Knights of The Old Republic may be our only hope
By Jason Burke
With a fanbase torn apart by Lucasfilm’s current course, Star Wars may want to look back in its catalogue to mend what is broken. Knights of The Old Republic may be our last, best hope.
In the galaxy far, far away, things have been fractured for some time. We’re not talking about the Separatists and the Republic, The Empire vs The Rebels or the current combatants, The First Order and The Resistance, we’re talking about Star Wars fans themselves.
Yes, nobody hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans. Need proof? You don’t even have to go back to the exploding heads after the premiere of The Last Jedi when the fandom found itself cut in half quicker than an unstable Kylo Ren blade through the torso. You don’t have to look at the organized boycotts of Solo: A Star Wars Story, pitting internet interlopers against the eternally evil mouse worshipping cabal that is Disney. Just pop onto Twitter or do a quick google search to bring up the latest reactions to the trailer for Star Wars Resistance.
In some ways, The Star Wars universe has found that balance Luke Skywalker talked about, hasn’t it? But it doesn’t have to be this way. There may be a way to crazy glue this group of wacky enthusiasts before they rip any further apart and the answer may be lurking somewhere in a story a long time ago. And, I don’t mean just a long time ago, I mean a long, long time ago.
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Right now, we have a saga spread over nine films that spans a fandom that grew up either during the original, prequel or it’s current sequel trilogy. If the issues of the current Skywalker Saga are a generational one – not my Star Wars – then it may be time to set course in a new generation. The Knights of The Old Republic series has always been very popular with fans and may be what’s needed to wipe the slate clean for everyone in this universe.
Lucasfilm has a wealth of stories to rip from. Even if they are under the Legends label, it still has stories from those video games, books and comics. For its part, Kathleen Kennedy and the other figure heads may be making some overtures in the general direction.
Some clues are already out there, even if they are only a few such as fans have noted Exar Kun was canonized in Solo: A Story Wars Story. Supposedly, TLJ had it’s own hard to catch KOTOR easter egg, a red crystal inside of Luke’s home that belonged to Darth Revan. Then throw a trilogy of movies being produced by Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, a perfect pairing to take on such a monumental task.
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The image of Exar Kun waging war against the Old Republic in The great Sith Wars or the “Jedi Crusader” Darth Revan leading his Sith followers against the Jedi like cyber-punk knights with glowing sticks may be the only way to bring back what has been lost. So, while Leia once stowed away taking an R2 video selfie, begging Obi-Wan to saddle up one last time to save whatever was left of The Republic, fans may soon be behind blue screens and YouTube platforms mimicking her rebel cry, “Help us, Knights of The Old Republic, you’re our only hope.”