Star Wars: The Fall of The Old Republic, Explained (2024)

Star Wars

By Christian Petrozza

Published Jul 2, 2024

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The Old Republic Is a Fan Favourite Era

Two Major Wars Spurred The Old Republic's Decline

From the Ashes, The Modern Republic Began

Summary

The Fall of the Old Republic period has been celebrated in video games for years, but its downfall is slow and dark.
Their power began to decline and two wars, the Mandalorian-Jedi War and Jedi-Sith War, ravaged what was left of their governance.
Their fall and restructuring after Coruscant's reclamation dawned the modern structure of the Galactic Republic.

Star Wars' expanded universe far beyond the years of characters that directly connect to the Skywalker saga, has been an imaginative point of interest for many novel and comic writers throughout the franchise's history. When it comes to "A long time ago..." in the lore, many Jedi-loving fans can't get enough of the era known as The Old Republic, especially after the release of the videogame Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The deep and interesting tale told within The Old Republic era enchanted the imaginations of many and spawned huge interest in the earlier years of the Jedi and Sith.

These times were often looked at with an air of romance and nostalgia, as operatic wars between the Jedi and Sith took place across the stars. However, the gradual fall of The Old Republic is fragmented throughout all these forms of entertainment, some of which is Legends material waiting to be re-validated into the current canon. Its fall is important in understanding how the later High Republic and the reformation of the more contemporary senatorial structure affected the galaxy moving forward into more familiar eras closer to Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This time is heavily influenced by factions that are quite relevant in the current Star Wars series, such as the Mandalorians.

The Old Republic Is a Fan Favourite Era

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The Old Republic begins roughly at 25,000 BBY right to 9,991 BBY.
The Fall of the Old Republic is between 7977 BBY and 1032 BBY.

The Old Republic era spans a whopping 15,009 years of history before the republic began to fall. Of course, most fans are familiar with the time around 3,956 BBY, which is around the time of the Knights of the Old Republic video game. This places the games right in the middle of the Fall of the Old Republic, a time which spans 6,945 years. Considering this is due to several wars and the loss of authority and diplomatic crises, it is ripe with intrigue and adventure for the crew of the Ebon Hawk as they partake in the Jedi Civil War against Revan and Malak.

Aside from the games, the Old Republic era was the source of inspiration that spawned a wealth of books and comics about the massive time frame. Although much of it is floating in Legends flux until the era is touched upon and validated as canon in live-action and animated series, it's becoming clear that aspects of particular species, ship design aesthetics, and technological gadgetry are being referenced in the newest show, Star Wars: The Acolyte.

Two Major Wars Spurred The Old Republic's Decline

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War	Major Battles
Mandalorian-Jedi War	Mandalorian Crusades, Devastation of Ubduria, Sacking of the Jedi Temple, Mandalorian Cataclysm
Jedi-Sith War	Battle of Coruscant, Liberation of Coruscant, Defeat of the Sith/Battle of Ruusan

Star Wars would have a very different name if it wasn't a galaxy wrought with conflict. During The Old Republic and its downfall, the galaxy was home to a Sith order that did not yet have what is known as The Rule of Two. There was a Sith Academy to train apprentices and their forces were vast, eventually building their own Sith Empire to rival and conquer The Old Republic. Of course, after thousands of years of warring with the Jedi and dealing with their internal strife, Darth Bane would create The Rule of Two to consolidate power effectively and in secret to distill the power and wisdom of The Sith from a single master and apprentice. To live in The Old Republic Era meant that people were often caught between both sides as the galaxy's borders ebbed and flowed between the Galactic Republic and Sith forces.

During the end of The Old Republic, two very large wars incited the gradual swan song of this format of the republic; The Mandalorian-Jedi War, and the Jedi-Sith War. The Mandalorian-Jedi war is one of the pieces of The Old Republic Era that has been canonized by the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, a time when the Mandalorians built their armor as a way to combat the Jedi, then crusaded against them, resulting in the reclamation of the Darksaber. Unfortunately for the Mandalorians, the end of the war destroyed Mandalore's surface and atmosphere, leaving it a desolate wasteland. This is why their cities are in sealed domes. The Jedi-Sith War was the final war between the Jedi and the combined Sith Lords which resulted in the Sith being driven from Coruscant and eradicated, all except for one, Darth Bane. In an attempt to keep the Sith ways alive in secret, he developed The Rule of Two, which would eventually bring an end to the Jedi around the time of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

From the Ashes, The Modern Republic Began

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Darth Sidious' Master was Darth Plagueis, who in turn, was taught by Darth Tenebrous.
Darth Bane's apprentice under the Rule of Two was Darth Zannah. The first Sith to be trained under this new structure.

This constantly flowing state of political unease fatigued the confidence of The Old Republic as well as its resources. Once the wars came to an end, the Old Republic military was disbanded and Coruscant re-invented its Republic for a new era and elected Tarsus Valorum as this newer Republic's first Supreme Chancellor. This upsurge in optimism after retaking Coruscant and re-establishing a fresh galactic governmental authority severely overshadowed the survival of Darth Bane who escaped into the shadows as a surviving threat to the future of the Republic and especially The Jedi Order. All these effects ripple heavily into the galaxy's more familiar periods covered in the prequel trilogy. The need to raise a Republic military quickly during The Clone Wars is directly associated with the Old Republic disbanding it after the Jedi-Sith War, causing the plot of Darth Sidious' design to put a stranglehold on internal military power under the noses of the Jedi.

As a result of Darth Bane's escape, the exclusive dynasty of Sith Lords and apprentices survived the creation of the modern republic. This would eventually reach Darth Plagueis who would become the master of the infamous Darth Sidious. The Rule of Two became so effective in consolidating the power of The Dark Side that Darth Sidious would go on to fund Imperial research, as seen in The Bad Batch, to try and secure his consciousness and force power to be transferred into clone bodies, assuring his immortality. This downfall of the Old Republic and its restructuring and eventual lead into what is known as The High Republic is now being defined with the new canon novelizations of the period as well as the enticing weekly release of Star Wars: The Acolyte as the potential of revealing the Sith becomes more present.