The announcement of a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has fans of the original titles excited, and rightfully so. While there is not much known about the remake as of yet, it will likely follow the same story as the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This is great for Star Wars fans, as the original storyline is considered one of the strongest narratives in Star Wars' expanded universe. However, many aren't aware that the story of the games is based on a comic book series from the 1990s called Tales of the Jedi.
Tales of the Jedi was published by Dark Horse Comics from 1993 to 1998, and at the time was set in the earliest period of Star Wars history. The comic series covers wars between the Jedi and Sith thousands of years before the movies, and set the basis both for the setting and characters of the Knights of the Old Republic games as well as titles like Star Wars: The Old Republic set during the same time period. The comic series clearly had a big impact on Star Wars as a whole, and the time period is the favorite of many fans, covering some interesting events in the timeline.
The Golden Age of the Sith
The furthest back that the comic series goes is in its six-part arc titled The Golden Age of the Sith, released throughout 1996 and 1997. The arc starts with Jedi apprentice Odan-Urr sent to the Koros system to fight alongside Empress Teta in the Unification Wars. While there, Odan tries to save as many lives as possible. This leads to Gav and Jori Daragon, children of two blockade runners killed in the war, running off with their parents' ship to become explorers. They crashland on Korriban, a graveyard planet of the Sith, during the burial of Dark Lord Marka Ragnos.
This led the Sith Lord Naga Sadow to use the two in an effort to build the first Sith empire. He freed them, killing anyone he came across, and left a blaster in his wake to blame the attack on the Republic. While the other Sith Lords are uncertain what to do, Naga took the opportunity to name himself a Dark Lord of the Sith, which allowed him to get most of the others on his side. Sadow then took Gav and Jori to his hidden fortress on the planet of Kar Shian, where he trained Gav in the ways of the Sith and sent Jori back to the Republic in a ship with a tracking beacon so he could discover its location.
The Great Hyperspace War
The Great Hyperspace War was explored in Tales of the Jedi's The Fall of the Sith Empire arc that was released over five parts in 1997. After being kicked off in The Golden Age of the Sith arc, this story follows the efforts of Naga Sadow to expand the Sith Empire. This featured a Sith invasion of Star Wars' iconic city-planet Coruscant, which was repelled by the Jedi and Republic forces after many Sith soldiers were revealed to be astral projections by the meditating Sadow.
The war featured numerous battles, but Naga Sadow found it difficult to achieve victory as he was at war with both the Republic and a rival Sith known as Ludo Kressh. When he was defeated, Sadow abandoned his entire fleet and all of his soldiers to create a blockade long enough to flee in his starship to the planet Yavin-4. There he worked to rebuild the Sith Empire, which is why Sith ruins can be found on the planet in games like LEGO Star Wars and Battlefront.
The Sith War
The Sith War was a massive conflict between the Jedi and Sith that was explored throughout many arcs in the series' run. The war was started after the two Sith Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma fought on Cinnagar to determine who was stronger, but were interrupted by the spirit of Marka Ragnos. The spirit declared that Kun was the Dark Lord of the Sith and Qel-Droma was his apprentice. He then instructed them to amass a new Sith Empire and wage war against the Jedi, tipping the Force to the dark side. To do so, the two traveled to the Jedi world of Ossus, where they stole apprentices from the Jedi and converted them into Sith warriors. Kun also faced Lord Mandalore in a duel and defeated him, gaining control of all Mandalorians as soldiers in the coming war.
Qel-Droma attacked Coruscant, but failed and was taken captive, pushing Kun to rescue him and kill his old master Vodo-Siosk Baas. When the two Sith Lords were reunited they traveled to the Cron Cluster and caused its star to go supernova, destroying the Jedi planet of Ossus and countless artifacts housed there. Qel-Droma was confronted by his brother Cay who tried to return him to the light side of the Force, but Cay was killed. Qel-Droma was then convinced to renounce the Sith by his old lover and severed his connection to the force before leading Jedi to the Sith temples on Yavin-4. Before they arrived, Kun completed a ritual that saw him sacrifice thousands of his own soldiers to separate his soul from his body and house it in one of the Sith temples.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was set forty years after the conclusion of the Sith War, and carries on many of the themes from the comic book series. This includes themes like individuals struggling with the dark and light sides of the force, as well as galactic-scale conflicts that end up revolving around a small number of powerful individuals. It will be interesting to see if the Knights of the Old Republic remake maintains these themes or tries something else. Hopefully, Star Wars fans won't have to wait long to find out.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is in development.