When Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, many fans were disappointed to learn that the sequel movies would establish the Expanded Universe as non-canonical. Though BioWare’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series was never established to be a part of the main canon to begin with, the news also came as a blow to many in the gaming community, as no one knew what was or wasn’t canon anymore.
However, there are good reasons that Knights of the Old Republic could forge a new future in the new canon. Star Wars: The High Republic is a publishing campaign set for launch in 2021 which will include new novels and comics exploring the Galactic Republic around 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace.
The High Republic era was a time when the Galactic Republic and Jedi activity extended to its furthest throughout the entire galaxy. This Jedi golden age saw expansion and exploration in plenty, with many Jedi even reaching the Outer Rim territories where the ruins of their temples can still be found during the time of the Star Wars movies.
While it was broadly a period of prosperity compared to the near-extinction of the Jedi which takes place in the movies, The High Republic era includes some very interesting moments in the Star Wars canon. The Great Disaster took place in 232 BBY, which caused all of the starships across the galaxy to get launched out of hyperspace all at once.
It’s an interesting time for the Star Wars canon which takes place long before the movies but also would allow BioWare to explore a time period closer to the events of the main series without stepping on any toes. The exploration of the Outer Rim could provide some great roleplay opportunities, and the fact that the Jedi were so prolific at this time could allow BioWare to tell some stories which are more personally motivated by things other than the conflict between the remaining Jedi and the Sith like in Fallen Order.
There’s also an argument to be made that it’s healthy for long-running RPG series to see a shift in setting. Mass Effect: Andromeda demonstrated the necessity of this in BioWare’s other space-set sci-fi series. In the latest Mass Effect, the game was necessarily set long after the events of the original Mass Effect trilogy and in another galaxy to avoid the implications of the various possible endings for Mass Effect 3.
Knights of the Old Republic could benefit from shaking off its old setting entirely to explore a totally new story. KOTOR‘s Revan finally becomes a force ghost in Star Wars: The Old Republic, ending their story once and for all. This makes the High Republic a great opportunity to start fresh and tell a story without any baggage or loose ends.
However, it is also possible that the amount of media about to published on the High Republic could restrict some of those opportunities by establishing more and more about the canon of the time. However, a game set among the Sith or Jedi stranded in the Outer Rim after the Great Disaster could not only be a unique new setting but one with consequences isolated from the rest of the canon, allowing BioWare to give players more freedom to make important decisions.
While other BioWare series like Dragon Age 4 have to wrap up a lot of the loose ends and mysteries of the franchise, the High Republic Era could give BioWare an opportunity to play in a totally new space. The level of freedom afforded to the writers could then be passed on to the players in a future RPG, helping revive both the KOTOR franchise and BioWare itself as the top-dog of single-player story-driven RPGs. Since KOTOR was never in the Expanded Universe to begin with, BioWare could even leave a few hints to past games.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available now on PC and Xbox.
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