To whom it may concern,

My name is Alex Griffiths, and I am a Star Wars fan.

But not for much longer.

For over 12 years now, Star Wars has been a major part of my life. Ever since the Special Editions came out in 1997, when as a 10 year-old boy I was mesmerized by enormous starships slugging it out and an aging Jedi trying to teach a young boy how to defeat the most evil being in the galaxy. Even back then, as cool as the Jedi were with their lightsabers and Force powers, it was the mysterious bounty hunter called Fett and the white-armoured stormtroopers that drew my attention (and to a certain extent, Vader himself), and it was this fascination that shaped my fandom in the years to come.

I also have a fascination with all-thing military, with my father being an ex-squaddie in the British Army, a few of my friends being in the Army and my being involved with a sport called airsoft (basically LARP with replica firearms that fire BBs), and it was probably this that makes me gravitate towards the stormtroopers. Fett, of course, was just so cool that you can't not be a fan, and so like any discerning fan, I ended up knowing quite a bit about his back-story and who he really was.

Then the Prequels came along.

Episode 1...great film, but compared to the other films, a load of rubbish. It just didn't have the same appeal as the other films, it was all flash and no real substance, despite setting things up for the next few films fairly neatly and allowing us fans a glimpse into the man behind the mask and what the Jedi were really like - our only contact until this point were Luke Skywalker, a boy trained to be a weapon with which to kill Palpatine, Yoda, a green midget with an odd voice who spoke in riddles and half-truths, and Ben/Obi-wan Kenobi, an aging philosopher with a penchant for stroking his beard. Darth Maul, whilst very cool, was still a short-lived yet awesome enemy who really didn't get enough screen-time.

Episode 2...crap acting, but what a spectacle. As a fan of stormtroopers and Fett, imagine my delight when the two were merged...but also imagine my dismay when we were introduced to the character of Jango Fett, supposedly the clone father of Boba Fett and all the clone troopers we saw on screen.

Now, any self-respecting Fett fan knows that Boba was an ex-Journeyman Protector from Concord Dawn named Jaster Mereel who was exiled and adopted the Fett name after finding a set of Mandalorian armour. So for all of that to be thrown away because of a silver-armoured New Zealander...rankled a bit, but I figured, it's Lucas' story, so it's his decision, so I shouldn't really complain, and besides, the Open Seasons comic explained it away quite neatly, so all is forgiven.

Then, of course, we had the Republic Commando game, which blew me away, and then, I heard about a book based on the game by an author named Karen Traviss...and my fandom took me to new heights as the whole culture of Mandalorians was laid in front of my eyes. Whilst not the best author I've read, Kar'buir (as she's affectionately known by the fans) had created a culture that appealed to everything I loved. A warrior society, working merely to survive in a difficult galaxy, known for their prowess in battle from centuries of battles, mercenary work and bounty-hunting. Their own language, home-planet, way of doing things that was almost completely at odds with the way they were perceived and, indeed, the rest of the SW galaxy as it was written by the rest of the EU writers. They treated the Jedi with contempt, they knew how to properly fight a war, they killed for a living then went home and played with their kids. They had a sense of honour, they had a sense of community quite at odds with most of the cultures we'd heard about in the EU. They weren't the good guys, they weren't the bad guys. They just...were.

Beginning with Hard Contact and taking us through Triple Zero, True Colours, Order 66 and Imperial Commando, and taking in the short stories Odds and Omega Squad Targets, the story of Kal Skirata and his "family" of Null clones and RCs drew me in, held me and showed me a side to the Star Wars universe we hadn't seen before. It wasn't the stereotypically seedy side we saw through the eyes of the Jedi in both the Imperial and New Republic days, it was a real and visceral side that you could almost imagine taking place on the mean streets of Croydon or the Bronx.

And it wasn't just the Mandalorians that drew my interest. The clones still held a special place in heart, those common soldiers specifically bred to fight a way they had no stake in, who didn't complain, who didn't bitch or whine, just got on with the job, just like real soldiers do today. They were professionals, and they acted like it. My favourite scene from any of the Star Wars saga is where Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, marched into the Jedi Temple at the head of a legion of shocktroopers - they didn't balk at having to kill Jedi children because it was their job.

About the only thing I didn't like that was clone-related was the Clone Wars animated series. I loved the cartoons, thought they were great, and to a certain extent, the animated series also helped give me my fix of clone goodness, despite the glaring inconsistencies and horrifically bad military strategies on display.

But all that changed with series two.

Having kept up with all eight episodes so far (at the time of writing), I feel I can safely say that someone needs a good slapping.

Whilst it hasn't come around yet, my main concern is what is being done with the Mandalorians. If what I hear is correct, then the Mandalorians are now a pacifistic society that don't agree with war, but have their own rebels (apparently the Death Watch) that want to continue their war-like ways.

I'm sorry, what?

What idiot decided to write away 30 years of established canon? From the time of the Jedi vs. Sith comics, Mandalorians have been known for their war-like ways. We're talking about a species who nearly conquered the galaxy numerous times over, a species that took the Jedi to stop them, a species that regularly sided with the Sith because they seemed to share a taste for glory and war. This is a species that, were you a Coruscant citizen, would have your pulse race with fear at the sight of a T-visored helmet and tell your kids that if they misbehaved, Mand'alor would come and eat you. This is a species that have built an entire economy on war, whether it be the products that MandalMotors produces, whether it be the rare beskar ore that can withstand turbolaser blasts, or whether it be the selling of their services as mercenaries to the galaxy at large.

And some di'kut decides that, because of a children's TV program, all that will be thrown away.

I'm disgusted.

To do away with canon that EVERY single Star Wars fan has accepted since the appearance of the green-armoured figure in Empire Strikes Back just smacks of what can only be described as stupidity on a Biblical scale. Never mind that you have insulted every single writer who worked on the history of the Mandalorians and of the Fetts themselves, most of all Karen Traviss who put several years worth of work in developing a culture, language and whole menagarie of characters based on already-established canon. In doing so, you're alienating and angering what will turn out to be an enormous cross-section of fans, and for what? To entertain children under 12? The vast majority of Star Wars fans are going to be people who either remember the original films coming out in 1977 or the special editions and aren't easily distracted by anything with flashing lights and explosions. These are the people who will spend their hard-earned money on memorabilia, magazines, books and games, who will continue their love for the saga by making costumes and bringing the magic to others or by introducing it to their children and showing them how awesome it was before the latest round of Star Wars tosh. By alienating and angering these people, the people that have helped make Star Wars so popular and well-loved, you're destroying what faith they have in you and essentially telling them that you really don't care about them and that making money from children is more important to you than what they think. Not only is it bad business sense, it's also just plain rude.

Whilst my other concerns pale in comparison to that, they are no less relevant.

The Mandalorians isn't the only canon you've messed with recently with the Clone Wars animated series. What was all that rubbish with the Kaiburr Crystal? Anyone who's read Splinter of the Mind's Eye knows that the Kaiburr Crystal was an artifact used to boost the latent Force ability in anyone who handled it, and I believe was used to heal the natives of the moon it was found on. And yet somehow, it now contains a database of all the Force-sensitive children in the galaxy? And can only be read by a Jedi Holocron? What rubbish is that? How does that even work? It would need updates every second! And how would you know said children are Force sensitive anyway? As soon as children are detected to have the ability, then they're instantly carted off for Jedi training anyway, so the whole existance of such a database is a moot point anyway!

And as for the whole "can only be read by a Jedi Holocron" thing just shows how little the writers of that series know about established Star Wars lore. Jedi Holocrons are repositories of knowledge, shaped by the Jedi that created it. Indeed, when accessed by someone other than the creator, the interface is actually that of Jedi creator - ie. an avatar of the creator acts as a teacher to the person accessing it and interacts with them as though you were talking to the Jedi who created it. So, again, please explain to me how this lends itself towards being a key that unlocks a crystal containing a defunct database?

I could go on, but for now, I want to concentrate on something else. Namely, the latest games to come out.

Now, I can understand the release of Republic Heroes - you've made a TV series to appeal to kids, so why not a game based along the same lines. But the latest announcement of The Force Unleashed 2...to me, and a lot of other fans, it just smacks of money-grabbing. The first one was successful, so the second will be too, right? The first held no real replay value when compared to other games, and so I sold it - not something I've done with a lot of the other Star Wars games I have. I still have Republic Commando, both Knights of the Old Republic games and even the Dark Forces and Jedi Knight series of games. Yet TFU...sure, it was alright, but it wasn't amazing and fell far short of the excitement factor I was expecting and wanting.

If you really want to make money, restart work on the Battlefront III game. The first two were the most successful and biggest-selling Star Wars games ever, and rightly so - they were awesome games with tons of replay value, giving us control over a side of the Star Wars universe we don't usually see. A lot of the limelight is on the Jedi, and to be honest, I find that wrong when you have people with no such powers doing things the Jedi would never do and living more interesting lives that I'd much rather see. You'd be surprised how many people prefer to root for the little guy, and find the stories of the common soldier, even an elite one, far more interesting than that of the Jedi.

I have more grievances than I can truly voice, but consider me spent for now. But also consider that I have been a massive fan of the Star Wars saga for more than half my life. I have a tattoo on my arm from the series, have an extensive collection of Star Wars memorabilia, books, action figures, even my own custom lightsabre (which, when you consider how much I prefer non-Jedi cultures, says a lot), and have spent who knows how many hours writing Star Wars fan-fiction, using what I consider to be a real talent to write stories based in the universe I have come to regard as a major part of my life. So please, do not just dismiss my words as the words of an angry fan-boy - regard them as what they are.

This is a plea. A plea for you to regard the fans with the respect we deserve. After all, we're the ones who will keep you afloat, we're the ones buying the merchandise, we're the ones keeping the magic Lucas started alive.

Without us, you'd be nothing. Remember that.