The history of Hyperspeed...

[Marc Xavier]

Hyperdrive was bequeathed to the Corellians, 25,000 years before Yavin. It was only a couple hundred years before the Republic formed.

Wasn't this invalidated by the following dialogue in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones?:

Chancellor Palpatine: I will not let this Republic, which has stood for a thousand years, be split in two. My negotiations will not fail.

Mace Windu: If they do, there aren't enough Jedi to protect the Republic... we're keepers of the peace, not soldiers.

I suppose this can be dismissed as reverse hyperbole or something but that seems a bit nonsensical. There are probably a bunch of other random explanations people could think up to explain it (like, the current government that is controlling the republic has been in power for a thousand years--like the democratic party controlling the US government through several consecutive presidential terms) but--frankly--anyone clever enough can find a way to explain away any given quote.

What's the prevailing viewpoint here? Does the quote invalidate the EU? Or is there widely held explanation or interpretation that prevents this? And what are the reasons behind it?

[Illuminatus Primus]

"For a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic."
- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, A New Hope

A human generation is approx. 25 years.

Lucas violated his own continuity--it has been explained that during the last great Sith War the Republic fell. The resultant "Ruusan Reformation" (named after the planet where the last great battle between Sith and Jedi occurred, ending the war) reset both the calender, the Jedi Order, and the Republic.

Has stood for a thousand years, because it fell under the last onslaught of the Sith.

Obi-Wan's perspective, and probably the perspective of a lot of the Outer Rim, such as Tattooine, is that not much changed with the wars and government changes over the last 25 millenia. The Republic has always been. As far as the Jedi are concerned, they've looked over the galaxy and the Republic in its various incarnations over all this time without any interruption, because their stewardship has never been lifted.

However, the Core Worlds, the aristocracy, and the political elite suffered and experienced much in the intense wars and government changes over the years. Their prosperity and new peace has lasted as long as their government, 1000 years.

[Marc Xavier]

"For a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic."
- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, A New Hope

Yep, you're right. Just checked ANH and that's exactly what he says.

Lucas violated his own continuity--it has been explained that during the last great Sith War the Republic fell. The resultant "Ruusan Reformation" (named after the planet where the last great battle between Sith and Jedi occurred, ending the war) reset both the calender, the Jedi Order, and the Republic.

Ahhh, I see. This was the beginning of the infamous Rule of Two set in motion by Darth Bane, no?

Has stood for a thousand years, because it fell under the last onslaught of the Sith.

It did? This is what my chronology reads:

"Two thousand years before the rise of the Empire, a rogue Jedi Knight broke away from the teachings of the Jedi Counsel and founded a new order of the Sith, much as Exar Kun had done. Over time, other Jedi Knights joined the renegade, and soon the Republic had a serious threat on it's hands. The followers of the Sith grew in power over the next millennium [1000 years] and eventually made war against the Republic. The Jedi opposed them, but in the end the Sith were felled by their own internal schisms: unwilling to share power, the Sith disciples destroyed each other in a violent bloodbath.

One of the few survivors was the Sith Lord Kaan, who gathered twenty thousand devoted followers under his dark banner and sought to establish a galaxywide dictatorship of 'rule by the strong.' A makeshift army was hastily assembled to opposed him, led by the great Jedi Master Lord Hoth. The Army of Light steadily pushed back the Brotherhood of Darkness, finally cornering them on Ruusan, where seven titanic battles were fought."

Shortly after, Kaan's bid for power was crushed. The original Sith bid for power seems to have collapsed under the impracticalities of it's own internal philosophies (which isn’t conducive to stable power structures).

It doesn’t say anything about the Republic actually falling to the Sith.

I take it that these events are covered in more detail in some EU books? They would likely shed more information on this subject.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Well there was a massive war that fucked up the Republic, and nearly totally destroyed the Jedi, all the Sith but Bane, and it was the culmination of 1000 years of on-again, off-again fighting with the resurgent Sith.

Its the only thing I could figure for why they say this Republic lasted 1000 years. And given the occurances, it doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

I imagine the Core Worlds, suffering the most of war and government roll-overs, has viewed probably multiple Republics over the 25,000 year period. With Ruusan being the end of just one other and the beginning of the newest.

[Marc Xavier]

Well there was a massive war that fucked up the Republic, and nearly totally destroyed the Jedi, all the Sith but Bane, and it was the culmination of 1000 years of on-again, off-again fighting with the resurgent Sith.

Oh, well the way that you stated it, "it has been explained that during the last great Sith War the Republic fell" made me think it was something you pulled directly out of the EU, not educated speculation.

Its the only thing I could figure for why they say this Republic lasted 1000 years. And given the occurances, it doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

I imagine the Core Worlds, suffering the most of war and government roll-overs, has viewed probably multiple Republics over the 25,000 year period. With Ruusan being the end of just one other and the beginning of the newest.

Well granted, there may be merit to that view, but without further information (if anyone can provide input on this point, it would be apreciated) what do we have to support it?

[Illuminatus Primus]

Nothing, I just thought it was more workable to explain why a Jedi, Outer Rim, and Core World opinions might have considerably different world views that all this spawns from.

[Marc Xavier]

Well let's hope someone can provide us with more information.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Ancient Sith and Jedi and Republic information is coming with the Knights of the Old Republic video game.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

I agree that Palpatine's line probably refers to the current incarnation of the GR, or even that it might be indicative of something like the present political or economical era of the government, which ended when the Galactic Empire was established.

What bugs me personally about it is that in reality it's nothing but a script error, and one that could have been so easy to fix for the video release assuming anyone involved could have noticed it. The relatively far distance the camera was at would have made it easy for McDiarmid to overdub his original line with something like "thousands of years" or "a thousand generations" or such...

[Marc Xavier]

Ancient Sith and Jedi and Republic information is coming with the Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Aren't games rather low (or not even on) the accepted materials list, here?

[Marc Xavier]

Horray for huge continuity complications caused by teeny tiny "errors(?)" like this one.

[SirNitram]

Ancient Sith and Jedi and Republic information is coming with the Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Aren't games rather low (or not even on) the accepted materials list, here?

Games occupy a complicated niche. First, they are, as revealed by a man called Sansweet who works with Lucasfilm, part of canon. Accepted practice(IE, it's what we do, but it can be challenged if you can find good reason) is that we take 'fluff'(Dialogue, manual data, etc) above anything that comes from actual gameplay(Don't count on the damage being accurate, the distances being right, etc). Mechanics are only a few centimeters above the coffee stain on the carpet, but some people use them.