In Star Wars, Chronological is Correct

A Plea for Narrative Coherence and Aesthetic Sensibility

On this marvelous May the Fourth, Star Wars Day, let us turn our attention to a most pressing matter: the order in which one ought to view the Star Wars saga. As a culturally aware person, surely you are familiar with the heated debate that has raged for decades between those who advocate for viewing the films in the venerable “release order” and those who champion the relatively new “chronological order.” Now, as a man of letters (vaguely), a scholar of great renown (from a certain point of view), and a Jedi Knight of the highest order (or so I certainly would be, I imagine), I must say that I find the arguments put forth by the release order camp to be decidedly lacking in both cogency and elegance. Indeed, they strike me as little more than a flimsy tissue of sophistries, betraying a lamentable lack of aesthetic discernment and a distressing disregard for narrative coherence.

For the uninitiated, the release order advocates insist that one must view the Original Trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) first, followed by the Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I-III), and then the Sequel Trilogy (Episodes VII-IX), and any other spin-offs or standalone films in whatever order one sees fit. Their primary argument, if one can even call it that, seems to be that this is the order in…