For over forty years, Star Wars has consistently been perhaps the biggest and most beloved franchise out there, wholly ingrained in the pop culture zeitgeist as a phenomenon like no other thanks to the wonderful movies spawned from the mind of George Lucas, and later Disney. Of course, Star Wars is not just all that is on screen.
The extended universe with books and comics contains some of the best brilliance Star Wars has to offer. For those fans who only watch rather than read, they are missing out on a lot of important things in the Galaxy far, far away.
The Brilliance Of Doctor Aphra
In terms of characters never seen on screen, Doctor Aphra may be the best character born out of the new canon, with Star Wars under the Disney banner.
She is a massive part of the comics side of things, having a significant role in a time in Vader's life, as well as encountering Luke Skywalker. The rogue archeologist even has her own comic series now, alongside her murderous droids, and thoroughly deserves a place on Disney+.
Padmé Naberrie's Rise
Queens Shadow and Queens Peril are two novels detailing the life of Padmé Amidala before and after the events of The Phantom Menace, and describe her early life, rise to political power, and transition from Queen to Senator.
The novels are a must-read for anybody who is a fan of Padmé, as the insights into not only her life but the lives of people surrounding her on Naboo, such as Captain Panaka and Palpatine are amazing. She is a central character in the franchise, and for those who do not read the books, they are missing out on her true story.
Who Are The Knights Of Ren?
The Rise Of Kylo Ren comic series added a lot to the character of Ben Solo, detailing his fall to Kylo Ren, with him leaving the Academy and going off to find Snoke, while also giving us more information than ever before on the Knights of Ren.
Fans of the comic learned about who they were and what they were about, as well as how Kylo came to join the group and get named their leader in the place of their former leader, Ren, who gets killed by Kylo in the comic.
Asajj Ventress' Fate
Following the cancellation of The Clone Wars during season six, a load of arcs were left unfinished and unproduced and so got made into other pieces of content. Perhaps the biggest of these was the Dark Disciple arc, which got made into a novel instead.
It follows Asajj Ventress as she gets a new lightsaber and teams up with Jedi Quinlan Vos on a journey to kill Count Dooku once and for all, with Asajj, eventually meeting her doom at the hands of Dooku. To further add to it all, Ventress and Vos fall in love in their time together.
How Vader Found Out About His Son
One of the most iconic moments in cinema history, and perhaps the greatest twist of all time, was the reveal that Darth Vader was the father of Luke Skywalker. It did, though, leave fans wondering how Vader knew that Luke was Luke since he thought Padmé died.
In the Star Wars: Darth Vader comic line from 2015, specifically, issue number six, Boba Fett delivers the information to Vader after getting sent for the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Vader realizes he has gotten lied to, and in what is perhaps the best moment in Star Wars canon comics to date, thinks back to Padmé, cracks the glass of his ship in front of him, and vows that everything will be his.
Thrawn's Story
In Legends, Thrawn was the catalyst for the events of the Expanded Universe, and one of the most beloved characters of it. When he got brought back into canon, it was a relief, but Rebels does not really explore his origins.
The series of canon Thrawn novels all detail Thrawn's discovery and rise to prominence in the Empire, a special feat considering he is an alien species, specifically Chiss. More books are coming detailing Thrawn's early life and that of the Chiss, and are impactful for any fan of Rebels or the character.
Why Palpatine Captured Maul, And How Maul Escaped
Following the events of one of The Clone Wars' greatest episodes, "The Lawless," Maul's fate was unknown, yet he popped up in Rebels alive and well, and later the final season of The Clone Wars.
Fans of the comics know what happened to Maul, and how he escaped Sidious' grasp as it gets detailed in the Son Of Dathomir comic, another intended arc for The Clone Wars. It reveals Sidious was using Maul to kill Talzin, which is eventually achieved, with Maul escaping with help from his Mauldalorians and other allies.
The Official Death Of The Empire
To many fans, the end of the Empire came following the death of the Emperor and the destruction of the second Death Star, but this was not the case.
Alongside Battlefront II, a lot of the story in the final year of the Empire comes in the Aftermath trilogy, which fills in gaps between Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens, explaining how the Empire survived briefly, then died.
The Story Of Caleb Dume
Introduced in Star Wars: Rebels, Kanan Jarrus is undoubtedly one of the best characters of the new canon and his life as Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume turned on the run rebel Kanan Jarrus is a fascinating one.
Detailed in the A New Dawn novel and the Star Wars: Kanan comics, Caleb Dume's experience of Order 66, going on the run, meeting Hera, becoming a drunk, and taking up the name Kanan Jarrus is simply phenomenal and a huge aspect of Rebels that any fan of the show needs to explore.
A Lot From The Rise Of Skywalker
To say that The Rise Of Skywalker left fans with a lot of questions would be an understatement. So much of the movie did not make sense or was unexplained, and it severely hurt the quality of it.
The novelization of the novel by Rae Carson filled a lot of this in. Readers find out how Zorii and Babu got off Kijimi, how Rey repaired Anakin's saber and Luke's X-wing, and, most importantly, that Palpatine, as seen in the film, was a clone. While fans still have questions, and the clone stuff is garbage, the novel fills in a lot of holes the movie lazily leaves.