So it turns out Lucas Licensing employ someone to manage a “continuity tracking database” called the Holocron (yet another thing to add to the list of real-life things semi-seriously named after technology from films):
The Holocron is divided into 5 levels (in order of precedence): G-canon, T-canon, C-canon, S-canon, and N-canon.
It basically runs a little something like: Films > George > TV > Books/Comics > RPG > Everything else (the N in N-canon stands for ‘non’).
The problems arise when you take thirty years of licensed expanded universe, add in healthy dash of prequel-related discontinuty and retcon and then feed to your large base of foaming fanboys.
This also puts an amusing spin on it:
“So how did Anakin get that scar, George?” asks John Knoll.
“I don’t know. Ask Howard,” says George, referring to President of Lucas Licensing Howard Roffman. “That’s one of those things that happens in the novels between the movies. I just put it there. He has to explain how it got there. I think Anakin got it slipping in the bathtub, but of course, he’s not going to tell anybody that.”
I love the idea that the long-suffering Howard has just finished crowbarring an explanation to George’s latest addition into the Universe when George comes bounding back in to tell him about his new idea.
Rather than come up with my own amusing take on an actual example I’ll just use something someone else has done:
“…that little lazer sword of his.” Really George?