[ComicGuy89]

I guess it's a controversial issue, but I personally feel it was the right thing to do, to declare everything sans direct Lucasfilm productions non-canon. In particular, having the post-ROTJ EU constrain the story of future movies will make it very difficult for storytelling.

I also feel that a lot of the EU is just too convoluted and their stories are difficult to reconcile with each other. In particular, it took me a number of years to accept the Yuuzhan Vong, and it's still a pain to work out what happened in the Old Republic era, when trying to reconcile the Bioware stuff with the earlier comics. Inconsistent ideas about how the Force works, conflicting histories, and the differing portrayal of the factions present make things extremely difficult to follow.

In the past, Lucasfilm avoided this problem by declaring the prequel era off limits (until the movies were produced) and to lay off the post-Episode III and pre-Episode IV period (with exceptions like The Force Unleashed). This meant the story they wanted to tell was untouched. But now, when creating a direct sequel to Jedi, they are faced with a timeline that has been densely, even if messily, packed with stories. There is no room to tell a story without destroying it wholesale.

I guess in the end it depends on how much you like the EU. I like lots of parts of it, but I dislike enough parts to be willing to compromise the ones I do like. So, purely in my opinion, I think getting rid of the canonicity of the EU was a good idea. Remember, the EU was never fully canon anyway, it was always "canon unless contradicted by Lucasfilm productions, which take precedence". Therefore one could argue this was simply an extension of the earlier policy.