Talk surrounding Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is heating up once again, what with the tremendous showing the film's latest trailer has made with audiences. But one of the talking points that's cropped up is a source of supposed controversy, even though it shouldn't be if you know your Star Wars trivia. With more information coming out about the film's plot, there's one question a faction of fans seems to be asking: why aren't "many Bothans" dying for the information being purloined in Rogue One?
iO9 noticed this problem recently, as fans had taken to Twitter asking about the numerous spies that Mon Mothma is most famous for memorializing the deaths of in the original Star Wars trilogy. Of course, as quickly as this question was raised, the publication struck it down with the most powerful force it could muster: history. As most eagle eyed Star Wars fans will remember, Mon Mothma's only other official appearance in the film canon is the briefing scene included in Return of the Jedi. That scene was naturally referring to the Second Death Star, as opposed to the First Death Star, the latter being the construction project at the heart of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
A possible source for this confusion is, of course, the mixed chronology that is the Star Wars timeline. With fans experiencing the timeless saga in varying modes of viewing, be it in order of release or in order of episode numbering, there is two clearly divided eras of Star Wars history. And, of course, thanks to shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, most of the effort in current world building exercises has been in the pre-A New Hope timeline, the confusion may be greater for folks who are more familiar with the past, rather than the future.
Now's probably a good time for the old guard of Star Wars fans and historians to straighten the record, possibly through oral histories or just a good old fashioned infographic. Remember, if you're not teaching the next generation of fans right, history is doomed to repeat itself. And if history repeats itself, you just might find Darth Jar Jar popping up in future revisions to the historical canon. You don't want that to happen, do you?
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is in theaters on December 16th, which leaves you plenty of time to spread the gospel, and correct an entire fandom's perception of time and historical events.
