Star Wars Describes the Old Republic in Canon for the First Time

Lucasfilm film has finally described the Old Republic era of Star Wars within the post-Disney buyout canon for the first time. Lucasfilm already placed The Old Republic on its new Star Wars timeline between the Dawn of the Jedi era (the setting of James Mangold's in-development Star Wars film) and the High Republic era (the setting of the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative, the Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures animated series, and the upcoming Star Wars: The Acolyte series on Disney+). However, with no canon projects planned for that era (the MMORPG video game Star Wars: The Old Republic remains online, but is not canon), it has received little attention.

However, that Star Wars timeline is now on the StarWars.com website as part of the franchise's official databank. That timeline listing offers the description of the Old Republic era in canon. Here it is:

"The Republic is founded among the worlds of the Galactic Core, and the Jedi Order emerges to protect it. A schism within the Jedi leads to the creation of the Sith in this epic era."

The description suggests that, while the Force-users called Jedi might emerge during the Dawn of the Jedi era, the Jedi Order, as an organization, will not formally come to exist until the formation of The Republic (which may explain some of Mangold's comments about his movie). The Sith then split off from the Jedi Order, leading to many conflicts between the two factions of Force-users.

What is Star Wars' Old Republic era?

The Old Republic is an era of Star Wars that pre-dates the original Star Wars films by thousands of years. It was during this era that the Jedi and the Sith first came to exist.

The Old Republic era first appeared in Legends canon in the original Tales of the Jedi comics (written by the late Tom Veitch) published by Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s, during the original Star Wars expanded universe boom. However, the Old Republic's best-known story is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the BioWare-developed video game released in 2003.

Several planets introduced in the original Old Republic stories have made it into the new Star Wars canon, as have the beloved HK line of assassin droids. Other characters and storylines from the era have been alluded to but not made a concrete part of the new canon.

It's interesting that the Old Republic era is the only era on the new Star Wars timeline page to have a description but not listed projects. The Dawn of the Jedi and New Jedi Order eras have neither, suggesting that Lucasfilm didn't want to put anything out there before the upcoming films in those eras are further along in development and production. All other eras have their description and multiple projects listed. Perhaps there being no projects planned for the Old Republic means Lucasfilm is less worried about codifying the era outside of film, television, and publishing projects.