Yes, people are mad at Ki-Adi-Mundi and a 25 year old reference on a CD-ROM

I'm just going to say this right at the top before we get into this latest fan discourse because it needs to be said louder for the people in the back:

Every new entry with Star Wars changes canon. The Empire Strikes Back changed the canon of A New Hope by adding to the story. The Phantom Menace changed canon by recontextualizing what fans knew of the Jedi Order, redefining that era. This is just how story works. Canon is always changing. Creators like George Lucas and Dave Filoni have been very clear that Star Wars is a mythology and, therefore, changeable.

"I don't sit there honestly and think that my point of view is greater or better than anybody else's... I tend to look at it a little bit like Arthurian tales to be honest, and how depending on what version you're reading and translation, they can be wildly different. But Arthur's usually Arthur and does the things he's supposed to do, those things remain true. And that's very much folk tale and fairy tale type of ideology. If we tell a story in animation, or if it's in a comic, and then we bring it to the screen in a different way, we might make changes to it out of the medium, out of the bias of the person making it."

- Dave Filoni

Also, George Lucas flat out said in an interview that "Continuity is for wimps." Here's the source, but I have a feeling this point will continue to be ignored.

"Continuity is for wimps."

- George Lucas

Anyway, now that we have defined that one of the major people in charge has made it clear that canon will change, and yes, Dave Filoni did oversee the making of The Acolyte because that is his job as Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm, and also the fact that canon has always been changing, what is everyone mad about this week?

It's Ki-Adi-Mundi's age and how his being in The Acolyte breaks the canon in The Phantom Menace. Let's dive into why this is silly.

Ki-Adi-Mundi's age was only defined in a reference guide—you know, reference guides that are constantly changing because every addition to Star Wars immediately makes a reference guide go out of date. For example, Andor tossed out canon that Cassian Andor was from one particular planet in Rogue One because the story called for a change. The reference guides that come out after Andor will now reflect this change. Because this is how these things work. We must keep Pablo Hidalgo employed, people! Think of the poor Hidalgo. How else will he keep making new reference guides if things do not change?

However, it's not just any reference guide. It's 25 year old guide from-- wait for it-- the CD-ROM era. Ki-Adi-Mundi's age was defined in the 1999 Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide. Which hasn't even been canon since 2014. And definitely got Ki-Adi-Mundi's lightsaber color wrong because he does not have a purple lightsaber.

This guide was released during the Star Wars Legends era. You know, the Extended Universe. The thing that George Lucas vehemently hated and did not recognize except for when he wanted to like with making Coruscant canon or things like The Clone Wars, which he made himself. That is why these concepts were brought over in the Disney buyout, because that is, in fact, what he cared about.

The other part of this discourse that people are mad about is that it apparently "changes the canon of The Phantom Menace because Ki-Adi-Mundi can't know about the Sith or Anakin's messed up birth!"

First of all, no, it doesn't. Watch the episode "Day." At no point does Ki-Adi-Mundi seem to know anything about how Mae and Osha were born. In fact, Vernestra Rwoh makes it clear to Sol that she's mad he never told her about what happened on Brendok 16 years prior until now. Using context clues and our brains, we see that this is something that Indara, Sol, Torbin, and Kelnacca kept to themselves. Also, the Jedi, including Ki-Adi-Mundi, throw out various theories, including how Mae and her master could be other Force factions than the Sith. Just because he's in the room does not mean he believes these people are Sith.

Also, Vernestra is very clear she doesn't want this information to get to the Jedi Council. And even if it did, guess what? It's been established since A New Hope that the Jedi lie, that the Jedi keep information to themselves, and that Obi-Wan Kenobi kept intel from Luke Skywalker that Darth Vader was his father. There is a reason that Luke is furious at Obi-Wan and Yoda in Return of the Jedi: they basically lied through omission! These are not new concepts in Star Wars. Leslye Headland did not invent Jedi lying; George Lucas did!

It's also been well established that the Jedi Order likes to bury things away. There's a reason the Coruscant temple is built where it is, because it's on top of a Sith temple (a Lucas and Filoni concept from The Clone Wars). And it's been established most Jedi don't know this information. Because the Jedi Order and Council hide things from their own people. The Acolyte also noted in the premiere that the Jedi Order had several enemies in this time period, including politically, so they didn't want any of this information to get out.

So to recap why this discouse is silly:

1. Reference books are constantly changing.

2. This particular reference is from a 25 year old source that hasn't been canon since 2014.

3. This is from the Extended Universe that George Lucas hated.

4. Dave Filoni, who oversaw the creation of The Acolyte because it's literally his job, has said that canon is flexible and changeable depending on who is telling the story.

5. Ki-Adi-Mundi doesn't even have all the details of what occurs in the episode "Day" because Sol and his fellow Jedi made a point of hiding the facts until now. Mundi might also believe these are other Force factions, as there are more than just Jedi and Sith in the universe at this time.

6. The Jedi Order and Council are well known for hiding information from other Jedi and burying things they deem dangerous.

7. Ki-Adi-Mundi could be lying in The Phantom Menace, because Jedi can lie. Or he could have forgotten because people forget things. Or he could be under orders not to say anything about the Sith. Or a plethora of other reasons for how and why this occurred because we do not have the entire story yet.

8. Canon is always changing. That is how stories and mythology works, and Star Wars is a modern myth.

Honestly though, I don't expect anyone who is actually mad about this to get this far. These are the same people mad about fire in space, even though George Lucas clearly states in Star Wars Achieves there is oxygen in his space because personally wanted to have fire in space during the original trilogy.

Always remember that Star Wars is a mythology, changeable, and to have a good time with things that are fake and in space. It's entertainment at the end of the day. Don't like it? Don't watch it. If you're not having fun, then go find something else to do. There's so much Star Wars and other great media around that it's not worth losing your mind over a CD-ROM from 25 years ago.