8 Star Wars Moments You Never Got To See (But Are Canon)
The Rise of Skywalker's "Chewie gets his medal" moment is definitely a lot more awkward now...
Canon is usually a tricky thing with most expansive multimedia franchises, but that goes double for Star Wars. George Lucas' beloved sci-fi mythos stretches far beyond just the big screen, and has found similar levels of success in publishing, comic books, TV and video games.
The wider Star Wars mythos came to be known as the Expanded Universe until Disney decided to start anew when they bought Lucasfilm in 2012. Even before the EU was relegated to the 'Legends' banner though, Star Wars canon was in a constant state of flux, and it was often difficult to discern what was and wasn't actual continuity.
Indeed, one of the best things about the new Disney era of Star Wars (if you're a stickler for canon) has been the advent of Lucasfilm Story Group, a group of writers whose job has been to ensure everything in the new Star Wars timeline adds up and to provide clarity over what is and isn't canon.
This has proven particularly handy when it comes to continuity grey areas, which entail deleted scenes, Legends moments referenced in the new timeline and even those Star Wars stories that never saw the light of day.
Yes, even the Star Wars moments that didn't make it into the films or TV shows for whatever reason can still influence the galaxy far, far away, whether they were rescued in a novel or comic, or released in an unfinished state...
8. Chewbacca Actually Got A Medal Too - A New Hope
The issue of Chewbacca's medal - specifically the lack thereof it in A New Hope - has been the subject of fan discussion and general memery in the Star Wars fandom for quite some time.
Chewie did just as much as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo during the Battle of Yavin, so why wasn't he too presented with a Medal of Bravery at the ceremony? Does the Rebellion secretly have something against wookiees? Either way it's a weird oversight on their behalf, and you do have to feel for poor Chewbacca as his other pals soak up the spotlight behind him. (No wonder he lets out a big scream at the end.)
Chewbacca's missing medal was even addressed in The Rise of Skywalker, where Maz Kanata gives Chewie Han's own, seemingly righting one of the great big injustices of the galaxy far, far away.
But (and this is sort of true to form for Episode IX, given the other things it contradicts throughout the Star Wars timeline), Chewie WAS given a medal after the Yavin ceremony back in Episode IV, which was first established in Legends material and then brought into the new canon with Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure, which released in 2015.