Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire is the fifth Digital Expansion to the BioWare MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. First announced on June 12, 2015 in advance of Electronic Arts's official presentations at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 15, Knights of the Fallen Empire features a renewed focus on cinematic storytelling, as well as new worlds, new companions, and a dynamic story that is affected by the choices players make.
The expansion was first hinted at in the Community Cantina Tour held in Anaheim, California on April 18; wristbands were given out that featured the hashtag #FallenEmpire and the date "06.15.15," and a secret image featuring a throne and the hashtag was hidden in the files given to attendees and later posted online. Knights of the Fallen Empire focuses on the new threat of the Eternal Empire and its leader, the Emperor of the Eternal Throne. At Level 60, the player's character is frozen in carbonite and awakens five years later to find that the Eternal Empire has become the dominant force in the galaxy. The player becomes the "Outlander" and builds an alliance to wage war against the Eternal Empire.
==Plot summary==
===Chapter I: The Hunt===
Sometime after the Invasion of Ziost, a Republic-Imperial joint task force led by Darth Marr is ambushed by the Eternal Empire during their search for the Sith Emperor in Wild Space. After learning that the ruler of the new empire is none other than the former Sith Emperor, now calling himself Valkorion, Darth Marr is executed. Through the machinations of Valkorion's son, Prince Arcann, Valkorion is killed, the player, now referred to as the Outlander, is imprisoned as Valkorion's murderer, and the newly crowned Emperor Arcann vows revenge against the galaxy.
===Chapter II: A Dream of Empire===
The Outlander, frozen in an imperfect form of carbon freezing, meets with Valkorion in a dream sequence where Valkorion discusses the Outlander, the current state of the galaxy and how Zakuul is the only future of the galaxy.
===Chapter III: Outlander===
Lana Beniko rescues the Outlander from the carbonite prison with the help of T7-O1 and Koth Vortena while evading Arcann's forces consisting of Skytroopers, Zakuul Knights and Vaylin, Arcann's sister and the Zakuul's High Justice. The trio manage to hijack a ship which is severely damaged by Vaylin but they manage to escape into the swamps of Zakuul.
===Chapter IV: The Gravestone===
The group crash lands in the Endless Swamp of Zakuul, where they locate an ancient alien frigate that can stand against the Eternal Fleet known only in legends as The Gravestone. While repairing the ship, Lana Beniko updates the Outlander on the state of the galaxy while Koth informs on his motivations to defect from Zakuul.
===Chapter V: From The Grave===
The Outlander learns that Valkorion now lives within their mind and promises his help in critical situations. The Eternal Empire attacks the group who manage to hold their ground until they are joined by Senya Tirall, a rogue Zakuul Knight who has a bitter history with Koth. Koth manages to repair the Gravestone and are able to destroy a sizeable portion of the Eternal Fleet with the Gravestone's omnicannon and swiftly escape Zakuul. Arcann witnesses that the Gravestone is now a considerable threat to his rule and orders Vaylin to hunt them down.
===Chapter VI: Asylum===
The Group arrives at Asylum, a skyport for those fleeing the Eternal Empire, to repair the Gravestone and gather more allies in the form of Koth's band of defectors and Scions of Zakuul, a subdivision of the Zakuul Knights who can forsee the future. As it is revealed that Valkorion survived in the Outlander's mind, Senya reveals to that she is the mother of Arcann and Vaylin.
===Chapter VII: The Lady of Sorrows===
Koth is reluctant of Senya's desire to defeat her children while the group is informed of a potential ally on Zakuul known as the Lady of Sorrows, a notorious criminal with a reputaton for murder and evading the Zakuul Knights, who claims that she can communicate with the Gravestone. Senya and the Outlander venture to Zakuul's underworld to meet with the Lady while confronting the Heralds of Zildrog.
===Chapter VIII: Taking Flight===
Arcann and Vaylin launch an attack on Asylum while keeping the Gravestone from leaving. The Outlander manages to free the Gravestone and faces off against Arcann while Senya takes on Vaylin as the group try to buy as much time as possible.
===Chapter IX: The Alliance===
The Outlander, with the help of Lana Beniko and Theron Shan, forms an alliance from volunteers around the galaxy dedicated to fight against the Eternal Empire and is now crowned as the Alliance Commander.
===Chapter X: Anarchy in Paradise===
SCORPIO informs the Alliance of a potential recruit known as Firebrand, later revealed to be Kaliyo Djannis, who is known to some as a thrill seeker and to most as a dangerous terrorist. Desperate for allies, Theron and the Commander venture to Zakuul to meet with Firebrand.
===Chapter XI: Disavowed===
To find more allies, Theron Shan suggests Havoc Squad, the Republic's most elite special forces squad, led by Aric Jorgan who, against the orders of the Republic Senate, conducting an unsanctioned mission on Zakuul. Too good to pass it up, Theron and the Commander make the journey to convince them to join the Alliance even if it means going against the Republic.
===Chapter XII: Visions in the Dark===
While the Alliance dispatches Kaliyo Djannis and Havoc Squad to inflitrate the Spire and potentially cripple the Eternal Fleet, the Commander heads out to the wilderness of Odessen to consult with Valkorion only to be met with Valkorion's fury against the Outlander for failing to move beyond the boundaries of their former life. The Outlander is forced to face Valkorion's tests in order to grow strong enough to defeat Arcann and Vaylin as well as claim the Eternal Throne.
===Chapter XIII: Profit and Plunder===
Gault Rennow and Vette offer the Alliance a chance to raid the Eternal Empire treasury, which has accumulated from the tribute from capitulated worlds, as a means of funding Alliance operations in the long run.
===Chapter XIV: Mandalore's Revenge===
After learning that the Eternal Fleet is captained by GEMINI droids, which are based off on SCORPIO's design, the Alliance enlists the aid of the Mandalorians led by Mandalore the Avenger on Darvannis to inflitrate the factory on the planet containing GEMINI Prime, the template which the GEMINI Captains are based on, which is needed to turn the tide of the war.
===Chapter XV: The GEMINI Deception===
The Alliance attempts to board a lone vessel of the Eternal Fleet in order to replace the GEMINI Captain with GEMINI Prime in order to take over the GEMINI network. But the Alliance soon learns that not everything is going well as not only has the Captain alerted Arcann to the threat but also cripples the Alliance's efforts to succeed.
===Chapter XVI: The Battle of Odessen===
SCORPIO has betrayed the Alliance and seized control of the Eternal Throne. Meanwhile on Odessen, the Alliance faces an invasion from Emperor Arcann and his portion of the Eternal Fleet. The Alliance takes the fight to Arcann by boarding his flagship in order to allow the Alliance Commander to defeat the Eternal Emperor once and for all.
==Gameplay==
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire is a Digital Expansion for the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, and raises the level cap of the game from 60 to 65. Knights of the Fallen Empire has been described as having "a renewed focus on cinematic storytelling," and introduces "new worlds to explore, new companions to recruit into your alliance, and a dynamic story that players will be able to shape based on the choices they make." The original eight class stories are also enhanced to make them more immersive and engaging. Single-player story arcs, the game's end-game Operations, and other content were also upgraded to levels 60 and above. Players are able to create one level 60 character in order to experience the Knights of the Fallen Empire storyline without having to play through the existing game.
The story of Knights of the Fallen Empire will be told and released in smaller "chapters," the first nine of which were released at launch. Sixteen chapters, the last five of which are unnamed at the moment, are listed on the game's website, and the chapters are said to be released monthly after launch. Any subscriber, regardless of when they subscribe, will have access to all of the Fallen Empire chapters that have been released up until that point. Knights of the Fallen Empire is set five years after the events of the existing game, and will introduce new companions, as well as reintroduce some of the existing companions in the new timeframe. A total of five new companions will be added, including Lana Beniko from the Forged Alliances storyline and the previous expansion, Shadow of Revan. The new level cap will allow for a focus on "increased mobility and action-packed combat," and the expansion's focus on single-player story will result in restrictions on grouping during story missions and arcs.
==Development==
Knights of the Fallen Empire was first hinted at in the Community Cantina Tour in Anaheim, California on April 18, 2015. Attendees received wristbands with the hashtag #FallenEmpire and the date "06.15.15," and the flash drive of files given out to attendees also included a secret image, featuring the hashtag and the Eternal Throne, which was later posted online. The Digital Expansion was officially announced during Electronic Arts' presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 15, 2015, though the name was released on June 12 in the schedule of Electronic Arts' presentation. The game's announcement took the form of Sacrifice, a cinematic trailer developed by Blur Studio like the game's previous trailers, and the full-length trailer was released afterwards online.
As with other expansions, Knights of the Fallen Empire was preceded by a number of subscriber rewards. Players who subscribed by August 10 received Nico Okarr, the smuggler who appeared in the Return cinematic trailer, as a companion, and those subscribed by August 31 received an exclusive set of blasters for Okarr. September 30 saw subscribers receive Nico Okarr's duster coat, and subscribers by October 19 received a swoop bike inspired by the one seen in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The Epic Story Boost, which rewards subscribers with 12 times the standard experience for class missions, remained in effect until October 19.
Alexander Freed wrote Chapter 10 of Knights of the Fallen Empire, entitled "Anarchy in Paradise."
==Release==
*Chapters I-IX — Release 4.0 on October 20, 2015
*Chapter X: Anarchy In Paradise — Release 4.1 on February 9, 2016
*Chapter XI: Disavowed — Release 4.2 on March 8, 2016
*Chapter XII: Visions in the Dark— Release 4.3 on April 5, 2016
*Chapter XIII: Profit and Plunder — Release 4.4 on May 3, 2016
*Chapter XIV: Mandalore's Revenge — Release 4.5 on June 1, 2016
*Chapter XV: The GEMINI Deception — Release 4.6 on June 28, 2016
*Chapter XVI: The Battle of Odessen — Release 4.7 on August 9, 2016
==Credits==
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Knights of the Fallen Empire