showrunner Tony Gilroy has hinted that Star Wars has changed the entire concept of what is canon and what is not, and it makes perfect sense. The ending of Andor season 2 is taking time to leave the minds of viewers. The crew and cast of Andor season 2 are only making the show stick around for longer thanks to the endless press circuits they are attending. This proves just how much Disney wishes to promote what is now regarded as the best Star Wars TV show, all while allowing creators like Gilroy to give fascinating insights into Lucasfilm.

One of these insights recently came in an interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast. Gilroy was asked by host Josh Horowitz what a story has to be like to fit under the Star Wars umbrella, leading the Andor showrunner to make some interesting comments about canon:

“Lucasfilm is the Vatican and there's like, a Curia. There are, I don’t know all the levels, there’s eight-ten levels of canonical material, all the way down to obscure fan-fiction. And there’s a guy, there’s Pablo Hidalgo who’s the guy who has been there, the librarian of this thing for a very long time.”

What is interesting here is that Gilroy indicates a big canon change - or, more aptly, reversion - to tiered Star Wars storytelling. The concept of tiered canon, in which the movies were at the top of the pyramid and extended materials went lower in importance, was around before Disney acquired Lucasfilm. Disney moved away from tiered canon upon acquiring the company, dubbing anything that was non-canon as Legends. Now, though, Gilroy indicates tiered canon could be back as part of Star Wars.

Concerning what this could mean for Star Wars, the implications are certainly intriguing. This could mean that going forward, the live-action Star Wars movies and shows remain at the top of the canon pyramid, with animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, or Star Wars: The Bad Batch just below them. Further down are the various books and comics published in the Star Wars franchise, which, now that tiered canon could be in effect once more, are at risk of being retconned.

This would explain a few controversial Star Wars decisions in recent years. For instance, Dave Filoni was criticized for retconning the Ahsoka novel in Tales of the Jedi, with The Bad Batch facing similar complaints for doing the same to Kanan Jarrus' comic book storyline. Andor's filmmakers then showed frustration at having to tie Mon Mothma's speech from Andor season 2, episode 9 into Star Wars Rebels, with Gilroy even saying he was annoyed at K-2SO's comic book backstory when writing the show, thus rewriting it himself. This simply means that, in the future, the stories at the “top” of canon could take precedence over those at the “bottom.”

Overall, I think the tiered canon approach of Star Wars makes sense. Naturally, Lucasfilm is going to be more beholden to stories that take place in big-budget movies or TV shows that will be seen by more people. This explains why Dave Filoni chose to retcon certain aspects in his shows, while Andor's filmmakers retconned Mon Mothma's speech and told their own version while still managing to adhere to a "lower tier" of canon in Star Wars Rebels.

Admittedly, I think this approach makes sense, as it does not limit filmmakers from potentially improving on established canon material, like in Andor, while also adhering to better-known stories like Star Wars Rebels over lesser-known ones like the K-2SO one-shot comic book. One potential drawback this creates is the devaluing of Star Wars printed materials. This is something Lucasfilm will need to be wary about, though Gilroy's comments indicate this is the new format of Star Wars canon going forward after .