One of the most acclaimed RPG series ever made has been the Knights of the Old Republic duo of games. While the first is widely recognized as the better of the two, KoTOR 2 was still incredible. However, the third entry never came to fruition, but one of the writers has just shared what could have been.

Kirk McKeand from VG247 sat down and spoke with Chris Avellone and was able to dig into what they had planned for the third title. To start, he asked what Obsidian had planned for the game's narrative. Avellone responded with the basic premise:

“When we finished the second one we were all trying to restore our lives back to sanity,” Avellone remembers. “We did start working on the third game pitch, because we always imagined the trilogy. Even when working on the second game, we [tried] to foreshadow what Darth Revan was doing in the second game, and he wasn’t always just ruthlessly and mindlessly blowing everything up. He actually had a larger plan because there was some greater manipulation and threat going on.

“The third game involved you, as a player character, following where Revan went and then taking the battle to the really ancient Sith lords who are far more terrifying than the Darths that show up. These guys would just be monsters. These would have a level of power that was considerable, but at the same time you’d be able to dig more into their psychologies, and their personalities, their history, and even how they dealt with the player, how they talk with the player, the different powers they cultivated and developed, and for some of them like – they’re the ancients, so they’re not just ruling a solar system, [but] swathes of the galaxy.

“So the places you travel to [you’d see] how they left their stamp on that world, or that solar system, or whatever collection of moons. You’d see how horrible that was. Part of that environment would tell a story about that. [That] would be a great, epic way to end the trilogy. The Old Republic are out there. We just didn’t get a chance to do it.”

Kirk mentioned that the ancient Sith lords would be mysterious at first, but the player would slowly unravel the characters interesting and varied origin stories. He also mentioned that Avellone believes a reason the main issue with Snoke in the latest Star Wars trilogy was that he was an unknowable and mysterious character that we never got any more information on. Avellone also speculated that the game might have never happened due to internal politics.

“I think part of the reason, and I’m just speculating, is that I think there was a team internal at Lucas Arts at the time that wanted to do it,” Avellone says. “So obviously they would have gotten priority over us. So I think that was one factor. Another factor is I think that… BioWare tried to do it a few times. They tried to pitch it and tried to pitch it, and were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to do a third game.’ But it just never seemed to actually go anywhere.

“So I don’t know whether people didn’t think there’d be enough sales, [or if] they didn’t care about doing a single-player game. I know a ton of people who would want to play it, but obviously, maybe those numbers aren’t big enough, or whatever, so I don’t know what the deal was. So [the answer] is ‘I don’t know.’,” he laughs. “It wasn’t us!”

This makes me miss the days of original and interesting Star Wars narratives in video games. After the EA deal with Disney, we have only received canceled games, titles oriented around multiplayer experiences with a half baked campaign, and mobile titles. However, Respawn and Chris Avellone are set to give us a taste of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order later today at the Star Wars Celebration. I have faith that the development studio behind Apex Legends and Titanfall can swoop in and save the Star Wars video game scene. Help us Respawn, you're our only hope.