With new information from Star Wars: Complete Vehicles 2018 and 
"Deal No Deal" Episode Guide on StarWars.com (backup link) I'm stuck at a predicament in regards to how to proceed. One of the biggest inconsistencies from Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith in Star Wars Legends has now made its way into canon. The subject? The Open Circle Fleet and its sub-unit, the Fifth Fleet.
First subject: Open Circle Fleet
For context: In Legends, the emblem of the Open Circle Fleet was allegedly meant to be the standard Republic Military symbol, but authors of the Expanded Universe were not aware of this and attributed the symbol as the emblem of the Open Circle Armada. This was later attempted to be fixed with the retcon that due to the armada's size, its equipment and munitions were spread out and given to other Republic units. The OCA emblem appears in starfighters, ground vehicles, and more.
This wasn't an issue with canon until recently, however. The OCA emblem, being meant to be a standard military symbol, appears on all space ships of the Republic as well as ground vehicles in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The Open Circle Fleet was introduced into canon but it wasn't connected to the Republic symbol. This changed with the episode guide for one of the latest Clone Wars episodes, Deal No Deal. The Episode Guide can be found here: "Deal No Deal" Episode Guide on StarWars.com (backup link).
The Episode Guide here introduced the information that connects the Open Circle Fleet with the emblem directly. It states, "The symbol of the Open Circle Fleet appears on the shoulders of the clone officers aboard the Republic ship. Anakin's flagship in the Season Six episode The Unknown features this same icon, as do many Republic ships in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith."
I believe we have to strictly follow this. The fleet's symbol appears on countless episodes of the series, yet the Episode Guide only states that Anakin's flagship (not to be confused with the Resolute) has the symbol at the events of The Unknown, as do many Republic ships in Episode III. I don't think it would be correct to assume that this means that every Republic vehicle with that emblem before the events of The Unknown or not directly affiliated with the Open Circle Fleet like Skywalker's fleet should mean that it belongs to the Open Circle Fleet. It's also important to mention that the new uniform of the clone officers with the fleet emblem first appears in the episode Orders, which takes place after The Unknown in the same story arc. For some more context, other clone naval officers in Orders have different symbols on their uniform now, as opposed to before when no officer had unit affiliation symbols.
While watching Episode III to investigate some more, I noticed that in the Battle of Coruscant, some Republic Venators do not have the OCA emblem on the hulls, while most others do. That can be seen in this image. In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the Albedo Brave does not feature this emblem as seen here. The Albedo Brave is depicted during the events of Episode III, so this goes well that at this point in the war, not all Republic Navy ships had that emblem as they were not associated with the OCA. To make it simple, all ships in The Clone Wars have this emblem, versus not all have the emblem in Episode III and Fallen Order.
In regards to this, I see two options:
- Assume that any appearance of the symbol such as The Clone Wars episodes and comics is an appearance of the Open Circle Fleet/ affiliation with the fleet. This places all naval vehicles and some ground vehicles in The Clone Wars as part of the Open Circle Fleet. This is a more broad assumption.
- Assume that the Open Circle Fleet only appears in the events during and after The Unknown, and that not all appearances of the emblem means that it is meant to represent the fleet. This limits appearances to The Unknown, Orders, Crisis at the Heart, Deal No Deal, and Episode III. This is a more specific assumption, as it sticks with what is said in the Episode Guide.
Second subject: Fifth Fleet
Now unto the second subject. The Fifth Fleet of the Open Circle Fleet. Star Wars: Complete Vehicles 2018 establishes that the five red markings on each of the wings of Venators belonging to the Open Circle Armada indicate that it belongs to the armada's Fifth Fleet. However, these five red markings appear on every Republic Venator in Episode III, regardless of whether they have the Open Circle emblem or not. In The Clone Wars, most vessels throughout the show, Venators and otherwise, have these five markings, although others have three red markings. Additionally, in The Clone Wars, some scenes inconsistently depict the same vessels with three markings and then five markings. The only time the three markings appear outside of The Clone Wars is in Fallen Order with the Albedo Brave, yet like I pointed out, that ship does not have the OCA emblem and is active during Episode III.
The decision on how to proceed with this article depends on how to proceed with the subject above. If the first option for the first subject is chosen (broad assumption), then that places the Fifth Fleet in nearly all episodes of The Clone Wars that feature a Republic Navy ship, though this can be inconsistent due to the three versus five markings. If the second option is chosen (specific assumption), unless there's confirmation that the Fifth Fleet appears in Episode III, there are no appearances and the source remains Star Wars: Complete Vehicles.
Let me know what you guys think. I'm not the best at explaining things so if you have questions please ask away. I plan to bring these articles to status eventually, so I'd appreciate feedback.--Vitus InfinitusTalk 17:47, April 9, 2020 (UTC)