A look at the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’s story and its sequel could help inform potential lore and reference for Disney’s next era of Star Wars, which is rumored to be called Project Luminous. A little over a year after the release of BioWare’s Star Wars: KotOR, a direct sequel was released from The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment called Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords that followed an exiled Jedi and must return to fight the Lords of the Sith.
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The Story of Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords takes place in the same era as the first game, just shy of 4000 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga. Set five years after the original, the story takes place during the Dark Wars with the Jedi religion nearing extinction due to the strength and numbers of the Sith, and players are giving the option to choose between the Light and Dark Side ending of the original game which in turn affects the state of the world. Players assume the role of an exiled Jedi known as Meetra Surik, who must regain the trust of the Jedi Council and set out on a mission to rally the remaining Jedi and stop the Dark Lords of the Sith: the ex-Jedi Master Darth Traya, the undead Darth Sion, and the self-described Lord of Hunger, Darth Nihilus.
Beat for beat, Knights of the Old Republic II has a very high number of similarities to that of its predecessor in both story and gameplay. For starters, once again players have full customization of the Surik’s gender, aesthetic look, character classes, and branching endings based on the player’s alignment with either the Light or the Dark Side of the Force. The Sith Lords begins on a Republic cruiser called the Harbinger where a sedated Surik is being held and en route to the Exchange, a crime syndicate that’s placed a bounty on the exiled Jedi’s head. Surik is soon rescued by Kreia, a blind force-sensitive Jedi that quickly takes on a similar mentor role to Bastila Shan in Star Wars: KotOR, as well as the T3-M4 utility companion droid from the first game, and the trio escape on the Ebon Hawk.
Also similar to the events of the first game, the group escapes to the planet Telos IV alongside a companion and smuggler, Atton Rand, and come across Atris, a surviving member of the Jedi council that played a large role in exiling Surik ten years earlier for ignoring the council’s command and fighting in the Mandalorian Wars. In order to stop the war for good, Surik activated the Mass Shadow Generator on Malachor V, instantaneously killing thousands, and as a side effect, severing her connection with the force due to the trauma of sensing so many deaths at once. At this point in time, the Jedi have been near exterminated by the Sith and Atris is forced to pardon Surik’s exile and ask for her help to rally the remaining Jedi for a final assault on the Dark Lords of the Sith.
The crew discovers the whereabouts of four Jedi Masters currently in hiding and they set off to several new planets including Telos IV, Onderon, Dxun, Nar Shaddaa, Malachor V, the Peragus Mining Facility, as well as returning locations Dantooine and Korriban. Depending on the player’s alignment with the Force, each encounter with one of the four Jedi Masters can go one of two ways. Those that align with the Light Side of the Force will set out to meet Zez-Kai Ell, Kavar, Vrook Lamar, and Lonna Vash across Nar Shaddaa, Dxun, Korriban, and Dantooine and after successfully recruiting them, will be taught a new lightsaber form. However, if the player is aligned with the Dark Side of the Force, they can choose to fight and defeat each of the Jedi Masters to get revenge for being exiled all those years ago.
The Ending of Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
From here on out, the story and ending of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II gets a little complicated. Surik is able to rally Jedi Masters Zez-Kai Ell, Kavar, and Vrook, but fails to reach Lonna Vash on Korriban before the Jedi is killed by Darth Sion. The remaining Jedi gather at an enclave on Dantooine and Surik learns that the true nature of her exile came down to the Jedi Masters’ fear of Darth Nihilus. The new Sith threat feeds on Force users and the council chose to exile Surik rather than risk facing a threat that could wipe out the Force for good.
Kreia soon shows up and users a powerful Force drain attack that leads to the death of the three Jedi Master and knocks Surik unconscious. Surik and her companions follow Kreia to Telos IV where they learn a number of troubling revelations. It’s revealed that Surik’s mentor, Kreia, is actually the Sith Lord Darth Traya, that Revan was her apprentice, that Atris has been unknowingly corrupted by the Dark Side after extensively studying Sith holocrons, and the Force bond between Surik and Darth Traya is lethal and will kill the other if one of them dies. Surik duels and defeats the corrupted Atris and sets off to stop Darth Nihilus and his Sith forces as they head toward Telos.
After her duel with Atris, Surik duels and defeats Darth Nihilus whose Force draining abilities backfire due to the trauma from the wound in Surik’s Force connection. Surik then heads to Malachor V for the final confrontation with Darth Sion and Darth Traya as Atris previously revealed Traya’s plan to sacrifice herself in the Trayus Core and destroy the Force. Both are defeated in battle but not before Darth Traya reveals the nature of a vision of the future of Surik, her companions, the worlds they visited, and of the Republic. Traya’s last words reveal that Revan had discovered evidence of the “true sith,” and that he had gone to the unknown regions to fight the Sith Threat. Players are able to choose between the Light Side ending that see’s Surik destroy Malachor V and head off in search of Revan or the Dark Side ending where she becomes the new Dark Lord of the Sith.
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Despite Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords receiving criticism for being far too similar to the first game in the series, both succeed in telling unique stories with interesting characters and concepts that are very different from what’s seen in the Skywalker Saga. The setting of the Old Republic is separated by more than enough time from the existing canon that any number of new locations, characters, villains, factions, and even Force abilities could exist that we’ve never seen before. Not even the prequel trilogy was able to properly portray a time where the Jedi and Sith were truly at war across the galaxy and both KotOR games have managed to build a world that’s believable and that players can get lost in.
Disney’s Project Luminous is said to be set around 400 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga, meaning that the new era will be set closer to the prequel trilogy than either of the KotOR games. Fans shouldn’t expect a drastic departure overall from the core themes and structure that’s already come before, however, as Project Luminous affords the creators a fresh start and a certain level of freedom that it could only dream of with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox, Mac, and Linux.
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