5,000 BBY
*So, okay, this is the first review I’m posting about one of the videos that’s part of the Old Republic timeline. This project, which ties into the Old Republic MMO, is a series of videos, of approximately six minutes apiece, which goes far back into ancient history in order to set the stage for the MMO. Think of it as a sort of Cliff Notes version in video format.
*This is the oldest video created for the timeline. Originally, the timeline was going to go way back into the tens of thousands of years BBY. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they eventually decided against that and so this video, at 5,000 BBY, is the oldest video on the timeline.
*Oh, yes, they’re narrated by Lance Henricksen. In other words, awesome.
*Seriously, Henricksen as a Jedi. How perfect is that? Pretty darn perfect, my friends.
*So, this one is essentially a quick version of the events of The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire. This video is about six minutes long.
*The animation style is rudimentary, but with some nice touches. With the full music and Henricksen’s dignified readings and sound effects, there is some genuine coolness going on in these videos.
*So, as this one starts Henricksen’s character, Gnost-Dural, remarks that he’s relating these events because they tie directly into the current threat from the Sith that the Republic faces. I haven’t read much of the stuff directly related to the Old Republic MMO era, but I guess the Sith are back in it.
*So, the Old Republic that we see in this video is very different from the version we see in the actual comics. This is part of what seems to be a concerted effort to make the 5,000 BBY period less archaic and more like the Old Republic seen in, for instance, TPM. There’s a shot of Coruscant here that could be right out of TPM.
*I love the way Naga Sadow slides in from the side when Gnost-Dural tells about his sneaky liberation of Gav and Jori.
*Gav and Jori aren’t even named in this video. In other words, good video.
*I love the animation on Sadow’s flowing cloak. That’s pretty cool.
*So, the video says that Sadow was betrayed “by his apprentice.” It took me an absurdly long time to realize they were talking about Gav. I’m not sure Gav should really be called an “apprentice.” I mean, pawn maybe. But not apprentice. I mean, was he ever really committed to learning the ways of the Dark Side? I don’t think he was. And did he ever know how to do anything beyond make a little illusion in the palm of his hand?
*So, Gnost-Dural knows that Sadow went to Yavin 4 after the war. That’s interesting. How would he know that exactly? At the end of Fall of the Sith Empire, the Republic has no idea where Sadow is. However, I do recall that Exar Kun knows it quite a bit later. Is it common knowledge by the time of the Exar Kun War? How would anyone have found out in the first place though? Huh. Well, whatever.
*So, we’re given some information here that I don’t recall from anywhere else, namely that after the war the Old Republic basically carried out a war of annihilation against the surviving Sith people on Korriban and the other Sith planets. According to Gnost-Dural, they basically destroyed the entire civilization, which would have included a lot of civilians, no?
*Gnost-Dural says that this is the reason that some of the Sith fled into deep space and set up a new Empire and that this is why that Sith Empire has returned to get revenge. Gnost-Dural wonders what might have happened if the Old Republic had handled the end of the Great Hyperspace War differently.
*Huh, okay, so they’re going for a more nuanced thing there. Okay, whatever.
*Okay, well, that’s that. I can say the story makes more sense when you go through it like this. Some of the retcons, like making Gav a literal apprentice and not just a pawn of Naga Sadow or making the Old Republic carry out genocide after the war, kinda work.
*CANONICAL STATUS: While there are perhaps a few errors in this work, it is to be considered largely accurate. This serves as an excellent alternative to other, more famous and less accurate, retellings of these events. This work is RECOMMENDED as a historical resource.
** out of **** stars.
*Let’s see, what’s up for next time? Oh, it’s more of the same, kind of. We’ll take a look at another Cliff Notes version of this story as we turn our attention to The Sith Lords Chronicles – Part I: A Golden Age.