It's been a decade since Star Wars: The Clone Wars officially introduced one of the franchise's best retcons, and in retrospect, it's the perfect lesson in what all retcons in Star Wars it should look like. Many of Star Wars the best retcons actually occur throughout the original Star Wars trilogy, from Darth Vader being revealed as Luke Skywalker's father to the twin brother relationship between Luke and Princess Leia Organa. Star Wars has since completed a multitude of retcons, but none have reached the level of the first ones - except this retcon in The Clone Wars.
Before The Clone Warsit was still clear in Star Wars Legends that the clone troopers were acting of their own free will after Palpatine carried out Order 66, and that they chose to turn against their Jedi generals. This turned the clones into villains in an instant, which, in today's world, is hard to imagine. The Clone Wars Fortunately, Season 6 changed that with an incredible 4-episode arc that details the conspiracy of behavioral inhibitor chips in all the clones, which could make them follow specific orders without question. This retcon has absolutely transformed Star Wars.
Clone inhibitor chips changed Star Wars for the better
This Retcon Immensely Improved the Clone Wars Era
This retcon for the clone troopers does much more than absolve them of their villainous status in Star Wars. It adds a whole new layer of tragedy to the Clone Wars and yet another frustratingly brilliant addition to Palpatine's carefully laid plans. to establish his Galactic Empire. Instead of having the clone troopers be secretly loyal to Palpatine all the time, they are genuinely good men who are forced to act against their will and who have to bear the burden of killing those they served faithfully because of it.
This retcon just continues to get better and better the more Star Wars expands on the clones' stories, as seen in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The effects of the inhibitor chips wore off over time and the clones were actually forced to confront their actions. and rethink their loyalty to an Empire that saw them only as military assets. This makes the story so much better than the alternative, which is why it's arguably one of the best retcons ever completed in Star Wars — and why the franchise could actually learn from this going forward.
Recent retcons feel like replacements, not improvements
There seems to be no greater impact
Considering the inhibitor chips in the clone troopers seemed like a huge improvement to overall performance Star Wars history, many of its more recent retcons felt like simple replacements for what came before. This is especially the case with elements of Legends that are re-entering the canon; Characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn are undergoing major changes to their stories that would otherwise be completely unnecessary. There are no major benefits to be gained from retcons and changes, especially not in the way that inhibitor chips once were.
A particular example also results from The bad lotwhich opens with a scene depicting the events of Order 66 on the planet Kaller. It involves the Jedi Depa Billaba and his Padawan Caleb Dume, who grows up to become Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels. Despite having a canonical history of Order 66, his experience was almost completely rewritten to include Clone Force 99 in this series, which, while exciting, had no true purpose behind this change. It could have been any Jedi Master and Padawan, and the scene would still have had the same impact.
Star Wars Needs to Use Retcons with More Purpose Again
Ancient stories must still be respected
As previously stated, while these retcons can certainly make for some exciting scenes and sequences, they should again be used more sparingly and only implemented with a true purpose in mind. This is what the inhibitor chip retcon achieved Star Warsas completely changed not only the Clone Wars themselves, but also Palpatine's own manipulations - and the legacy of these clone troopers. This is a much closer match to the iconic retcons of the original Star Wars trilogy, which led to the creation of the Skywalker saga as we know it today.
Star WarsAs a historic franchise, it has a responsibility to respect every story told in recent decades. Changing random elements of these stories with minor retcons is not a good way to respect what came before, even in the name of creative freedom. Creativity can still be used without creating retcons that apparently have no greater impact node Star Wars myth. These types of changes must be avoided at all costs, and only those with a weight as heavy as that of inhibitor chips can be transported. The Clone Wars it must be implemented when the time comes.