Man, I hate how Star Wars isn't consistent.
It's one thing for WOG not to be consistent. Because, obviously, besides, for example, Matt Martin said the following:
No random statements by any creators are canononical in and of themselves. George has contradicted himself many times so nothing is "true" until it's told in officially storytelling.
Okay, so generally we just use it as a support tool.
But they aren't consistent, even in guides and encyclopedias.
Honestly, it's been a pain to know if Maul got stronger or weaker in Rebels. There's so much WOG and non-WOG content talking about both things.
It's also a bit annoying to find out about old Obi-Wan. I mean, from what I've gathered so far, there's more about him getting weaker, however, the 2017 junior novel of ANH says the opposite. In that novel, there's a part where Vader thinks Obi-Wan got weaker, but he was wrong. But here's the thing, that 2017 novel is a re-edition of the junior novel Legends of ANH. It's a canon re-edition (it's sold together with the junior novel of episodes 7 and 8).
Oh, I was thinking about the "legends relics." These re-editions of books and guides (re-editions, not re-releases) are intended to update the content and make it more canonical, right? But like, how can we be sure that something was kept (not removed) because they thought it fit the new canon, or was it just kept because the original version had it and they simply copied the information without checking if it matched the canon first?
For example
[Star Wars & Lightsabers] - A Guide To Weapons of The Force (2018) ---> re-editions of the 2010 guide including canon content (bleeding and sequel films)
A generation later, Obi-Wan Kenobi would face Darth Vader onceagain. While Vader wanted revenge, Obi-Wan was focused onbuying time for his friends-including Luke Skywalker. Their duelwas careful and measured compared to their previous meeting.Obi-Wan's movements were slowed by age and lack of practice;Darth Vader-recalling the grievous injuries he suffered duringtheir last encounter-fought his former Master with apprehension,while his cybernetic body reduced his actions. Ultimately, Obi-Wan deliberately dropped his defenses, and Darth Vader cut through him,but the Jedi Master mysteriously vanished into the Force.
First of all, this entire text is identical to the 2010 version.
However, there's a problem with what's in bold. In the new canon, especially in ANH, this simply isn't true (like, damn, at this point Vader was already jumping on kaiju and punching them in the face).
(without mentioning the fact that old Obi-Wan is out of practice, considering Rebels and some WOGs about Obi-Wan vs. Maul)
So how can we be sure that this text being identical to the Legends version is intentional or not? Was it something they thought would fit the new canon, or just something they repeated from the original without much thought?
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And going back to old Obi-Wan and old Maul.
The novel Rise of Skywalker talks about how getting older is related to having a stronger connection to the Force. Which kind of messes up all the statements about Maul and Obi-Wan getting weaker.
But of course, this only applies if we consider this statement to be without exception. If there's a single Jedi/Sith who grew weaker with age and didn't neglect training, then the statement may or may not involve old Obi-Wan and old Maul.
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I think I'm going to become a totally biased, pro-Vader guy and just collect things that can wank him.