Star Wars: How The High Republic Can Set Up the Old Republic Era

Star Wars‘ next installment will be focused on The High Republic, the era of The Galactic Republic’s rise, and the Jedi Order’s supremacy over The Sith, 200 years before The Skywalker Saga begins. We’ve already broken down why The High Republic is a worthwhile era of Star Wars to explore – but a lot of that benefit has been related to finally getting stories like origin of Darth Plagueis, or the formative years of Young Yonda. However, Star Wars: The High Republic has more value than exploring the events that led to the Skywalker Saga: it can also set up the events of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The Knights of the Old Republic video games of the early 2000s introduced Star Wars fans to the era of The Old Republic, an era set 4,000 years the events of Revenge of the Sith. The Old Republic was a time when the Sith were an entire empire of dark side Force users, locked into a brutal war with the Jedi. Led by Darth Malak, apprentice of Dark Lord Revan, the Sith Empire was rolling over The Jedi Order, killing Jedi Knights or luring them to the dark side. Eventually the Jedi prevail and the Sith Empire falls, with the dark lords nearly going extinct. However, in truth the Sith survived under Darth Bane, who abolished the model of the Sith Empire and instituted the “Rule of Two,” wherein there could only be one Sith Lord and his/her apprentice. As the 1,000 year peace of the High Republic took hold, the Sith used the Jedi’s arrogance and Hubris at their victory and peaceful hold over the galaxy to secure the fall of the Galactic Empire, and the revenge of The Sith.

The appeal of Star Wars: The Old Republic is getting to explore a version of the Star Wars universe that is truly, for the first time, unlike any we’ve seen before. The ancient era having an entire army of Sith at war with the Jedi is the kind of action spectacle that Star Warrs fans have always wanted to see, as is a version of the Galaxy Far, Far, Away whose technology and aesthetic is far more in the realm of sci-fi Medieval adventure.

Star Wars fans have been asking to get an Old Republic movie trilogy or TV series for years, and Lucasfilm has already teased those plans are in the works. The High Republic could easily open that window: establish what the era of The High Republic is all about, and how it came to be (specifically the remnants of the Sith Empire and creation of the “Rule of Two), it almost seems inevitable that Star Wars will have to finally establish some official canon ties to the Old Republic era.

Are you hoping that Star Wars The High Republic will lead to the official introduction of The Old Republic? Let us know in the comments!

The first Star Wars: The High Republic books and comics arrive later this year.