Star Wars: The Old Republic is an MMORPG set long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. The online game stands strong after nearly 11 years, with seven expansions worth of action and epic lightsaber duels for those who picked the Jedi and Sith character classes. The expansions also told several deep, interweaving stories that beginners to the Star Wars MMORPG can enjoy.
Wars raged between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, dividing the Galaxy. This Great Galactic War lasted for decades until the Sith Lord Darth Malgus led a surprise attack on Coruscant, the Republic's capital world. As a result of his deadly invasion, both sides reluctantly signed the Treaty of Coruscant, establishing a period of uneasy peace between two competing factions. This is when the events of Star Wars: The Old Republic begin.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Class Stories
The years that followed the treaty saw a steady increase in hostility between the Republic and the Empire. In spite of the Treaty of Coruscant, both sides continued to try to weaken the other, bringing about a cold war. While the Republic defended its capital planet and fought back against its ancient enemies, the Empire began to occupy several unclaimed worlds and urged others to openly abandon the Republic.
This is the journey that players follow through the Star Wars: The Old Republic player class stories. After twelve years of fragile peace, the Republic and the Empire once again went to war. Many people believed that the end of hostilities would come quickly and for good when it was believed that a Jedi managed to destroy the Sith Emperor Vitiate. Instead, competing factions within the Empire emerged to try to fill the power void, leading to more fighting.
Interlude
Long frustrated with the political scheming and backstabbing of Imperial leadership, Darth Malgus led one of these splintered groups in a revolt against the Sith Empire in a classic Star Wars civil war. During the story of Interlude, Darth Malgus has declared himself emperor of the Sith Empire and ordered an invasion on Ilum.
Both the Republic and the Empire opposed Malgus and his followers, and when his stolen space station was destroyed, one of Star Wars best video game characters was brought down. The devastation he inflicted, however, put the Republic in a strong position and marked a turning point in the resumed battle.
Rise of the Hutt Cartel
Toborro took control of the Hutt Cartel after the demise of Darth Malgus and immediately set about expanding Hutt influence across the galaxy by first conquering the neutral planet Makeb. The planet was found to be rich in Isotope-5, a powerful energy source. Toborro intended to utilize the Isotope-5 found on Makeb to topple the Republic and the Empire in order to install Star Wars' infamous Hutts as the galactic superpower.
Toborro's persistence in his pursuit of mining Isotope-5 that he destabilized the planet and sent it on a course to oblivion. The Republic hurried to evacuate the people of Makeb, while the Empire tried to retrieve as much Isotope-5 as possible. The Hutt Cartel leaders eventually turned on Toborro and helped the Republic eliminate him. With his death, Toborro's invasion ended with the Republic gaining a potent new ally in the Hutt Cartel, while the Empire's misfortunes were mitigated by their new stockpile of Isotope-5.
Forged Alliances
Acting as a prelude to the Shadow of Revan expansion, the Forged Alliances story update sees players seek out discovering traitors within the Empire and the Republic. The heroes of each faction go to the homeworld of the opposing faction's Force-users, where players meet SIS agent Theron Shan, the Sith Lord Lana Beniko, the Wookiee smuggler Jakarro, and his droid translator C2-D4.
The story follows the group and the player's character as they band together to face the threat of high-ranking traitors. Forged Alliances climaxes with the discovery that two of the traitors were responsible for incidents on Korriban, Manaan, Rakata Prime, and Tython, and that the puppet-master behind the entire operation is none other than the infamous Darth Revan, a powerful Jedi-turned-Sith.
Shadow of Revan
Revan and his disciples, called the Revanites, were aware that the Sith Emperor Vitiate was not actually dead, and sought to compel him back into a physical form they could kill once and for all. In order to achieve this, they worked to provoke disastrous conflicts between the Republic and the Empire to attract and ensnare the Emperor. However, once Theron and Lana uncovered the Revanite's plans, a coalition of soldiers from both factions banded together to put a stop to it. Ironically strengthened by the attempt to eliminate him, Vitiate's Force-ghost revealed itself after years of silence.
Knights of the Fallen Empire
After the Sith Emperor Vitiate regained his strength by consuming the planet Ziost, destroying all life upon it, the Republic and Imperial armies regrouped to work together once again. A task force commanded by the leader of the Dark Council Darth Marr, a crucial figure during the Revanite crisis, managed to discover the whereabouts of the Emperor in Wild Space. The Sith Lord had only begun to examine the territory before they were ambushed by Prince Arcann of the Eternal Empire, and brought before Emperor Valkorion.
The captured Sith Lord immediately identified Valkorion as Vitiate, and confronted the Emperor before being slain by the leader of the Fallen Empire's hand. While attempting to enlist Marr's ally to his side, Valkorion was slain by his power-hungry son and presumed to be dead for good. Prince Arcann seized the throne of the Eternal Empire for himself and accused his father's ally, the 'Outlander,' as the perpetrator of the attack. The Outlander was then locked away as Arcann ruled the Galaxy over the next five years with an iron fist.
Knights of the Eternal Throne
The Republic and Sith Empire, both exhausted in their power, were helpless against Emperor Arcann's army and swiftly conceded defeat. All hope was lost until the 'Outlander,' the player character, broke free from their imprisonment and founded the Alliance, a coalition of Republic and Imperial forces dedicated to destroying the Eternal Empire. The disembodied Sith Lord Valkorion continued to communicate within the mind of the player, seeking to direct the Alliance's activities with false promises of the fallen Emperor's might and wisdom.
The Alliance's dissent against the Eternal Empire was long and costly battle, but their efforts were eventually rewarded upon the death of Arcann. With the Eternal Empire without a leader, Arcann's highly despotic sister Vaylin ascended the Eternal Throne. Vaylin's rule came to an end when she assaulted the Alliance base on Odessen. The rebelling leader of the Alliance defeated Vaylin before journeying to the Eternal Empire's homeworld of Zakuul to gain control of the Eternal Throne and the enormous fleets it controlled through the whispers of the Emperor.
In a period of weakness, the powerful Force-ghost Valkorion decided to attack the mind of the Outlander, intending to take control over the Outlander's body to once again sit upon the Eternal Throne. However, the Outlander's willpower was greater than Valkorion had anticipated, and the Sith Emperor was slain again, so the Alliance maintained influence across the Galaxy.
Fractured Alliances
The Alliance of the Republic and the legendary Sith Empire was short-lived. Without a shared enemy to unify them, tensions swiftly increased between the two opposing factions. Utilizing the chaos of the Alliance's infighting, an organization known as the Order of Zildrog infiltrated the Alliance's networks and communications, ultimately destroying the majority of the Alliance fleet before finally being stopped. The weakening Alliance led to the beginning of a fracture between the Republic and Empire forces. As a return to hostilities became increasingly likely, the Alliance Commander was forced to choose a side for the war to come.
Jedi Under Siege and Onslaught
The first shot of this rekindled battle was fired on the planet of Ossus, visited during Knights of the Old Republic comics, as Imperial troops launched a preemptive strike against a secret Jedi Colony established to preserve ancient Jedi knowledge and teach new generations of Force users to hone the powers of the Light Side of the Force.
In Jedi Under Siege and the following Onslaught expansion, the Empire discovered an amazing technology developed by the Ossus colony that allowed crops to be grown in an otherwise unfriendly environment and sought to seize the technology for themselves while destroying the Jedi artifacts found on the planet. Ossus' siege operation was headed by the powerful Sith Lord Darth Malgus, who narrowly escaped during the events of Interlude and now seems entirely devoted to the Empire's new ruler, Darth Nul. However, Malgus' obedient facade was short-lived, and his true intentions came to light.
Legacy of the Sith
In continuation of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare launched the Legacy of the Sith expansion in early 2022. Both the Republic and the Empire face off in their attempts to secure more Kolto, a powerful medical substance, to tip the balance of the war.
However, Darth Malgus once again seeks ultimate power and undergoes an unknown plan to seize the Empire for himself. Following the failure of a mighty Jedi and his young, impressionable Twi'lek Padawan, It's up to the player to discover his intentions and take down the unyielding Sith Lord once and for all.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is available on PC.