively diverge.
The way things went down in Canon and the way they go down in Legends is very different, both before A New Hope and after the Battle of Endor. One of the biggest differences is how the Empire fell. What happened to Luke, Han, and Leia and the details of how the Empire fell. Not to mention the role of the Jedi, or lack thereof. So let's get into detail and talk about some of the biggest differences between Legends and Canon when it comes to the Galactic Civil War.
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Fall Of The Empire
The Canon and Legends fall of the Empire is very different and thus sets the tone for the entirety of these events.
In Legends the fall of the Empire is a long and hard won battle for the Rebellion, turned New Republic. While the Emperor died at Endor, the Empire still had many Moffs, fleets and troops under its command. Though it did fracture without a central commander, it fractured in multiple mini-Empire’s ruled over by Warlords. The Rebellion, or by that point the New Republic as it was called, had to go after these large Warlord factions, wresting control of the galaxy from them. It took many, many years of fighting, for the Empire of Legends controlled a large stake in the galaxy, especially in the Core and Inner Rim. Several books like the Rogue Squadron novels dealt with these events. In the end, the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic made peace with one another, eventually becoming allies against greater threats.
In canon things worked out very differently, the setting of the books Aftermath and Alphabet Squadron set up a galaxy rife with chaos, but also a quicker fracturing of the Empire and dividing of it's power. The Rebellion, which still became the New Republic, gathered territory rather quickly and had to go through massive growing pains in order to hold it and become a functioning government. However, the canonically rapid fall of the Empire was also due to the machinations of Palpatine who, even after his "death" at Endor, had a contingency in place. A plan to send his forces into the Unknown Regions and rebuild the Empire anew.
Heroes Of The Rebellion
Another major difference between Legends and Canon is that Luke, Han and Leia all had much bigger roles post-Endor in the Galactic Civil War. Obviously since the Civil War went on for a much longer time, the hero’s of the OT got to have more adventures. They went up against Thrawn, a Clone of Palpatine, Hidden Fleets, and Imperial Remnants.
While in canon Leia and Han did many things in service to the New Republic, Luke seemed to separate himself from the Republic the minute the Death Star and Emperor were destroyed. Quickly moving on to learning about the ways of the Jedi.
Origin Of Rebellion
Here is where things diverge a bit. In canon, it seems the Rebellion started the minute the Empire begun, however the Alliance itself was slower in forming, with various cells all working independently from one another soon after the Clone Wars concluded. In Legends, it seemed that the Rebellion proper didn’t really come into play even when Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and a third Senator, Garm Be Ibllis of Corellia, formed the Alliance alone. In canon, the Alliance seems far more like several loose groups coming together. In both Legends and Canon, the Rebels had the help of Jedi before A New Hope. In Legends it was Starkiller, while in Canon it was Rebel's Ezra and Kannan.
A War To End All Wars
In the end, the Galactic Civil War differs mostly after Endor. The long drawn out battle against the Rebellion and Empire vs the quicker canonical collapse, a focus on the OT trio in Legends, shifted to a focus on newer characters in canon. From Starkiller to Ezra, these are just a few of the differences. Regardless, the themes are still the same: it is a fight for freedom, a fight for democracy, a fight against evil, and at the end of the day, these are the very heart of Star Wars.