Star Wars: The Old Republic/WMG

Pre-emptive warning - anything marked "Confirmation status" contains major spoilers. You have been warned.

Revan and the Exile will return.

BioWare has decided to outright lie about this, just so they can stun us with their return.

• One problem, The Old Republic takes place 300 years after Revan's disappearance, so even if they didn't die prematurely they most likely died of natural causes. And even if they knew how to extend their lifespan through the force, this can only take them so far.
  • First, the Sith Emperor's been doing for over a thousand years so it's not impossible. Secondly, on Taral V you have to rescue a Jedi prisoner who is instrumental in "holding back the darkness" and has been lost inside it for three hundred years. It is also mentioned that should this prisoner's strength fail he will become the darkness. Sound familiar?
• Confirmation status: Confirmed. They both feature in the level 30 flashpoint, with the Republic side freeing Revan from imprisonment at the behest of the ghost of the Exile.

Revan is the Sith Emperor.

Revan, having arrived in the Sith Empire, confronted the thousand-year-old Sith Emperor and killed him. On the way, though, he learned more about the history of the Sith and began to sympathize with them. Deciding that the people living in the Empire deserved to get their homeland back, he took the Emperor's place in order to both reform the Imperial government from within and recapture the ancient Sith territories from the Republic. At this point, his body has mostly deteriorated (allowing Bioware to avoid canonizing his appearance); only through the power of the Force has he been able to survive this long.

• And because he felt sorry for the Sith, he started a war that killed billions of innocent people? Doesn’t sound like LS Revan.
• Confirmation Status: Not the case. He was "absorbed" into the Emperor's mind, which is why he was showing such restraint when dealing with the Republic... but then the Republic frees him, and the restraint in the Emperor's head is now gone.
  • Mind you, it's worth pointing out that this WMG actually has supporters within the game: the head of the Revanite Order on Dromund Kaas believes it, and Imperial PCs can choose whether they believe it or not.

Revan is the Sith Emperor's host body.

Revan (possibly with the Exile's help) managed to destroy the Sith Emperor's original body, only to become the victim of Grand Theft Me. 300 years later, Revan's rotting shell is being kept alive in a Sith version of the Golden Throne, still inhabited by the Emperor's consciousness. Revan's mind still exists, but is trapped inside a body that no longer obeys his commands. At the end of the game the player will either have to Mercy Kill Revan or help him reassert himself through Heroic Willpower, after which Revan takes the Emperor with him in a Heroic Sacrifice.

• Confirmation status: Not the case. The Emperor is keeping him alive, however.

Revan and the Exile are dead, but ultimately gave the republic the chance to recover.

In short, they gave their lives to delay the Sith like hell. Seriously, considering how long a time frame they had to build up (a little under a millenium by the point of the original KOTOR), there doesn't seem to be a good explanation as to why the hell the Sith didn't attack earlier when the republic was still reeling from two straight wars. In which case when Revan first arrived, he utterly curbstomped the Sith just as he formerly had the Republic, due to what was basically the same scenario (hero/vanguard returns working for the other side, so noone expected it) forcing their production back. Then whilst they were tending to their wounds, the Exile shows up, and repeats the process, the combined effort ultimately delaying the whole thing by several hundreds of years.

• Confirmation status: The Exile is dead, but Revan has been kept alive by the Sith Emperor.

Darth Malgus is Too Cool to Live

I'm calling it, the man managed to take the Jedi Temple BY SURPRISE. Yeah, I know, the Republic shuttle might have a helped a little but when you manage to sneak a little over 2 dozen Sith into the most heavily defended complex in Republic Space you are officially beyond cool. I'm just going to call him Darth Badass from now on. Oh, did I mention that the Jedi in the temple did not see it coming until they got a wake up call the size of a shuttle, literally. If you managed to surprise the entire Jedi Order, you clearly know what you're doing. So, Darth Badass is either going to get himself assassinated, seriously injured or mired in politics so as not to make things too overwhelmingly easy for the Sith.

• Confirmation status: Confirmed. He features as one of the last flashpoint bosses for both factions. His death is such that a return is theoretically possible, though.

One of the party members or the Player Character will be a descendant of Revan... and the Exile

Satele Shan is already suspected to be a descendant of Revan and Bastila, but there may be other reasons that the canonical genders of the two KOTOR protagonists are different. Two former comrades in arms fighting a hopeless battle together... If this is the case each class would have their own backstory as to how the descendant of two powerful Jedi ended up with the Sith, as a smuggler or a bounty hunter, etc. Even the non-Force Sensitive classes could be latently gifted and unknowingly calling on the Force to be the best of the best. And isn't surprising parentage a classic Star Wars plot point?

• This would contradict the implication in KOTOR 2 that the exile was opposed to Revan's fall, though. She was put in charge of the action where he sent all the dissenters to get killed. Doesn't mean it isn't true, of course.
• The idea is the Exile fell for the new Revan that resulted from the events of KOTOR (canonically light-side) and they became a couple when she joined him in fighting the True Sith after the second KOTOR game.
• Jossed: Official novels make it clear that Revan left a pregnant Bastilla behind, and never had further children before being trapped by the Sith Emperor.

The Sith Emperor shown here is Darth Plagueis.

He's supposedly been alive for a thousand years or more. He seems to have pissed off the "true Sith" something fierce (note how the Sith spirits on Korriban don't seem to support him, via omission). His vision of the Sith matches what Palpatine ended up going for almost exactly... possibly because Palpatine learned it from him. TLDR, this is the Sith lord Palpatine told Anakin about during RotS.

• Wrongo. Darth Plagueis was Palpatine's Sith Master before Palps killed him in his sleep.
  • Likely wrong, but not entirely unfeasible. Knowing Palpatine, he could very well have lied, or he could have been, himself, deceived. Plagueis could have been a body possessed by the Emperor. For that matter, Palpatine HIMSELF could have been the next host body, considering his own similar tendencies. Utterly ridiculous as far as a story goes, but not impossible within the physics of the setting.
• Confirmation status: Unlikely, as the Sith Emperor's actions indicate he is closer to an Eldritch Abomination than Plagueis is implied to be.

The Sith Emperor is the Big Bad

Not just for the Republic, but the Sith as well. We learn that in Deceived (the novel) that Malgus hates the emperor which could lead to a coup that your character could help with.

• • Very plausible, in Revan We learn from Lord Scourges story that a large-ish fraction of the Sith Lords under The Emperor were planning to overthrow him. In fact, they would have succeeded (with Revan aiding). It failed, though

Darth Malgus is the Big Bad for both sides

Darth Malgus has good reasons to attack and destroy both sides. The Republic, because it’s his destiny. The Empire, because he’s sick of the political games of the Emperor and the Dark Council. Also he currently conquers new territory in the Unknown Regions. Revan led a fleet into the Unknown Region and came back as an enemy who almost destroyed the Republic. Will Darth Malgus lead a fleet into the Unknown Region and come back as an enemy who almost destroys the Republic and the Sith Empire?

• Confirmation status: Confirmed to an extent; He serves as the final boss for the last flashpoint available to both factions.

KOTOR 2 will be completely ignored...

• because it wasn't a Bioware game.
  • One Bioware employee posted in the official forum and stated that they consider KOTOR 2 as canon and that there will be several references in TOR. Unless they changed their minds (the post is from 2010) this is Jossed.
  • Completely Jossed. KOTOR was a self-contained game; The Sith Empire is the true Identity of KOTOR's True Sith. The Exile's Ghost also appears in a Republic flashpoint

The Old Republic is but one gigantic test run

And it will be for the Mass Effect MMORPG.

The identity of the Sith Emperor is DOCTOR CLAW!

This explains why he is never seen beyond shadowy imagery.

• His personal nemesis is a bumbling cyborg who has unexpected help from his niece and her strangely competent pet kath hound.

The Voss are no better than the Gormak.

The Gormak are apparently Always Chaotic Evil, while the Voss are totalitarian. Once the chips are down, it'll turn out that the Voss are basically the Chiss Up to Eleven with religious undertones, and can be just as bad, even worse than the Gormak.

• Confirmation status: The Voss and Gormak are divergent evolutions of the same source species. The species was forked by the Jedi, who altered the Voss in a long forgotten war with the Sith on Voss before recorded history. The Voss aren't thrilled when they find out that their war is a planetary family feud.

Companion Characters

Each character class will have about five different companion characters, each with their own abilities, personalities and histories. Keeping their loyalty to you is a major part of the game, and some may end up dying along the way, most likely by your own decisions.

• • This has since been Jossed, because players figured that it couldn't be done. Prior to a new build, it could, and player complaints caused BioWare to remove the feature.
  • In addition, each class also recieves a Sixth companion character who comes with their ship; A Protocol Droid who has no fighting ability what soever a 7th Companion Character is available to all characters; Hk-51...

The Sith Emperor is a Legacy Character

The Emperor hasn't really lived for thousands of years, he's just been replaced by his apprentice in typical Sith fashion over and over. The Emperor chooses an apprentice and once the apprentice has learned all he can from the Master he kills him and assumes the Mantle of Sith Emperor. The reason this works is that the Sith Emperor is only ever seen as a cloaked figure and very few people have any contact with him.

• Confirmation status: Played with. The "Emperor's Voice" acts as a conduit for the emperor's orders to the Empire, and he's gone through more than a few Voices over the year. His true body, which is working on something in secret far away, may or may not be the original anymore.

It'll be a Big Bad Ensemble between Jadus and Malgus

They're certainly setting Malgus up in a particularly prominent light, and from what we know, he's got motivation to turn against the Empire. By contrast, Jadus is a clear-cut Enigmatic Minion, so anything's fair game with him.

• Confirmation status: At least partially Jossed. Malgus dies at the end of the False Emperor Flashpoint (although given the manner of his death, Bioware could easily bring him back). In one of the four potential endings of the Agent's first chapter, Jadus is arrested by the Dark Council for treason, although his fate afterwards is not revealed. The other three endings have Jadus remain at large.

Every Republic Character Class will have their own Big Bad

For the Republic, the Jedi Knight will have Darth Malgus, the Jedi Consular will have Darth Jadus, the Trooper will deal with Rycus Kilran and the Smuggler has Nem'ro the Hutt.

• Confirmation Status Mostly Jossed. Darth Malgus and Moff Kilran serve mostly as antagonists/superiors in the flashpoints, while Darth Jadus's role is mostly confined to the Imperial Agent's story. Nem'ro is mostly only important during the Bounty Hunter and Imperial Agent's questlines on Hutta. That being said, as each class's story is different, most classes do have a big bad (or several, seeing as the story takes place in three acts).

There is no Sith Emperor

His identity was just conjured up to keep the Imperial citizens in-line.

• Jossed. He makes a physical appearance in Revan, and in one of the tie-in webcomics.

Janarus will get overthrown and replaced by one of his political rivals

Garza and Saresh are his main rivals, and I doubt they'd just have that as trivia-type info.

• Confirmation Status: Jossed. Janarus is either assassinated or resigns during the final chapter of the Bounty Hunter's story. Governor Saresh does take his place though.

Novel characters will appear in the game

Notably, Eldon Ax, Moxla, Ula, and so on.

• Confirmed to some extent. Characters from the Comics like Darth Baras, Braden, and Tenel Kal have appeared in the game, although many of them have been redesigned both in terms of their role in the story, and their appearance. Characters from Threat of Peace suffered particularly hard here; Darth Baras has put on a lot of weight, and Braden is a lot older than he was in the comic. Satele's relationship with Taavus is also questionable.

The Eternity Vault's worst criminal is...

A Rakata war criminal, who may end up being a Big Bad Ensemble with the Empire.

• Partially confirmed. The Infernal One is a rogue Rakata Lord, but the Empire seems just as scared of him.

Mandalorians shall turncoat

They'll return back to being independent, but they'll antagonize both the Empire and the Republic for a good price.

• At present, Mandalore has maintained ties to the Empire, although the Bounty Hunter's story might change this in the future... There is a Flashpoint where a rogue Mandalorian clan declares war on both factions though.

Satele being descended from Revan will not be officially confirmed

It's been stated so far that Satele is only rumoured to be related to Revan. It'll never be officially confirmed so that fans who prefer to think of Revan as a woman, or even a man who just didn't end up with Bastila can believe what they want.

• * Confirmation status: Probably Jossed. The Official novels make it clear Revan and Bastilla did get married and have a child, so unless Bastilla had another child after Revan's disappearance, Satele is indeed Revan's descendant.

The Sith Emperor is Darth Andeddu

His role as The Chessmaster is in line with Andeddu's extreme paranoia (including his elimination of the ancient Sith Lords' spirits as competition for his power) and planning. He is also the only known Sith Lord prior to Darth Bane known to have learned how to transfer his essence to another body (which seems to be the Sith Emperor's method of immortality). But perhaps, most glaringly, is the fact that Darth Andeddu was the first Dark Lord to use the title "Darth" (the few who used it before him were lesser Sith Lords), which fell into common usage under the Sith Emperor's reign, having been bestowed by him upon Revan and Malak, as well as upon all of the known Sith Lords from the Great Galactic War.

• Jossed by Revan. The Emperor is an original character named Vitiate.

Both sides will eventually erupt in a Civil War.

The factions will split along Light Side / Dark Side lines, with players forced to choose between them. The Sith seem extremely split ideologically and judging from precedent can't go five minutes without turning on each other, and the Jedi and Republic haven't exactly attained a good reputation in that respect either.

• While it hasn't happened yet, conflict within each faction is a constant theme in the stories. The Imperial Agent, Sith Warrior, and Sith Inquisitor practically spend more time fighting inside threats than they do external threats.

The Sith Emperor is a fallen Jedi who defected to the Sith during the sacking of Korriban

At the end of the Great Hyperspace War, a Jedi who was appalled by the genocide of the Sith decided to defect and guide the Sith to a new homeworld. However, the need for absolute order to protect the Sith from the horrors of Dromund Kaas made this Jedi fall to the dark side. The Emperor's reclusiveness stems from his reluctance to reveal to his subjects that he used to be a Jedi. The spirits of the ancient Sith Lords hate him because he participated in the sacking of Korriban.

• Jossed by Revan. The Emperor was a Sith Lord during the Great Hyperspace War and has been pure evil for almost his entire life.

The Sith Emperor is Kreia

Consider the parallels between Kreia and Flemeth. They're generally manipulative, tend to work behind the scenes, pretend to be an ally of the hero for a time, and are usually at least as significant a threat as the actual Big Bad of the story, if they aren't the Big Bad themselves. Now consider that body surfing to achieve extended lifespan is an established tactic of both Flemeth and existing Sith in Star Wars...

• Jossed by Revan. The Emperor was a Sith Lord during the Great Hyperspace War and has been pure evil for almost his entire life. A force spirit who resembles Kreia in more ways than one does appear in the Sith Warrior's story, and she claims to have loved the Emperor

The Entity in the Sith Warrior storyline is Darth Traya

The Entity's codex entry states she nearly wiped out the Jedi Order centuries prior to TOR. Additionally the Entity is an accomplished Seer, hence why Baras enslaves her to further his plans to usurp the Emperor. However she mentions her resting place was disturbed, which is odd given Darth Traya's body was supposed to have been destroyed along with Malachor V.

The ripped from the beta data files codex entry can be viewed from here: http://www.swtor-spy.com/codex/the-entity-warrior/1150/

M1-4X survives for thousands of years

After leaving the service of the Trooper, he is maintained as a museum fixture of some kind, eventually receives a more realistic vocabulator, and becomes the narrator for a Republic Propaganda Project during the Clone Wars.

HK-47 gets Killed Off for Real

By the party when they search for Revan.

• Jossed by Star Wars Galaxy. The game took place during the original trilogy - roughly 4.000 years after TOR - and HK-47 appeared in it. He was a raid boss but survived the encounter.
  • Double Jossed in fact. After the Foundry, which is the Flashpoint referred to in the first entry, Darth Malgus rebuilds him. The party must defeat him as a boss in the False Emperor flashpoint, afterwhich his remains somehow escape the explosion, where he will be rebuilt again and found on Mustafar.

The Sith Emperor is Emperor Palpatine

Think about it for a minute. In Revan Scourge foresaw that the Emperor would be defeated by a Jedi, not Revan, far into the future (5,000 years counts). And lets have a look at the Empire from the movies, anyone who's seen the movies will start thinking that the they've seen those Imperial Uniforms before. They have, you know why? Because the Emperor recycled them 5,000 years later and he also did the same thing with the Imperial ship designs. The reason why technology hasn't seemed to progress all that much in 5,000 years is because Emperor Palpatine is sticking with what he's comfortable with. Additionally, he was able to secure Vader's loyalty as easily as he did because he used More Than Mind Control on him the same way he did with Revan.

• He dies at the end of the Jedi Knight plotline, so no.
  • The Sith Warrior storyline says that what the Knight killed was the Emperor's True Voice and that his actual body is somewhere else, working on something no one is entirely sure of.
    • What this means is not clear though, we could end up having a dead emperor but with Revans mind. Which is awesome.

Kyle Katarn is a descendant of Revan, or perhaps even his reincarnation.

Same voice actor? Check. Memetic Badass? Check. Also, neither were killed in their boss battles (though Revan's fate is kinda ambiguous). It may be more than a coincidence...

By the conclusion of the conflict, the Empire will NOT be totally defeated.

Instead, there will be a uprising or coup by non-force sensitive Imperial citizen (perhaps led by a light-sided Imperial Agent) who are sick of a system in which they will always be subjugated by the Sith. The revolution will result in a new Empire without the Sith in power (think of the Imperial Remnants after the Battle of Endor). Eventually, the Empire will peacefully join and become part of the Republic (think an older version of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances). This will explain why by the time of the Rise of the Empire, the Imperial accent is now known as the Coruscant accent and why the Republic has adopted the symbols used by the Empire.

The Republic's victory is not a foregone conclusion.

When the time comes for the game to end (and hopefully that's not anytime soon) it won't be a foregone conclusion that the Republic will emerge victorious in the war with the Empire. Instead, perhaps taking a page from Star Wars Galaxies' final hours, instead, the winner will be calculated via PvP victories, or something like that, on each individual server. Servers where the Republic comes out on top will be considered to be part of the "canon" universe, whereas servers where the Empire emerges victorious will instead be labelled as part of the "Infinities" alternate continuities, the Elseworlds of the Star Wars universe, divergent timelines where the Sith emerged victorious. This way Imperial players aren't necessarily always on the losing side and would also make for an interesting Twist Ending. The Force Unleashed games have already toyed with these Infinities storylines, so it's outside of the realm of possibility that Old Republic might follow suit.

At the end the Empire reforms and joins the Republic

This is a conclusion I made after I played every class Light Side. It will be just like the two Germanys, where one adopt the structure of the other and reunify. Made easier by the fact, that the current Head of State of the Empire wants to KILL EVERYONE. The resulting Enemy Mine between the eight protagonists would be a logical consequence (especially the light siders).

• Sure as hell explains why the Republic is shown to use the Sith Empire logo in the prequels...
  • The Republic also uses aesthetically similar Star Destroyers in the prequels that the Sith Empire uses.
• There is one major obstacle standing in the way of this possibility: The Sith. They've been planning revenge against the Jedi Order for millenia now, and they're unlikely to give it up just like that. They might temporarily ally with the Republic to eliminate the Emperor, but that won't last past his death.
• From the looks of some leaks and recent new content, the Empire is beginning to reform by being more accepting of non-humans. While this doesn't get rid of the Sith and a lot of Imperials will not like this reformation, it at least takes away one of the biggest reasons many of the remaining non-Force-users opposed the Republic. Most likely, the Sith will be deposed by non-Force-users when, either through the Dark Council or Emperor, the non-Force-users efforts are roadblocked and/or no longer feel a need to oppose the Republic.

Quorian Dorjis will play a prominant part in the future storylines of both Sith classes

He lives regardless of whether the PC chose the light-sided or dark-sided ending for the Jailbreak quest. The choice that the PC made will effect Quorian's future dealings with them.

Jace Malcom is Theron Shan's father.

Because Malcom and Satele saved each other's lives multiple times, it's not too hard to see them as a Battle Couple. Perhaps they had a one-night stand...?

• At the very least, it doesn't look like Theron is Captain Taavus's son, given the changes his characterization has taken.

At some point in the future, there will be an Imperial Civil War.

The military, intelligence, and civilian parts of the Sith Empire will defect from Sith control and either become independent or merge with the Republic. If you're playing as a light-side Agent, you will even be able to support this.

• While it hasn't gotten this far, every class spends at least some time dealing with conflicts within the Empire.
• Confirmation status: Confirmed: Darth Malgus instigates his own by attempting to become the Emperor. The Dread Masters also develop their own plans to rule the galaxy, or bring terror to it, or whatever they really want to do..

Darth Jadus will be the Big Bad of a future expansion pack

He's apparently second in power only to the Emperor, has grand ambitions and he can learn of the Emperor's plan to become a god. Yes, one of the outcomes of the Agent's Chapter 1 results in him being arrested, but he doesn't seem to concerned about that and we are never explicitly told that he is executed.