1. Is there an official explanation as to how Anakin was able to do the "Force Ghost Thing" when he was not taught such a skill by Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan?

You sure are an optimist, Nathan...

Everything that's canon besides movies and The Clone Wars (which is an exception because of Lucas' involvement, and not the standard) is equally canon. Insider articles are of equal importance in canon as novels.

This has been the rule so far. This is why I'm curious if something's changed, since for the most part we simply don't see overwriting of this sort, unless it stems from a project Lucas has worked on (which obviously doesn't apply here).

****minor Order 66 spoiler warning****

Leland:

From early reports of people who have Republic Commando: Order 66, it seems as if this book has rewritten almost everything said up to this point about the role of the Mandalorians in the Clone Wars. Biographies of key characters, such as Fenn Shysa and Spar, have been greatly changed from those presented in History of the Mandalorians and other sources, and the new timeline seems to preclude any involvement of the Mandalorian Protectors in the war as detailed by a number of sources, including History and the New Essential Chronology.

I know I'm not the only fan confused as to how this has happened. I was under the impression that Lucas Licensing would catch major continuity errors like this and change them or ask that they be changed. As a fan of the work of those whose writings would now seem to be non-canon, is LFL's policy now different from the all-inclusive canon there used to be?

I have a few questions regarding Colonel Wullf Yularen of the ISB:

1) Did he die onboard the first Death Star at Yavin?

2) There's a quote on his article on Wookieepedia - "He was certain that Tarkin would become disloyal, and would attempt to grab power for himself. If he did, Yularen intended to stop him, thus ingratiating himself to Palpatine, who would, Yularen thought, appoint him to head the Security Bureau." Any truth to this?

3) Was his name inspired by the character Colonel Yarulen from the film Sutâurufu, and did his first name come from the main character Star Wolf? I've never seen the movie, but I'm curious about this.

Thanks in advance.

Leland:

This question has come up as a book club has been reading The Courtship of Princess Leia.

In COPL, Luke finds the tattered robes of a Jedi archivist on Toola, whom it is suggested was killed by (presumably) Vader. I seem to recall other instances of Jedi in the Classic era or shortly before, who vanished like this one on Toola.

Obviously, pre-TPM, we all expected all Jedi to die and fade away. However, that changed . . .

In The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader (by Ryder Windham), the author makes a point of noting how Vader is shocked and confused when Obi-Wan manages to vanish. It has been made clear, I think, in previous discussions, that the vanishing was basically a lost art that Qui-Gon relearned.

So, with that being said:

1. Is there an official explanation as to how Anakin was able to do the "Force Ghost Thing" when he was not taught such a skill by Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan?

2. Are we to assume that all of the previous mentions of Jedi fading into the Force (such as the one on Toola in COPL) actually did not do so, and basically excise all of those references out of continuity? Or are we to assume it wasn't as much of a lost art as it seemed, but simply so obscure that Vader would not have necessarily known about it when battling Obi-Wan in ANH?

In other words, what do we make of the years of publishing with Force ghosts and fading into the Force in light of what we've learned in the Prequels?

Nathan, I don't see that this is a problem, per se. Consider the now-lengthed construction of the Death Star. It would make sense that something of that size would take quite a while to truly complete.

This is only correct if the year changes during the 6 months Starkiller is in the rehab. Personally I think the events take place only in 2 BBY.

Coruscant Nights II Spoilers - read at your peril

Tasty, what's the Holocron's view on Captain Typho's death in SoS - and Galaxies' canonicity? From what I understand, Galaxies has always been stated to be C-canon, yet now we have a novel blatantly contradict it in such a way that means no resolution won't demean one of them. It's seems pointless to have things like Galaxies continue to be C-canon when other, 'trendier' sources like SoS and The Force Unleashed can greatly contradict them.

End spoiler

Must we really consider Visions of the Blade is an infinities ? There's no contradiction with EU, after all. And it's presented like a metaphysical experience, only accessible for those who are Force Sensitive ; it is not as if the battles in Soulcalibur IV really happened : they were sorts of dreams, werent they ? So, why not consider this funny story is in the continuity ?

Please don't tell me they have been cancelled
< The Visual Guide still exist somewhere ... They promised to get them online but I've been waiting for that moment since SW.com had changed. The Visual Guides were the best thing ever to come to SW.com

It's just so sad that they can't seem to continue