Should You Care About Canon? - Extra Credits Gaming

Remember a few episodes back when I said that our friend Eddie Webb had a rant about cannons? No, not like huge gun cannons. That's a rant for another time. But cannons, as in the list of facts and details we consider to be accurate in a fictional world. You know, stuff like it's canon currently that Aerith dies in Final Fantasy VII, though we'll see if that holds. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I asked Eddie about the rant that he mentioned the other day, and boy did it turn into a spirited debate. Now, I don't agree with everything that Eddie has to say, but he definitely raised some interesting points. So today, I wanted to share with all of you the outcome of our canon battle and see which ships in our opinionated fleets we could start SHOOTING HOLES IN. THANKS SO MUCH TO CURIOSITYSTREAM FOR SUPPORTING this episode canonically. Boy, oh boy, did Eddie come into this discussion hot, saying that in his opinion, canon is a stupid concept and fans should stop caring about it so much because applying it dogmatically

actively damages properties. Now, that's a pretty loaded volley up top, so I asked him to unpack that just a little bit, and he told me some interesting history. Like many things in modern fandom, the concept of canon stems from the Sherlock Holmes community. By the year 1911, Doyle's creation was so popular that it spawned knockoffs, pastiches, and even literary criticism of the original texts. Now, in the late 19th century, the concept of the superstar author was still fresh. So by 1911, the idea that some stories were more official than others was also still new to most people. Even the concept of deciding which stories were more important and which weren't was actually a little satirical because most Sherlock Holmes scholars indulged in what came to be known as the Great Game. That's the assumption {slash} exercise that Dr. Watson really existed and reported on true events, and Arthur Conan Doyle wasn't writing fictional stories. So these Holmesians or Sherlockians tried to reconcile the stories not only within themselves, but also with real-world events. Then Eddie started explaining that in England they're called Holmesians and in America they're called Sherlockians, but I gently nudged him back on track because seriously, this

guy can talk about Sherlock Holmes for like hours. Anyhow, then comes Monsignor Ronald A. Knox, who is believed to be the first person to use the word canon in relation to a fictional property. He wrote the innocuously titled Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes, which first applied the structure of theological debate to fiction. He does this through the guise of applying Sherlock's own methods of reasoning to the written material itself. However, as he wrote more and more on the topic, he borrowed language from his own calling as a religious man, denoting some stories as canonical to differentiate them from others. And that seems to be the key point for Eddie. Knox explicitly equated the fan activity of reconciling continuity to the study of small details. Knox even spells it out right in the start of his essay by saying, quote, "It is the method by which we treat as significant what the author did not mean to be significant, by which we single out as essential what the author regarded as incidental." It's believed Monsignor Knox actually did this to satirize theological debate by transposing those kinds of arguments to something as banal as detective fiction.

And it certainly seems like arguments about canon can mirror those debates, even to the point of a central authority, be it the Catholic Church or, I don't know, Disney, ruling canonical materials to be non-canonical. Heck, we even call core canonical documents Bibles. Now, personally, I think it's just humans like putting things into boxes, you know, like cats. But Eddie pushed towards a larger point. It's an extreme position to claim that Sherlock Holmes canon is sacrosanct and changeable only by one person because in all likelihood that position was originally meant to be satirical. And it's true that some of the most enduring fictional worlds come with a wide variety of canonical contradictions. Not only Sherlock Holmes, but also series like Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear, shows like Doctor Who and long-running soap operas, and even comic book continuities. Eddie maintains that having conflicts for fans to argue about and reconcile is actually the entire point of fandom, and that these discrepancies can lead to better stories. But here's where I disagree. And actually, Kingdom Hearts is a great example. Yes, there's 20 years of continuity there. And having that depth of background can make a game feel epic

in scope, particularly if you've been a fan of the series the whole time. But if I pick up Kingdom Hearts 3, you know, so I can watch Donald constantly fail to heal me, and suddenly for some reason the Keyblades have all been replaced with, I don't know, like electric guitars or something. It would feel like the game is telling me that my investment as a fan wasn't worthwhile. Oh, and Donald, seriously, I hope you're a pallbearer at my funeral so you can let me down just one more time. Now, after I was done digging up that old meme, Eddie rebutted by asking, "So, what does canon really mean these days?" He pointed out that canon is both mutable and not clear-cut. For some properties, there's current canon and former canon. There's also semi-canonical, which is where something is affected by the canon but doesn't contribute to it, like the Persona dancing or arena games. Then, there's even extra-canonical, which is not a new series, by the way, which are stories that are potentially valid but are neither beholden to canon nor contribute to it. Usually, that's reserved for tie-in products like novels or comic books based on games. But even some games fall into this category, like the Fire Emblem Heroes mobile game. Then, Eddie started talking about the differences between satire, pastiche,

and homage, but honestly, by this time, I was getting worried about his blood pressure. Now, I see his point, but I'm also not sure how much that matters. I mean, look, I know that I can't follow the Metal Gear Solid continuity on some days without a flowchart and a stiff drink, but I think that's the exception that proves the rule. Sure, some continuity is benefit from having a loose canon that can handle contradictions and confusion. But most of the time, you want to feel like each game or story or whatever is building on the last one in a logical progression. And of course, it can be fun to try to fix the minor mistakes of a canon, but I posit that major mistakes aren't fun, either to fix or to experience. For me, it's all about being strategic in which contradictions are useful and which end up being tedious and annoying. And I think that's where Eddie and I both ended up. Canon is all about mindful fidelity to something instead of mindlessly shoving things into an arbitrary box. We both agree that Canon is a tool that should be used thoughtfully to make something more meaningful and neither be rigidly followed nor tossed aside when it's inconvenient. While constraints can spur

creativity, a past decision made forever ago shouldn't prevent introducing changes that could add something truly meaningful to a game. So, with that in mind, Canon could be ultimately thought of in a more nuanced and realistic way so that we can leverage its value as a storytelling tool and as a method by fans can appreciate a property they love. But, that's just Eddie and I's opinion. We'd love to hear where you land on this debate in the comments below and we'll be sure to add it to the EC Cinematic YouTube vs. Canon thingamajiggy for all time or at least until we go full reboot quilt the next episode. Thanks so much for indulging us this week, everybody. Talk to you soon. But, no matter where you fall on this conversation, one thing's for certain, the best way to watch Extra Credits content all ad-free canonically is over on Nebula, our by creators for creators streaming service that's home to a ton of our other favorite educational entertainers on the internet such as Joe Scott, Real Science, and TierZoo. Plus, you'll get to see some of our Nebula originals on topics like T-Bo Shelton, Cowboy Bebop, and BioShock along with my erroneously titled show, The Only Podcast About Movies. Yeah, there's an

asterisk in there somewhere where Shahir Daud and I just discussed my absolute favorite film this year I've seen thus far, Everything Everywhere All at Once, which you should totally check out. It is a delight. And because Curiosity Stream loves us independent educational creators, they've teamed up with us over at Nebula so that we can offer you a pretty amazing two-for-one deal. Sign up for Curiosity Stream using our link right at the bottom of the frame there and you'll get a matching Nebula subscription for free. And that's on top of Curiosity Stream's thousands of big-budget non-fiction videos and award-winning original series curated across their ginormous platform. Now, since much of our Canon convo was sourced via Sherlock, I just checked out the CS documentary, The Real Sherlock Holmes, which connects the dots in a ton of awesome ways. I never realized the famous fictional sleuth influenced the 21st century. So, head on over to curiositystream.com/extracredits right now to get both of these phenomenal streaming services for the limited time price of under $12 for an entire year. That's 42% off the regular price, which still blows my mind for the amount of content you get. And when you do, not only will you get to watch some

of the best content on this old series of tubes, but you'll also be directly helping out Extra Credits in the process, which we want to let you know we're incredibly thankful for. Oh, I didn't see you there Kyle Murgatroyd, Joseph Blame, Dominic Valenciana, Casey Musgraves, Arclight Games, Angelo Valenciana, Alicia Bramble, and Ahmed Ziad Turk. Y'all are the best.