Star Wars KOTOR Characters Set to Return?

Star Wars KOTOR and The Acolyte

Image: Lucasfilm/Disney

Recently, Disney has been teasing their newest small-screen entries into a galaxy far, far away. This includes Andor and further seasons of The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett. However, one of their most anticipated shows is The Acolyte, which we know very little about – until now.

Allegedly, a report leaked about the show, which teased the return of various Star Wars KOTOR characters. These include iconic Sith such as Darth Bane, Darth Malak, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Revan. Having these characters return would make sense. After all, The Acolyte will be set far in the past for the Star Wars franchise. It will take place at the tail-end of the High Republic era.

Many of these Star Wars KOTOR characters had detailed lore in the pre-Disney days. However, when George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Disney branded most of these stories as part of the Legends canon. The events of Knights of the Old Republic followed suit, too.

This means that they were no longer part of the official canon that Disney worked with. Some have begun to return to canon, such as Darth Revan, but the lore is nowhere near as detailed as it was previously. So, seeing these iconic Star Wars KOTOR characters return in full form to the franchise is exciting.

Star Wars KOTOR remake

Image: Asypr/Disney

If this rumor is true and the Star Wars KOTOR characters do return, it will be interesting to see how different they are from their Legends counterparts. After all, The Acolyte takes place approximately 132 years before the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope. By contrast, the original Star Wars KOTOR occurred just under 4000 years prior. The technology and storylines with these returning characters are likely to be very different.

Similarly, we already know that Aspyr Media is working on creating a Star Wars KOTOR remake. This is coming exclusively to PS5 and PC, to begin with, and other consoles will get the game later. There’s no release date for the remake, but it’s likely not for a few years. They have said that the remake will be “one-to-one” and will not include any substantial changes to the plot.

Even so, it’s interesting to know that the characters may become part of canon at the same time Aspyr re-releases the original game. Perhaps there’ll be some crossover, and we’ll see The Acolyte reference events from the Star Wars KOTOR remake.

What is the High Republic?

Image: Lucasfilm/Disney

We know that The Acolyte will take place at the end of the High Republic era. This is approximately 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. According to the showrunner for The Acolyte, the High Republic Era was a time of “Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment,” according to the showrunner for The Acolyte. The Republic stood strong, and there were numerous members of the Jedi who most members of the galaxy valued.

Disney has already released various books, comics, and audio dramas about this era. They have said the era will have three phases, with the first one ending in September this year. The Acolyte – and presumably the return of Star Wars KOTOR – will be part of Phase Two. The showrunner teased that the show would set up aspects of The Phantom Menace.