The description that was posted by SWTOR is:

Too often, the Mandalorian Wars are characterized solely as a prelude to the Jedi Civil War, but the events surrounding the conflict itself bear close examination. When Mandalore the Ultimate called together the clans and began augmenting his armies further with Neo-Crusaders, his intention was to pull the Jedi Order into open conflict. As is the tradition in their culture, the Mandalorians sought to establish themselves as the most powerful faction in the galaxy by defeating the faction they considered to be their greatest rivals. Though the Jedi Council resisted the Mandalorian challenge, the splinter group led by Revan and Malak eventually joined the fray and won the war. Though there has never been a hint that the Sith were involved in the Mandalorian Wars, new analysis from Jedi Master Gnost-Dural suggests that the influence of the dark side was involved. The bittersweet victory in the Mandalorian Wars took a toll on the Republic for which the price is still being paid to this day…

However, what led the Mandalorians to attack? They were obviously provoked by the Emperor, but there are other things that suggest the Emperor had other plans as well. Right at the end, Master Gnost-Dural hints toward the problem: Exar Kun. The Exar Kun days were a few years where the Jedi turned Sith waged war against the Republic. Could it be that the Emperor orchestrated that as well?

Sorry for being late with this. So many things going on. But, for those that haven’t seen it yet, check it out and let me know what you think. Any speculation about the whole Exar Kun issue? I’d love to hear your input!

There are a few things that really stood out for me. First and foremost, I love how devious they have made the Sith. “The Sith spent generations infiltrating Republic political circles and to even the Jedi Order.” While Sidious was able to take control of the Republic and was able to, effectively, rule an Empire, I have to wonder who was more devious. The Sith Emperor was able to get people within the Jedi Order and the Republic who were blatantly Sith. But, then again, Sidious was able to take over the entire Republic. It just demonstrates that the Sith were truly devious and that BioWare was going along with that.

Secondly, Naga Sadow. It’s very interesting that he was brought up again and, more importantly, the reason behind it. The Sith Emperor understood that if Naga Sadow’s spirit was allowed to remain alive, he would have a formidable foe to fight against him. This in itself demonstrates just how long the Sith Emperor planned for this and, more importantly, how complete his invasion would be once it did come a century later.

So, why does Naga Sadow send Padawan Gynt to try and kill Master Ovair? It took me a few takes to finally understand, but it makes complete sense. Ovair failed to destroy Sadow at first and that was why he escaped back to Coruscant, all crippled. However, seven years later, he was completely healed again. Gynt returned and by now, Ovair was prepared for anything because he really was a great warrior. Sadow knew that if he waited, Ovair might return. However, this was Ovair’s plan all along. He knew that if he waited long enough, Sadow would send Gynt to try and destroy the threat that was Ovair. It fed right into the Emperor’s plan. Sadow’s spirit was locked away for good and the Emperor had one less enemy to worry about.

In the end, this is another example of how the invasion by the Sith is not so black and white. On top of that, it is an example of how it didn’t happen over night. For centuries, the Emperor prepared. I am looking forward to the next edition where they talk more about the Jedi Civil War and Revan. What’s your opinion, though? What do you think of the series so far?

28 BTC:  The Sith Onslaught

28 years BTC (Before the Treaty of Coruscant),  The Sith Empire, who had been driven into exile centuries before, suddenly went on the offensive targeting the Republic colonies on the Outer Rim.  Without warning and without a chance, the Outer Rim colonies rapidly fell to the ruthless Sith attack.  In addition to the annihilation and capture of a great number of Out Rim colonies, the Sith also managed to secure their home planet of Korriban from the Republic.

The utter shock and disarray that took the Republic and their allies made the Sith’s conquest quick and efficient.  In the words of Master Gnost-Duran, “The attack of the Sith Empire was the most well orchestrated and carefully coordinated military maneuver in the galaxy’s history.”  It is assumed that much of the Sith’s time in exile was spent planning out this fateful day.  The Sith Onslaught served as the violent catalyst that plunged the galaxy into a state of war leading to the brutal stalemate that left the galaxy divided in half, the Treaty of Coruscant.

18 BTC:  The Battle of Bothawui

Ten years after the Sith Onslaught,  the Sith had managed to capture most of the Outer Rim and were shifting their focuses to the Mid Rim planets.  A small Sith invasion force traveled to Bothawui attempting to capture it.  However, the Republic foresaw the Sith’s strategy and had the entire Republic fleet ready to defend the Bonthan home world.  The Republic ships made short work out of the Sith invasion force making the first Battle of Bothawui the first major victory for the Republic.  The fleet left the planet, however a small Republic force led by Jedi Master Allusis remained behind in anticipation of the Sith’s retalitation.

The Sith did indeed retaliate, and they bought with them an enormous fleet.  The planetary shield surrounding Bothawui made it impossible for the Sith Fleet to land.  This made a ground assault the only possible means of attack.  Master Allusis and his men had come to terms with their odds of survival and held the line with resolve and successfully managed to drive the overconfident Sith back.  For every Republic Soldier killed, ten Sith fell.  Eventually, only Allusis and a small force remained.  Grand Moff Zellos offered them survival if they surrendered.  The Republic Soldiers denied his request and were struck down, but not before driving the Sith from Bothawui making the second Battle of Bothawui a draw.

14 BTC:  The Empire Changes Strategy

Another branch of the Sith Emperor’s plan was to reunite the creed of deadly warriors known as the Mandalorians.

To do this, the Empire employed the subterfuge tactics of their Imperial Agents to infiltrate and manipulate the results of Gladiator battles taking place across the galaxy.  The Empire singled out a young warrior on Geonosis who was competing in the Gladiator battles.  The Imperial Agents became the young warrior’s manager in the battles and used his convenient position to infiltrate the quarters of the young warrior’s opponents and drug them.  Because of the Imperial Agent’s manipulation, the young warrior was undefeated in the arena.  Soon, the crowds began cheering the word “Mandalore!  Mandalore!  Mandalore! (referring to the name given to the leader of the Mandalorians, considered to be the greatest warrior in the galaxy)”

It wasn’t before long that young warrior took on the title of Mandalore, with the Empire and his Imperial Agents serving as his invisible superiors.  With the control of the Mandalorians, the Empire was able to institute the Mandalorian Blockade, which served as a major blow to the Republic.

8 BTC:  The Return of the Mandalorians

The young Gladiator from Geonosis took up the title of Mandalore with the help of the subtle, yet affective, Imperial Agents working in the shadows.  The title Mandalore was one that was left vacant for centuries before, as it signified the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and the leader of the powerful Mandalorians.  The Mandalorians were scattered about the galaxy, most of them working as bounty hunters and mercenaries.  However with the new Mandalore in place, the Mandalorians were reunited under their powerful leader.

Meanwhile, in the conflict with the Empire and the Republic, the battle found itself at a standstill right outside of the Mid-Rim, with the Republic successfully holding the ground.  This soon changed as Mandalore reunited the Mandalorian people and set up a blockade along a crucial Republic trade route.  With their supplies running dry, the Jedi amassed a force to attempt to destroy the Mandalorian blockade.  The Jedi fleet was destroyed without mercy and they were unsuccessful in disrupting the blockade.  The blockade was eventually destroyed by a savvy Smuggler and her fleet.

7 BTC:  The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken

With the Mandalorian Blockade bleeding the Republic dry, the Republic deemed that they would take any measure to obtain the essential raw goods that they were being blocked from.  It is at this point that a Savvy smuggler named Hylo Visz came up with a plan to make her and her colleagues a tremendous amount of wealth.  The bottom line, break the Mandalorian blockade and be heroes of the Republic.

Visz loaded a fleet of massive freighters with all of the raw goods the Outer Rim could offer and had them wait a parsec away from the Mandalorian Blockade.  With the Mandalorians distracted by the freighters, Hylo Visz and her smugglers burst out of hyperspace and open fired on the blockade.  When the Republic got wind of the attack on the blockade, they amassed all of their available resources and aided Visz in her attack on the Blockade.  The Blockade was successfully broken, and Visz’s freighters landed on Coruscant full of raw goods.  She and her colleagues left Coruscant with vast amounts of wealth.  The following day, an elaborate celebration was planned in Hylo Visz’s honor, where she did not show up.

It is rumored that she was killed the following year for going against the Hutts.

0 ATC:  The Treaty of Coruscant

With the unexpected destruction of the Mandalorian Blockade, the Emperor became impatient with his armada’s acquisition of  territories.  Because of this, he sent a group of Imperial Ambassadors to Alderaan to offer the Republic a very one sided peace agreement.  Due to the horrible casualties and circumstances that the Republic had sustained, they had no choice but to sign the peace agreement.

However it did not end there.  While the Imperial Ambassadors were in negotiations on Alderaan, the Sith Empire attacked Coruscant and sacked the Jedi Temple and left the city in ruins.  Upon their return to the Temple, the Jedi found their home ransacked and destroyed.  Coincidentally, they were also blamed for the sacking of Coruscant by many of the diplomats.  The Jedi returned to their home planet of Tython to regroup and meditate, hoping to receive some guidance from the force.

Got something to say about Bioware’s timeline series?  Let us know, drop us a comment below! Also consider following us on Twitter to stay up to date on what we’re doing here at TOR Universe.

While we have announced our target launch window, we also realize there is a lot of information to release between now and then. We met with the development team soon after returning from the holiday break and discussed some of the information we want to release. In going over that, we decided to wait on a few things to ensure we are giving the community the most accurate information possible. We understand that pretty much everyone would love to have all the information about The Old Republic now but we wouldn’t be serving the community properly if we told you all about a particular feature or mechanic only for it to be completely different than the way we explained it when The Old Republic releases.

It was a let down for a lot of people, but it makes sense. With BioWare giving some information on the release date of TOR, there really was no other way for them to do it. But, it does let me believe that they might have wanted to release it this year, but the higher ups said to them to hold off until the next year. Yay for even higher quality, but it means that they have to reevaluate their information releasing. I can wait, though, and I imagine that most people will suck it up and wait. We all know that BioWare releases only the best. Just look at Mass Effect 2.

Now…Onto the comic. I hadn’t read the comic in a long while, so I got completely up to date and this story only gets better. We’ve got an example of a Jedi who has just about fallen to the Dark Side out of fear of the Sith defeating the Republic. This was exactly what Yoda was talking about when he was talking to Luke. He sensed fear in Luke and the man nearly turned to the Dark Side.

The one thing that really stands out for me is the fact that the Sith were once again able to orchestrate something as diabolical as this. They were able to make it appear as if this battle was necessary. Instead, what they were doing was trying to convince these Jedi to convert to the Dark Side. What better way to defeat the Jedi?

Anyway…BioWare’s news today was the release of this comic. Whether you are disappointed in the fact that it is such a small release or love story (like I do), enjoy the comic. And who knows? Maybe one day you’ll get to hold it in hard copy…

By materializing out of nowhere, the Sith were able to attack planets with such ferocity that the Empire was able to overwhelm entire systems with nearly no opposition. However, they wanted to show the complete fire power of their fleet. So, they waited for a Republic diplomatic team to come. Right after images were relayed showing the sheer size of the fleet, they were destroyed.

Planet after planet fell. Soon, planets that were once allies to the Republic became allies to the Sith. More planets fell. Korriban fell which became one of the staging grounds for the launch of the game.

When the Jedi and the Senate met to try and work together on finding some way of working together, it devolved into politics. Each planet was unwilling to give soldiers to the general effort out of fear that their planet would be left defenseless. So, it became a sense of “every planet for itself.” This was exactly what the Sith Emperor had wanted. By having the Republic fraction apart, he’d be able to sweep in and do some considerable damage.

Fortunately, the Jedi came along and slowed the Empire down. Because individual Masters were able to rally forces, they were able to fight decisive battles that would weaken the Empire and ensure that they couldn’t push forward unopposed. However, what the attack also showed was that they had been planning for hundreds of years. I’ll elaborate on this point in my next post…

To see the Timeline update, check out SWTOR’s site. They have the Timeline series.

Hylo Visz, a smuggler, comes up with a plan. She and her ragtag group of smugglers come up with this great plan to attack the Mandalorians who are blockading the main trade route to Coruscant. They attack, but don’t have enough ships, are going to be beat, but then the Republic comes and yay, victory! So, now the Mandalorians are beat…Again. Man, they really are good at getting their asses handed to them. Ah well…Such is life.

This is really starting to get really good. The story is developing and we are learning more and more. I like these little updates, but I wish they happened more often. Then again, I have to ask myself: Do I want them to make more of these or get the game published sooner? Let me think…I’ve made up my mind. Get the game published as soon as possible! But, make it good too. Yeah…Make it really good.

The part of this that really shows that TOR is going to be amazing is the fact that they are focusing so much on story. I’ve never seen a MMO with as much story as this game seems to be developing. Hell, there have been a lot of computer games that lack as much story as this appears to have.

It appears that the next video should be a commentary on how the Mandalorians returned and why they did. After that, the next few videos will be about the actual war. They have included a slider that tells the titles of each planned video. Does that mean they’ll come out faster now? I hope!

Anyways…If you want to see the video, just click here. What do you think of it? Leave a comment and let us know!

When BioWare released their Timeline 1: The Treaty of Coruscant video, I was in heaven. Chris and I sat down and watched it together and we both were silent as we watched. When it was over, we looked at each other and I said, “Well, that answers a lot of questions. Look at how much they potentially hint to!” You’ve got to look at what BioWare has just released and marvel at all the little hints and details they gave us.

First and foremost, I love the story. I like how the Sith Empire just popped up out of nowhere, and the detail of how much fighting there was. I liked the images of the Sith soldiers. What was a bit bizarre was that, 300 years earlier, their ships were very sleek and all of that. Yet, I look at it now and the ships look so much clunkier. Did the Sith not care about being sleek and instead, they just wanted a mass production of ships? If that’s the case, they should’ve stolen the Star Forge. I kid…

As someone who loves to create his own stories, by hearing this, I can’t help but get incredibly excited. It fills us in on the sketchy truce that is currently going on and gives you the chance to begin creating your character. Sure, you may not know exactly what your character will be doing at the beginning of the game, but you can at least create a history. That’s always cool.

Story is the most important aspect for me in a game and this video just reaffirmed to me that TOR is going to be a tremendous MMO with a ridiculous amount of story. Then, of course, there’s the fact that one of my favorite writers has joined the staff of SWTOR. However, that’s another story for another time.

Man…This game is really starting to look good. Watch the video here.