Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) is a cherished and beloved installment in the Star Wars fandom. The 2003 Game of the Year seems to transcend fandom squabbles about which trilogy is the best, what is cannon and what isn’t, whether “Baby Yoda” or “Grogu” are better names for our little green friend - nearly every Star Wars fan and gamer can agree that KOTOR is one of, if not the best, role playing games of all time. This won’t be a play by play for the game but to recap for the uninitiated or estranged fan, KOTOR is an RPG released by Bioware in 2003 to the original XBOX. The game takes place 4,000 years before Star Wars A New Hope. The game allows players to create an original character and form a motley crew of a Republic pilot, a Jedi wonderkind, a Mandalorian, and more, to take on the Sith Empire currently ravaging the Galaxy. You lead your party of earnest characters, all with compelling backstories, across several planets searching for MacGuffins to either help turn the tide for the Republic, or seize power for yourself and rule the galaxy.
Recent rumblings across the NNN (Nerd News Network) suggest that a KOTOR tv show is “in development.” This is only the latest drop of hope to KOTOR fans to see a long awaited return to the era and characters we’ve spent over 20 years with. There are certain risks inherent with adapting an RPG story - which naturally involves players taking ownership of “their” character - into any other medium that suggests that its interpretation of the same character is the definitive variant. Any RPG worth it’s salt allows for branching storylines and alternative outcomes for each plot thread, as well as the final outcome of the game. TV shows, by contrast,demand that the plot have one narrative throughline and path. Adapting the beloved RPG rubs salt on the Fandom’s wounds by adapting a cherished story that is no longer canon. However, there is a way forward in which both the KOTOR show can succeed with fans and truly honor the original game. So let's step aboard Ebon Hawk, pour a cup of Tarisian ale, and take a look at the only way to truly adapt KOTOR into a TV show.
First and foremost, the show needs the support from a studio standpoint. The Bane (pun intended) of streaming shows is the lack of support in the form of a long term plan. Viewers have seen this through an innumerable amount of streaming platforms cancelling shows after one or two seasons for not performing to expectations. This leads to perpetual cliffhangers and/or a rush to tie up loose ends in effort to garner a satisfying ending - often to disappointing results. Therefore, a season-by-season approval won’t be acceptable. The would-be KOTOR show must be approved for at least three seasons, potentially four seasons with 3-4 episodes per planet. This will be done by giving each episode proper runtimes. Nearly every Star Wars show, good or bad, shares the same issue and that’s inconsistent run times. In order for the show to properly develop its characters and allow viewers to engage with the story, each episode needs to be an hour , not including credits, bare minimum.
Secondly, the show needs the support from a show running standpoint. also insinuates the need for dedicated studio support with the creative team eating, living, and breathing the series. This further demands that the creative team be dedicated and invested fans of the original game, not just Star Wars. This is not to say that we’ll let the hypothetical fanatic showrunner go wild with the show, but have a system of checks to prevent what we got with the Acolyte. I have no doubt that Leslie Headland is passionate about Star Wars. I do however believe that the show was misguided and needed proper direction. Frankly, Lucasfilm has no room to let a KOTOR show fail how the Acolyte did. A passionate and dedicated team with occasional guardrails is essential to the success of the project.
Finally, the format must truly honor the original KOTOR game. As alluded to earlier, adapting an RPG character presents challenges. Fans not only have a connection to them, but feel a sense of ownership since RPG elements naturally enable players to imprint themselves onto them. Taking that character and adapting them into a definitive story cannagate that importance and shun fans’ experiences. Fan-character connection is a topic I’m particularly passionate about, so much so I wrote my senior paper on it. So just how do you make a definitive interpretation of a beloved story like KOTOR? Easy - you don’t.
Let's rewind to December 2018 and consider Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Bandersnatch was an interactive film that allowed audiences to effectively “choose their own adventure” in a virtual format. Sound familiar, almost like an RPG? While Bandersnatch reviews widely criticized the narrative, describing it as cliche and weak, and characters as thin, the technical format of the branching storylines in a visual medium was broadly praised and groundbreaking.
Its simple, but not easy. Bandersnatch ranged from anywhere from 90 to 300 minutes depending on viewer engagement. Extrapolate that to three to four seasons of six to eight hour-minimum episodes, it becomes clear just how much an undertaking of this magnitude would be. The current status of “in development” also poses issues. The vague status could mean any number of things, and with Disney’s track record of announcing a laundry list of projects only to abandon them later on, “in development” has come to mean nothing until there is an official announcement or trailer.
KOTOR seems to also be an unfortunate casualty of being put on the back burner for years. A formal third installment was shelved in favor of a mass multiplayer online game in The Old Republic, which also has a dedicated fan base. Disney's new era The High Republic initially fostered some hopes of ties to the Old Republic, but has yet to deliver on that hope. And more recently, there’s the much beleaguered KOTOR Remake. Initially announced in Sony’s State of Play in 2020 the project has swapped developers, been stopped, restarted, and has generally been shrouded in mystery. With such a troubling development, it almost seems that Lucasfilm and Disney are largely unaware of just how much of a gem they have on their hands.
It is true that Star Wars fans in general have been on the ropes with recent content. Mandalorian season three was less than ideal, and Ahsoka and Book of Baba Fett both saw their fair share of backlash. However, the most recent installment in the Star Wars franchise, Skeleton Crew, is making waves across the fandom as a much needed breath of fresh air. Still, Lucasfilm has a lot of making up to do with their fans before they should even think of seriously adapting KOTOR. Potential hurdles aside, is this the only way to adapt the beloved video game to live action? No - but is is the right way.