Star Wars Rebels has been on a roll lately, bringing long-awaited Legends (the official name for non-canon stories that make up what was once known as the Extended Universe) of the Star Wars name to the official canon under Disney. This was made abundantly clear when the show brought in the hugely popular villain Grand Admiral Thrawn from author Timothy Zahn’s The Thrawn Trilogy. Naturally, with such a legendary character finally making in appearance on-screen, it’s easy to imagine that Star Wars Rebels would continue to pay tribute to the popular stories and characters that comprise the Legends brand.

Now it seems as if that faith in Star Wars Rebels is paying off for fans, as last night’s episode “Trials of the Darksaber” added even more Legends lore to the official Star Wars canon. This time, it was from Bioware's fan-favorite video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

First noted by Comic Book, during “Trials of the Darksaber,” character Kanan Jarrus made reference to the Mandalorian Wars with the Old Galactic Republic, an event first (and heavily) referenced during the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This has led to speculation that the official recognition of the Mandalorian Wars has, in turn, given some credence to the storyline of the games.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 Art

During the events of the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi only officially entered the war after one of the greatest of their order, Revan, forced their hand by defying the council and running off to join the war efforts. Revan turned to the Dark Side of the Force, making war against the Old Republic and the Jedi Order (optionally returning to the light during the events of the Knights of the Old Republic game). Whether this Legend also becomes canon or Disney decides to go in a different direction with its version of the Mandalorian Wars remains to be seen.

Still, this is an encouraging sign and it shows that Disney is willing to slowly bring in the most popular stories from the Legends division of Star Wars, even if it’s not entirely consistent with the original material. It also reveals just how big of a fan Star Wars Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni is of the lore that helped make the Legends stories so popular.

Regardless, there will certainly a portion of the fanbase who can’t help but be a little disappointed that Disney is unlikely to adapt the story of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or other Legends stories outright. While understandable, the Legends division is so massive and filled with an overbearing amount of content that it would have been extremely difficult for Disney to include it all without contradicting their own goals. Putting it under one Legends umbrella and then picking and choosing what becomes official canon was the company’s best option at making sure only quality stories made it into their vision for what Star Wars should be.

Star Wars Rebels season 3 will continue February 18, 2017 with “Legacy of Mandalore” at 8:30pm on Disney XD.

Source: Comic Book