The Old Republic era is one of my favorite time periods in Star Wars. Starting way back in the early ’90s with the Tales of the Jedi series, the events that created the historical foundation to the films felt rich and detailed, with a slew of great characters and concepts. When the Knights of the Old Republic video game was released, it brought even more enthusiasm to these pre-Yavin events from the Star Wars fandom, and comic publishers were wise to tell tales connected to this era. Unfortunately, while this Epic Collection has some strong individual moments from the Old Republic, it falls short of other works from this era and will likely be enjoyed only by dedicated Star Wars readers.
In this collection, we have Knight Errant #1-5, Knight Errant: Deluge #1-5, Knight Errant: Escape #1-5, Star Wars: Jedi vs. Sith #1-6, and material from Star Wars Tales #16. It’s a beefy collection, with plenty of content to take in. Taking place at the tail end of the Old Republic era, these Star Wars stories focus on the Republic Dark age, with Sith Lords Daiman and Odion building competing fiefdoms throughout the galaxy. Kerra Holt, the young Jedi whose exploits make a bulk of the book’s content, works to challenge Sith domination of the Grumani sector.
As much as I enjoyed moments from the Knight Errant comics, on the whole they simply weren’t that interesting to read. The first issue starts well enough, with Kerra Holt’s Jedi companions being destroyed, leaving her the only Jedi to confront a planet controlled by the Sith. It felt like a perfectly good premise for a Star Wars book, with Federico Dallocchio providing stiff-but-cinematic visuals. Unfortunately, Kerra never develops into a well-rounded, interesting protagonist throughout the three five-issue arcs. Add to that a less than compelling entourage to complement her journey, and you’re left with a book without interesting characters to identify with. It reads like a paint-by-numbers Star Wars story with all the tropes one expects but without the charm and finesse necessary to make anyone who isn’t a Star Wars fanatic pay attention.
The Jedi vs. Sith issues are a bit better, but truly only serve fans looking for an exploration of key concepts and lore from the Star Wars mythos. The series retells the events of Battle of Ruusan, with our protagonists being dropped into the violent conflict, and how the events eventually result in the “Rule of Two” under Darth Bane and his apprentice Zannah. Ramon F. Bachs’ cartoony artistic style was initially off-putting, considering the gravity of the story being told by Darko Macan, yet by the end of the series I had come to appreciate his emotive style. The story, while still building on specific eccentricities in this fictional universe, does have a grounded human story to tell.
For a volume that ends the Old Republic Era, it lacks the supplementals one would expect from a collection of this magnitude. There are a few variant covers and sketches, and an interview with Knight Errant John Jackson Miller. These are nice touches, but more background and context for these books would have been advantageous to this trade. The paper quality and colors are on par with other editions in the Epic line, making it a nice experience to look at and navigate.
When Disney relegated the 40+ years of Expanded Universe content to the “Legends” bin, many fans worried that we would never see these stories in print again. Thankfully, the opposite occurred, with concerted effort made to curate and collect these stories for old and new readers alike. While The Old Republic Vol. 5 may not be the best work from this fictional era, this Epic Collection is a fine way for Star Wars completists to take in this final installment from that age.
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