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Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations

In the days of the old Republic, before the Sith Empire returned, it was a golden age of growth and expansion as new hyperlanes were discovered and more species and worlds joined.
But when it returned, things would change.

In these ancient days lightsabers were different, Jedi did not hold hard and fast to a rule of non attachment and some even held public office.
First the Sith Empire returned but was beaten back. Then came the Mandalorian warriors, conquering world after world. The Jedi chose to stay out of the Mandalorian conflict as a group, but some joined in anyway.

Even as the Mandalorians were finally stopped, the Sith were to return. Some territories were lost. While the Jedi as a whole respected the Republic’s decision that they simply could not defend all of the galaxy, individuals went to those systems and helped fight back. Some were hit and run raids. Some led to the Jedi becoming public officials or royalty on those worlds.

But while the Jedi were defenders of the galaxy, many also feared them, or being associated with them. For no matter how good they were, their very existence was anathema to the Sith and they and all who associated would always be targets. What’s more, some of the Jedi themselves fell to the Dark Side or even became Sith themselves. Could the Jedi guardians be trusted to respect the people when they were answerable to no one? So the age ends with the Ruusan Reformations, putting the Jedi officially under control of the judiciary department.

This era begins over 4000 years before the movies. SWTOR is established to be about 25,000 years before. The time of the Brotherhood of Darkness was about 1000 years before.

WARNING. This page has spoilers for the ongoing story, Star Wars the Old Republic.


TIMELINE

The Original Sith and Their Influence

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
The Republic founded

Jedi Order is Formed

As new hyperlanes are discovered and hyperdrive advances made, more worlds join the Republic. The world of Coruscant is set up as the governing center.

The First Great Schism

Legions of Lettow

Led by General Xendor a group of Jedi break away from the Jedi Order. They were eventually defeated.

Second & Third Great Schisms

Rebellion against the Council

Again Jedi fall away, turning to the Dark Side and rebel against the Jedi Council.

Hundred Year Darkness

Battle of Corbos

The battle of yet more Jedi falling to the Dark Side. Battled and cast out into Exile, the survivors find and conquer the Sith Empire. A few go back to Republic space to try to conquer the Jedi. Their failure alerts the Jedi that somewhere out there is an Empire founded by their fallen brethren.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Republic / Sith Golden Age

Hyperspace Explorers Discover lost Empire

War is triggered an all out war. The Sith lose, with the Republic forcing them from their homeworlds. One tribe ends up stranded far from the others.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Exar Kun’s Forbidden Path

New Sith from the Jedi

Exar Kun finds Sith teachings & becomes the new Sith. Uliq Qel-Droma, seeking revenge for his slain master, becomes his apprentice. They war with the Republic until personal disaster turns Uliq against Kun. The Jedi trap his spirit in the Yavin 4 temple.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Mandalorean Wars

The Mandaloreans Return.

Strong now from the Taung code but multiple species joining their ranks, they attack the Republic. Secretly urged on by the lost Sith Empire, they conquer worlds. The Jedi Council refuses to intervene. But Jedi Knight Revan, his friend Alek (AKA Malek), Meetra Surik and others head into battle. They bring victory to the Republic.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Revan and Malek

Revan and Malek become Sith

They begin conquering the Republic and convert other Jedi to the Dark Side. Only when Revan is captured, loses his memory, and redeemed does the tide turn. But Revan goes seeking what made them turn. There are still fallen Jedi calling themselves Sith. It’s left to Meetra Surik, the Exile, to stop them so the Jedi and Republic can rebuild.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
The Sith Empire Returns

They reclaim Sith worlds and wage war on the Republic

This war continues until a treaty is signed. But the Sith have taken Coruscant & force concessions.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
The Treaty breaks

War breaks out again

Outright war breaks out again on all fronts, until the Sith Emperor Vitiate is struck down by the Jedi Hero of Tython. His ‘Children of the Empire’ have been fought off by the Bar’sen’thor of the Jedi Order.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Malgus and Hutts

Malgus tries to take over the Empire

His quest fails, seemingly killing him. But some Sith are very hard to kill. The Hutts decide to get back into conquest as their ancestors did by tricking the people of Makeb into handing over mining rights to a new element to use in war machines. The Hutt’s are stopped.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
The Captive Revan

Temporary Allies

Revan was held captive by the Sith Emperor for years. He doesn’t believe the Sith Emperor’s physical death was enough. He needs to draw his spirit back so he can finalize the process. Heroes of both the Republic & the Empire join forces & seem to succeed in stopping him on Yavin 4. But the Emperor’s spirit escapes & destroys all life on the Imperial World of Ziost

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Dragon of Zakuul

Vitiate is found, Zakuul conquers all.

A hero finds Vitiate is now possessing the body of Valkorian, leader of Zakuul. When he is struck down the hero finds they are possessed by (but not controlled) by the Spirit. It will be a long hard battle to free themself. , both Republic and Empire fall to Zakuul. Eventually the hero (now Alliance Commander) succeeds.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Empire & Republic war once more.

The Outlander must choose sides

Whether independent or no, the Outlander Alliance is still a powerful force in the galaxy. They will have to choose sides. War rages on Iokath, Ossus, where the Jedi took refuge,, Onderon, and Mek Sha

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Tenebrae, AKA Vitiate’s true death

His Original body found

Kira & Scourge come to the Outlander for aid. On return they find the battle waging in the spiritual realm of Satele’s Mind where they do battle to destroy him utterly so he will no longer trouble Old Republic or Empire

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Return of Malgus

Somehow survived, now escaped both Zakuul and his Sith Masters

Malgus has sought something on Ossus in the Jedi Temple, on Dantooine in the Ruins. Then to Elom. He is finally captured by the Outlander. But his plans may already be too far along to stop.

The Sith Push Back the Republic

The Republic is broken

Lost Territory

The Sith manage to take enough territory that many Republic Worlds are conquered. Others are cut off being on the wrong side of the hyperlanes. The holonet nodes & jump beacons in these areas are deactivated so the path to the Republic is lost.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Kerra Holt

The Secret War

Jedi such as Vannar Treece could not just abandon those in Sith space. There he found the orphan Kerra Holt, and took her as apprentice. When he died, she continued doing what she could for the former members of the Republic suffering under hutt rule.

The Brotherhood and Rule of Two

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Brotherhood of Darkness

The Sith are reinvented

Led by Lord Kaan, the Sith have tried to stop endless internal warfare by calling themselves brothers. Still they war with the Republic and the Jedi.

Old Republic Pre Ruusan Reformations
Darth Bane : the Rule of 2

Bane VS Kaan

Darth Bane tricks Kaan into using a ‘thought bomb’, an ancient Sith Weapon that destroys nearby Force Sensitives. All, Jedi and Sith alike, are sucked and trapped their on Ruusan. He institutes the rule of 2, saying one should be the Master to embody the Dark Side power. The other is the apprentice to crave it. To advance, the apprentice must kill their Master.

Ruusan Reformations

Jedi under Judiciary

To calm fears that the Jedi were turning into a conquering army, they voluntarily adapted by disbanding their armies, giving up titles. To limit the likelihood of further Sith emerging, they began accepting only infants and beginning training on Coruscant.

Darth Zannah

Apprentice kills Master

She herself takes an Apprentice and the line continues unbroken until Darth Sidious. While there were officially only 2, an acolyte usually was waiting to step into the apprenticeship when the current apprentice attained the mastery.

Stories in this era

  • Tales of the Jedi:
    • Golden Age of the Sith
    • Fall of the Sith Empire
  • Lost Tribe of the Sith
  • Tales of the Jedi:
    • Knights of the Old Republic
      (Uliq Qel Droma & the Beast Riders of Onderon, The Saga of Nomi Sunrider)
    • Dark Lords of the Sith
    • Fall of the Sith Empire
    • Redemption
  • Knights of the Old Republic (Comic book series)
  • Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game)
  • Knights of the Old Republic 2  The Sith Lords (Video Game)
  • The Old Republic Revan
  • Red Harvest
  • Star Wars the Old Republic (game)
  • The Old Republic Fatal Alliance
  • The Old Republic Decieved
  • The Old Republic Annihilation
  • The Old Republic (Video Game)
  • The Old Republic The Lost Suns (Comic book series)
  • The Old Republic Threat of Peace
  • The Old Republic short stories (found on swtor.com, list here.)
  • The Old Republic Blood of the Empire
  • Knight Errant Influx (Comic book series)
  • Knight Errant Aflame (Comic book series)
  • Knight Errant
  • Knight Errant Deluge (Comic book series)
  • Darth Bane Path of Destruction
  • Jedi VS Sith (comic)
  • Darth Bane The Rule of Two
  • Darth Bane Dynasty of Evil
Star Wars Tales of the Jedi Golden Age of the Sith
Darth Malek in Knights of the Old Republic

Stories that Touch on this era:

  • Cross over Comic book series: VECTOR:
    began in KOTOR, included in Dark Times, Rebellion, Legacy Comics
  • Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown
  • Dark Empire
  • Dark Empire 2
  • Jedi Academy (Novels and Game)
  • Dark Forces Jedi Knight 2 (Game)
  • Dark Forces Rebel Agent and Jedi Knight (novella & audio based on the game)
nomi-leia
Dark Empire introduces the Jedi Holocron, which introduced the Tales of the Jedi stories

Additional reference: Always take anything published post 2012 with a grain of salt due to legal agreements of the buyout, however George Lucas does mention that Sith ruled approximately 2000 years before the movies in this interview. While other things he says makes little sense (he authorized all previous works and honestly the Jedi never truly beat the Sith, they only thought they did), this fits between SWTOR era and Knight Errant. This time period was unexplored.

Ruusan Reformations data