March 25, 2026 · 9:01 am

The Riddle of Stele

Two weeks ago Star Wars: The Old Republic launched game update 7.8.1, “Master’s Enigma” the next chapter of the Legacy of Sith’s main story. The expansion is building to its conclusion, and there is a lot to explore. I’d like to focus on two aspects of the latest update. The first is relatively light on spoilers, but the second section of this post will discuss the major twists in the expansion’s penultimate chapter.

Let’s start in my wheelhouse with a translation of some alien text. Inside a control center of one of the nature preserves on Darth Nul’s lost ship, the Enigma, there are two obsidian monoliths covered in symbols and text erected on opposite sides of the room. Although the inscriptions on both are identical, one is cracked and leaking red energy, the other blue.

I’ve discussed the history and origins of this runic alphabet before so I won’t go into detail here. It is enough to know that this writing is ancient even within the context of the Old Republic and was used by both the Jedi and the Sith on their artifacts, technology and monuments. This is reflected in how it appears in SWTOR and in this chapter. The way the two monuments are accented by blue and red clearly echoes both the colors of the Jedi and Sith and the holograms with which we interact during the story.

This Pictish runestone from the village of Aberlemno in Scotland dates to the second half of the first millennium AD.

This monument was called a “stele” when it was introduced into the game as a stronghold decoration. Stelae are large stone monoliths which, throughout history and across many cultures, were used as territorial markers, commemorations of battles or to publish laws or decrees. It’s within this last context that I think the pair on Darth Nul’s ship lie.

The text on both is the final line of the Jedi Code, but not the version that is most commonly cited within SWTOR and Star Wars stories. The Jedi Code has caused consternation to both Star Wars fans and characters in the lore over the years, and I’m certain Reniah/Nul are included in that company. Regardless of which version of the code you prefer, it is filled with contradictions. We all have emotions, and death is all around us.

Decorations of the Stele of the Lost Master, flanked by the Jedi Consular Meditation Pillar and the Jedi Knight Meditation Pillar.

I would describe the Jedi Code not as a set of rules, but instead as what is known in Zen Buddhism as a “Koan.” Briefly, Koans are contradictory statements or unanswerable questions. “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” is a famous example. The point is not to make sense of the question, but to move past its contradictions into deeper insight and meditation.

Likewise, the Jedi Code does not present a logical explanation of the Force. Instead it is meant to break through a Jedi’s conceptual thinking about the Light and the Dark sides and then provoke a personal realization into the nature of the Force and the connection everyone shares with it.

Darth Nul, still causing trouble all these years later.

I can very much imagine Jedi Reniah and Darth Nul finding this explanation wholly inadequate. This is reflected in the failure of their attempts to impose balance on the biomes we explore on Nul’s ship. The solution is to simply let things be. Whether as Reniah or Nul, they are unable to accept that they cannot force the result they want.

If you forgive a tangent to the Dark Side, the Sith code is easier to follow to be sure, but even Nul is aware of its limitations and acknowledges there are multiple different paths to power.

All of this reinforces Darth Nul’s ultimate desire to destroy the structures of the Jedi and the Sith, not because, I would argue, they are inherently broken but because she refuses to understand them. My position is not that the Jedi are without fault. An entire trilogy of movies is devoted to the failures of the Jedi Order. I grant that the Sith are broken, but the motives of Darth Nul and Darth Malgus, who aims to complete Nul’s work, cannot be trusted even if you agree with their actions or goals.

Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal

Beware, dear reader, we dive next into full spoiler territory from here on out!

Darth Jadus is pleased to see us again.

The chief theme explored in The Master’s Enigma is that of betrayal. The chapter opens and concludes with the siblings Sa’har and Ri’kan. Ri’kan has given his complete loyalty to Heta Kol, a charismatic leader bent on revenge and destruction. Ri’kan has devoted his life to Heta and her cult-like clan even to the point of rejecting the love of the last of his family. It breaks Sa’har’s heart to again lose her brother. We see it’s all for nothing. Heta demands unquestioned loyalty and repays it with a knife to Ri’kan’s throat. Again and again, Heta has demonstrated that she regards her followers as tools to be used and discarded. Nothing can trump her obsessions.

Players also suffer personal betrayals both at the beginning of the chapter and, of course at the end. Each is different depending on our characters’ faction.

All players begin with an encounter with the leaders of their respective factions. They, for various reasons, have had enough with our characters’ independence from their control. My Imperial character is a “saboteur” so I relish every opportunity to butt heads with the Dark Council. My light side Jedi was more frustrated and annoyed by the Republic’s lack of faith. Clearly the Republic replaced General Daeruun with the openly antagonistic Admiral Rava because the ol’ tea sipping general actually gets on well with us. That said there is value in characters that everyone loves to hate. That’s something Republic leadership has lacked since Chancellor Saresh exited the stage. I look forward to being a thorn in Rava’s side in the days to come.

Darth Rivix. I can fix him.

Let’s turn to the revelation from the Sith story next. Darth Rivix has been in cahoots with Darth Jadus, very likely all along. What I like about this is that it really should not come as a shock to anyone. Indeed, the obvious untrustworthiness of Rivix is a big part of the appeal of his character, to me at least. From the moment we met, I pegged him as trouble. If you ever want to know where Darth Rivix is, just follow the trail of dead bodies and broken hearts he most definitely leaves in his wake across the galaxy.

He doesn’t even attempt to justify his betrayal. We knew he was a scorpion when we picked him up. With this sordid business of allegiances out of the way, perhaps now we can really get to know him.

For Republic players, Tau Idair’s betrayal is much sadder. I played “Master’s Enigma” as an Imperial first, and once it became clear that Tau was filling the same role in the Republic story as Rivix, I said aloud “Aw, Tau. Don’t.” But she did. From the first day we met her on Ossus, we’ve seen that Tau has suffered from survivor’s guilt. Through all of our interactions, my character and Gnost Dural have encouraged and supported Tau, but it is tragic to see her succumb to despair. This is exactly the kind of thing Jadus would gladly exploit for his own benefit. Jadus is definitely one of those chuds who views empathy as a weakness.

Tau cannot hide her guilty conscience.

But it’s not. Our characters boarded the Enigma knowing that it was a trap. Simply having irresistible bait does not make Jadus a tactical genius. He does seize control of Nul’s holocron, but it is the nature of a plot’s MacGuffin to be passed around like a hot potato. I don’t see him being able to control the holocron any better than Krovos or Sal-Deron did. At the end of this chapter we escape because of Lana’s loyalty to our characters, Arn Peralun’s empathy for Tau, and Major Anri’s stubborn defiance of orders.

As for what happens next? I certainly don’t know. At the very least, it sounds like it’ll be quite the reckoning. I can’t wait to see what will be born from the chaos that has been brewing this whole expansion.

 

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Filed under Ancient Jedi Runes, General Star Wars, General SWTOR, Legacy of the Sith

February 27, 2026 · 9:01 am

To Fly Above the Gridlock

It’s been a while since I covered the topic which gives this blog its name: Star Wars’ favorite fake space-letters: Aurebesh. For newcomers, my goal is to examine the use of alien writing in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and, when possible, both translate the words and explore their context in the game’s world. Aurebesh and other forms of writing appear across the many planets we visit in the game, and it’s fun to discover the meaning of this writing which is hidden in plain sight.

I like to describe what I do as “diegetic translations” which is a fancy way of saying that I hope I can help players interact with the holograms, monitors, posters and signs written in alien languages in the same way we can assume our characters do.

Jetpack Design Station

The first subject of this post is the monitor included as part of the decoration “Jetpack Design Station.” This decoration is a reward from the current, tenth PVP Season. The decoration is a small work table scattered with tools and parts for the jetpack mount that is the ultimate reward of the season. The station has a quite lovely art deco aesthetic, but, of course, the feature that first caught my eye was the computer monitor detailing the specs of the Outer Rim Runner Jetpack.

SWTOR has many Aurebesh readouts that have been reused and repurposed throughout the years. Given the sheer scope of the game, this is understandable, but I do appreciate that the art team included a bespoke graphic designed for this specific game asset. The extra attention to detail helps this decoration stand out, even if you can’t read exactly what it says.

Jetpack Design Station decoration

The Outer Rim Runner Jetpack is clearly inspired by the jetpack worn by the Rocketeer, a comic book character created by writer/artist Dave Stevens in the early 1980s. The Rocketeer was created as a throwback to the pulp heroes of the 1930s including Doc Savage, the Shadow and Commander Cody. The Rocketeer is probably most well known from the cult-favorite 1991 movie of the same name, but it looks to me like SWTOR’s jetpack is directly inspired by the single exhaust version of the rocket seen in Steven’s comics, not the one used on the big screen.

The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens, 1982.

There isn’t too much to translate here, and I imagine anyone could venture a reasonable guess to what the text reads. I confess, however, that I did take a moment to wonder why a jetpack would need armored plating and spoilers, but then I remembered the most infamous jetpack malfunction in Star Wars history.

Boba Fett! Where?

So rest assured, that you are significantly less likely to ricochet off the hull of a crimelord’s sail barge into the maw of the great Pit of Carkoon while jetting around the galaxy using this PVP reward. Still, you might want to double check the warranty.

7.8.1 Livestream

As I wrote this post, SWTOR hosted a livestream focused on both the next update and a discussion of what to expect in the months ahead. Rather than comment on every announcement, I’d like to focus on two points that stood out for me.

In December, the announcement from the producer letter that garnered the most attention was their plan to launch of 8.0 as part of the game’s 15th anniversary. However, during this week’s presentation Keith Kanneg and Eric Musco made sure to emphasize that before talk of the game’s next era begins, the developers aim to spend the first half of this year focused on bringing Legacy of the Sith to a proper conclusion and an epic finale worth remembering. I think this is a good decision. There is still plenty of story ahead of us, and I’m eager to see where how it ends.

Sure Anri is cool, but her name isn’t a portmanteau of “River Styx”.

Secondly, the team revealed the details of the upcoming Galactic Season. I won’t lie, when I first learned that the next two seasons would feature rewards drawn from the first four Galactic Seasons, I was disappointed. I fully completed and collected all the loot from all of those seasons the first time around. But here’s the thing, it’s not all about me. It’s been five years since the first Galactic Season, and the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of players who missed out on the earlier seasons. Limited time seasons and battle passes are deliberately designed to exploit players’ fear of missing out on rewards, I’ve never liked  it when rewards, especially cosmetic ones, become unavailable. Maybe you heard that Altuur is the best companion, or you could use a pink blaster to complete your fit, or you’re certain the GAME Jacket will make you cool like Fonzie. Discovering that you can no longer earn those rewards isn’t a great feeling for new or returning players.

As for me, I won’t say no to more Cartel Coins, and I was pleased to learn that bronze, silver and gold Cartel Packs from the rewards tracks are being refreshed with some new additions. In truth, those packs have long since gone stale for me, and it became a rare event to get anything interesting at all from them.

I am glad that players will get another chance at Season Rewards that are new to them. I’ve been clear from the start that I don’t consider “Galactic Seasons” to be “content.” I don’t mean that as an insult. SWTOR’s most prominent feature is its story, and we’re getting three major story updates in a row in the lead up to the Legacy of the Sith’s finale. I will take that any day of the week.

Galactic Season objectives are something to do in between those updates, and MMOs need that too. I’ve played the game’s heroics, daily areas and flashpoints countless times, so I appreciate that Seasons provide a framework to keep me and my friends and guild-mates busy with something different while also handing out some rewards. And if this frees up the developers to have more time to prepare 8.0, so much the better.

The Mandalorian and Grogu and Hugo and Apollo Creed

Finally, let’s take a quick look at some Aurebesh that showed up in the brand new trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. The writing seen in both examples is meant to serve as tributes to other film-makers. The first screenshot shows Din Djarin speaking with an Ardennian food truck chef. The alien is voiced by Martin Scorsese, one of film’s most famous and important directors. Indeed, the food truck (and presumably its proprietor) is named “Hugo.” This is likely a reference to Scorsese’s 2011 movie of the same name, which in itself is a was made to honor to the earliest days of motion pictures. However, there are references within references here. Jon Favreau who directed The Mandalorian and Grogu also wrote, directed and starred in the movie Chef in which his character, a disgraced famous chef, rediscovers his love of cooking by operating a small food truck.

The next screenshot features two aurebesh words which are clearly a tribute to the late Carl Weathers. I don’t know the context for this sign within the movie, but this is clearly a reference to Weathers who was beloved both for playing Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies and his work on The Mandalorian Disney+ show where he portrayed Greef Karga and directed two episodes.

I know some serious minded fans poo-poo these sort of things, whether you call them Easter Eggs or self-indulgent inside jokes, but references to inspirational works go all the way back to the very first Star Wars film. In Episode IV alone, George Lucas quotes two Akira Kurusawa movies, Yojimbo and Hidden Fortress, and even Lucas’ own THX-1138.

This sort of thing does not bother me. It’s only natural that artists pay tribute to those who inspired them. Will The Mandalorian and Grogu be the greatest movie ever, on par with Good Fellas or Seven Samurai? Perhaps not, but it shouldn’t have to be.

The teaser trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu debuted last year shortly after the conclusion of the previous live-action Star Wars production. After watching it, I joked to friends that the tag line for the movie should’ve been “Hey, Star Wars Fans! Did you love Andor? You’re gonna hate this!” I was being sarcastic, of course, but I have very different expectations of this new movie.  I loved Andor, but was it fun? Not really. From the very beginning Star Wars was filled with silly aliens, spaceships and whiz-bang action, and I’m okay if the first movie in years returns to those roots.

Star Wars doesn’t have to be just for jaded old school fans, it can be for kids too. And, look, kids love Baby Yoda. When he first appeared back in 2019, it felt like it was the first time since at least the lead-up to the release of The Phantom Menace that Star Wars had such a large impact on popular culture. It’s only natural that Grogu be the focus on the franchise’s return to the big screen.

So I hope eight olds love this the way I loved the first Star Wars movie. They deserve it more than I do.

 

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Filed under Aurebesh to English, Galactic Seasons, General Star Wars, Legacy of the Sith

January 21, 2026 · 9:01 am

The Stormy Present: Five Predictions for 2026

After taking a break last year, I’ve decided to have another go at my semi-yearly tradition of predicting what we might see this year in Star Wars: The Old Republic. To newcomers, please don’t assume I have any special insight or knowledge. I’m not a developer, just a fan. There is a very good reason I categorize these posts as “Dumb Top Fives”. Without further ado, here are five things that might, or might not, happen in SWTOR in 2026!

1 – Expansion Hype

In his end of year producer’s letter Keith Kanneg spoke the number that Broadsword had avoided the past couple years: 8.0. Ted from the State of the Old Republic Podcast pointed out that Keith wrote about the game entering a new “era” rather than “expansion”. I’m reluctant to dive deep into speculation between the differences between era and expansion, because I can’t imagine Broadsword intends to reinvent the wheel. The things I associate with an expansion such as a level increase, a fresh gearing cycle, rebalanced classes and new abilities, are all things I think SWTOR could use.

This is hardly a bold prediction, so let’s see if I can spice this up. Since the current expansion is Legacy of the Sith, I wonder if the next era will have a Jedi flavored theme. “Children of the Jedi” was the first notion that sprung to mind, but then I remembered that was also the title of an old Star Wars novel, so it won’t be that. My second take “Fate of the Jedi” is definitely out as well given other recent news. But I do think “Jedi” will be in the expansion title. “Destiny of the Jedi” maybe? Surely that’s been used already? It must be tough to come up with a cool and unique title for a new Star Wars project. I’ve got to think that everyone in the game’s development chain from Broadsword to EA to Lucasfilm puts in their opinions on the matter. 

More mundanely, it’s fair to wonder if the expansion will actually debut at the end of the year. It’s no secret that Legacy of the Sith did not have the smoothest launch even with an extra three months in the oven. I have to believe Broadsword does not want a repeat of that, and I do hope its launch does coincide with the game’s 15th anniversary. SWTOR has been subject to so many predictions of its demise over the years and has weathered so many storms, only to be steadily chugging along all these years later. I hope the team get to celebrate the milestone with a bold new Era for the game. I sometimes play with kids who were born after SWTOR launched, and it is so satisfying to share the game with a new generation of fans.

2 – New and Improved

Expansions typically come with new game systems and revisions to old ones, and I expect nothing different for 8.0. There are existing systems that could use some updating and one major new feature I could see Broadsword adding.

I enjoy decorating Strongholds in SWTOR. Just last week, two hours vanished while I was decorating the barn of the new Dantooine stronghold. I wasn’t wearing any gear, never entered combat, nor collected any rewards, but it was time well spent. It should not shock you, therefore, that I have been following with great interest the addition of player housing to World of Warcraft with its upcoming expansion Midnight. WOW’s implementation of housing is darn impressive. It’s probably the most elaborate and customizable decorating system since Wildstar.

It is not my position that SWTOR should abandon its hook and layout system. I honestly like that hooks act as guide rails that prevent me from going too far down any rabbit holes. SWTOR’s decorating system hasn’t seen any significant updates since its launch, and some changes could give players more freedom to decorate. At the very least, I’d like a better interface for sorting and organizing my collection of decorations. I have so many now that I sometimes forget what’s there. When it comes to actually decorating, I think there should be fewer restrictions on placing decorations; frankly I’d argue any decoration should be placeable on any size hook. Going further, I’d also like to have the ability to scale many if not all decorations and the addition of a Z-axis slider would be neat as well. SWTOR and WOW have a long history of swiping ideas from each other, and I hope that SWTOR pinches a dash or two from Warcraft’s housing.

That said, I don’t know if decorating is a priority for the developers. One system that I think is certain to be updated for 8.0 is crafting. Crafting has been almost completely untouched since the launch of Onslaught in 2019. Onslaught crafting is, as far as I’m concerned, the worst version of crafting in the game’s history. These days, crafting in SWTOR is all about endlessly and tediously making components which are assembled into gear that is largely irrelevant. MMO-RPG Crafting is a tough nut to crack, no doubt about it.  I don’t know if there is actually a way to make crafting fun, but I have always found satisfaction in making my own stuff in MMOs, whether it was bags in World of Warcraft or dyes in SWTOR.

My hope for 8.0 is that the component system will be streamlined and require less babysitting of companions and that there will be interesting things for every profession to make. During the successful update to SWTOR’s auction house, the Galactic Trade Network, there was discussion of adding work orders to the GTN. It would be cool to see that happen. I can craft a lot of recipes that can no longer be discovered, but I have no idea which of that stuff is in demand so I don’t bother with any of it. It would be cool to dust off those old schematics for folks who actually want them and make a few credits for my trouble.

But let’s be honest, crafting and decorating updates may not be the kind of features that would attract attention from both long time players and casual Star Wars fans. I suspect Broadsword has something flashy up their sleeve for 8.0, but what could it be?

First off, it won’t be a new class. The logistics of adding and retrofitting an entirely new class to the game feels like something that is beyond the scope of what SWTOR can or wants to do. That said, Legacy of the Sith’s big feature was the separation of Combat Styles from the Class or Origin stories, and that does suggest other possibilities.

It is possible SWTOR could add one or two new Combat Styles to the game. I can think of one style that is thematically appropriate and has a long history in SWTOR: the melee Tech weapon wielder. Tech based companions such as Qyzen Fess, Bowdaar, Vector Hylus and Torian Cadera have all used assorted Vibro-Swords, Techblade and Techstaves. More recently within SWTOR’s story we’ve seen Mandalorians including Shae Vizla, Heta Kol and Ri’kan wielding melee weapons. And non-Force users have taken up staves, spears and swords in live action on The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.

I understand this comes with a whole host of challenges. Which weapons would actually be usable by a new style? Tech and Vibro blades certainly, but what about staves? What about dual wielding? What about lightsabers? And there are the thorny questions of class balance. And let’s not forget seemingly mundane issues like updating the UI to accommodate new styles. Nevertheless, the ability for Tech classes to have the option to fight with melee weapons feels like a legitimate “class fantasy” worth adding to the game.

But what about the Jedi and Sith? Should Force users get a new style as well to balance the scales? As I have thought about this question, nothing really springs to mind. Perhaps an unarmed style that employs the Star Wars version of Kung Fu, Teras Kasi? Or how about this: In Jedi: Survivor, Cal Kestis carries a blaster; perhaps a Jedi Gunslinger could be a thing? What do you think?

The ability to add and swap combat styles has been a great addition to SWTOR, so I don’t think I’m bold in predicting that adding at least one new style would be a natural addition to the game,

3 – How does Legacy of the Sith end?

Before the next Era of SWTOR can start, this one has to end. What do I think will happen this year in the game’s main story?

I don’t know! I have been predicting Malgus’ imminent demise since Onslaught, and yet he’s still going strong. There is a part of me that feels like if I keep at it, eventually I’ll be right, but I figure it is best to save that sort of stubbornness for my quixotic campaign to one day adopt a Porg in SWTOR.

Since the end of the Fallen Empire saga, SWTOR has been focused on questions of identity. What does it mean to be a Jedi or Sith? What does loyalty to the Empire, the Republic or Mandalore mean? Malgus going rogue from the Sith demonstrates this, as does the entirety of Heta Kol’s Mandalorian civil war. Even our characters have gotten in on the action with the saboteur options available to players tired of their original faction.

As characters like Malgus and Heta Kol and Shae Vizla try to make sense of who they are and who they want to be, we’ve seen with each the dangers of extremism, and that is already clear in our introduction to Darth Nul. Their egos and myopia are making bad situations worse. At first I thought Emperor Vitiate corrupted Nul, but I’m starting to wonder if her drive and ambitions were there all along, and that’s what drew the two of them together.

Darth Nul is the character whose identity has been most in question throughout Legacy of the Sith. After my first playthrough of Galactic Threads, I feared that Nul’s actual role in the story would be small, but after listening to the extremely entertaining conversation between SWTOR’s Narrative Director, Ashley Ruhl and Lead Writer Caitlin Sullivan Kelly and Nuls voice actor Samatha Béart, I think my fears might be unfounded. Béart teased that there is more to come from Darth Nul. I suspect that Nul’s return to the galactic stage would be a strong note upon which to end this Era of SWTOR.

The game’s cast of supporting characters are not only questioning who they are, but without exception seem also to have given no thought to what comes after. Heta Kol wants to make Mandalore great again, but for what? What will be left of the Mandalorians if she has her way? Shae Vizla has broken faith with our characters for what? Her alliance with Malgus can only end in betrayal; even she must realize that. Why would our characters or Jekiah and Rass Ordo or any Mandalorian trust her ever again?

As for Darth Nul, like Malgus, she does not seem to care about either the Jedi or the Sith. Her ambition seems to be her sole driving motivation. If the Jedi wouldn’t let her complete her work, she was happy to turn to the Sith. I think Darth Nul might be the perfect name for her. She’s not a Jedi, not a Sith. She’s nothing, and I fear that might be worse.

4 – No Fate?

I try to give myself one gimme on each round of predictions, and I can confidently say Fate  of the Old Republic is not going to affect Star War: The Old Republic this year, or even next. How could it? Fate of the Old Republic made quite a splash with its announcement trailer late last year, but the studio behind it is barely seven months old and the game is years from even a release date. When or if it comes out, will there be any crossover of characters or story or any cross-promotion? Perhaps, but that is a long way off. Maybe we’ll be celebrating SWTOR’s 20th anniversary as FOTOR launches.

There are many unanswered questions around Fate of the Old Republic with regards to its story and setting. I’ve seen speculation around whether Fate could be canon, so that would make connecting it to the “obviously Legends” SWTOR impossible. I know this is important to some fans, but I can’t help but roll my eyes. When fans and creators focus too much on continuity and canon, Star Wars just feels so much smaller to me. I just watched the third season of Star Wars: Visions and I love it. Throughout its three seasons, the show has featured diverse creators and studios telling a wide variety of stories in their own individual styles and interpretations. It’s been amazing to watch the show stretch and redefine what Star Wars can be.

The season ends with two episodes, The Bird of Paradise and Black. Both stories could not be more different, The Bird of Paradise is a beautiful meditation on finding connection to the Force through loss and maturity, Black is a wildly surreal and jazzy improvisation on the chaos and destruction that punctuates the Star Wars movies. Questions about what is real in The Bird of Paradise and what actually happens in Black feel reductive and akin to missing the point these episodes want to make.

What does it mean if FOTOR is canon and SWTOR is Legends? I don’t know and I don’t care. I hope the creators of both games feel the same.

5 – FOPOTOR

When I shared my last installment of Pets of the Old Republic last month, several people asked about the pets I had missed. When thinking about which pets to cover, I did “over-book” the list and called audibles here and there, so there were many pets who could’ve and perhaps should’ve been included. It is likely that I will revisit POTOR later this year with a few more favorites, both old and new. Of course, the one thing that SWTOR could add to the game to guarantee my return would, of course, be a Porg pet. Porgs have been a running joke on each of my prediction lists and I’ve almost given up ever having a Porg pet in SWTOR, but I keep hearing that rebellions are built on hope, so I’ll keep at it. Maybe this will be the year!

Fight the Empire

I had a very hard time writing this post. These days it’s scary to think about the future. As I look at what is happening in the world, in my country and in my neighborhood, what I see doesn’t inspire faith in the year to come. They want us to be afraid, but I believe there is value and resistance in little things like creating art, finding community and sharing joy even in stories about space wizards. Seeing people write and talk about the things that makes them happy inspires me and reminds me to do the same. Josh Johnson’s advice feels spot on: “As much as you can do, you do it and you make a better world. That’s the way forward.” So I will do what I can, here on this blog, in the voting booth, on the streets of the town I call home.

 

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Filed under Dumb Top Five, General Star Wars, General SWTOR, Legacy of the Sith

December 20, 2025 · 2:01 pm

Pets of the Old Republic: #25: Freckled Loth Cat Kitten

In honor of the fourteenth anniversary of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Pets of the Old Republic’s 25th installments is none other than the Freckled Loth Cat Kitten! Loth cats are one of the more beloved pets from recent Star Wars media and have made the jump from their early appearances in animation to both live action incarnations and pets in SWTOR.

There are currently four Loth Cats in SWTOR, but this Freckled Kitten is the only one that players can discover through gameplay. The pet is a very rare reward from three Republic only Dynamic Encounters on Hoth, and I won’t sugarcoat it, if you want one for yourself, you may need to run those encounters many times before you get lucky. If you’d rather spend some Cartel Coins, the Black Loth Cat Kitten is available through the Cartel Market or for credits on the GTN. The orange tabby Loth Cat Kitten and the White Loth Cat Kitten were rewards from past Galactic Seasons and for now are unavailable to players.

SWTOR‘s Loth Cat Kittens: a distracted Freckled, the Halloween Black, and the White and orange pets rewarded from previous Galactic Seasons.

Last April Fool’s Day, I wrote about the difficulty in finding proper dogs in Star Wars, but when it comes to cats, they are everywhere, both on screen and in every corner of the lore. Indeed, even in SWTOR, pet cats are so common that not only is the Loth Kitten the third cat in this Pets series, but there are four more kinds of feline pets awaiting their turn in the spotlight. The most recent of these is the Yaracat, three of which players can rescue from the brand new Dantooine Biome Encounters area.

That’s just the tip of the tail when it comes to cats in Star Wars. Nexu have appeared in many stories since their big screen debut in Attack of the Clones. SWTOR players encounter Ice Cats in both the frozen wilderness of Hoth and during the Dynamic Encounters that reward the Freckled Loth Cat Kitten. Old school fans might even remember when Luke Skywalker was menaced by a Saber-Cat in an early issue of Marvel Comics’ first Star Wars series.

Artwork of a Trianii from The Essential Guide to Alien Species by R. K. Post.

Let’s not forget about intelligent cat-like aliens who started appearing in stories before the 1970s had even ended. The Trianni were introduced in Brian Daley’s 1979 novel Han Solo at Stars’ End. In SWTOR we can play as Cathar, a race introduced in Old Republic stories in comic books and video games.

“We missed you hissed the Loth Cats.”

Loth Cats have their origins in the Tooka cats introduced during the first season of The Clone Wars cartoon. Loth Cats as we know them debuted in Star Wars: Rebels and were fixtures of the show throughout its run. The Loth Cats were so beloved that toys were soon available for fans to purchase. And, of course, Loth Cats have now appeared in live action in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and The Acolyte.

I’m sure it will not shock you to hear that Loth Cats are yet another fanciful creature in Star Wars made up of bits of other animals. Loth Cats have spindly lower legs, feet and toes which have become more and more chicken-like in their appearances over the years. Loth Cats are typically depicted with large, pointed, conical ears. These ears flop and turn around like traditional cat ears, so they are definitely not horns. I’m tempeded to assume that Loth ears are similar to the Montral horns seen on Togruta in Star Wars lore. Montrals are organs that enhance a Togruta’s sense of their surroundings. I think it’s possible that a Loth Cat’s ears could serve a similar function, but there is nothing in the text to support this theory, aside from the fact that they seem to have a special affinity for Force sensitive characters.

The Cheshire Cat as illustrated by John Tenniel for the 1865 edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Across art, literature and pop culture, there are countless cats to consider, but the one that seems to me to have most influenced the Loth Cat is the Cheshire Cat. The Cheshire Cat appeared in Lewis Carroll’s 1865 book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and remains well known today thanks to Disney’s Alice in Wonderland adaptations in 1951 and 2010. Although the term “Cheshire Cat” predates Carroll’s book, his incarnation of the cat as a character is famous for its broad, smiling face with wide, unnerving grin. The Cheshire Cat was a curious, magical and often confusing companion to Alice in her adventures, and it’s not a stretch to see that the same is true of Loth Cats as well.

Loth Cats are flat-faced cats, called Brachycephalic, here on Earth. Persian cats are perhaps the most famous flat-faced cat, and some cats are now specifically bred with this trait. However, because of this, Brachycephalic cats and dogs very commonly have serious breathing and respiratory issues. Loth Cats are adorable fictional cats, but I don’t think we should be selecting for harmful traits in the actual pets in our lives.

Murley the Loth Cat has had a long day.

Loth Cats in SWTOR split the difference between their animated and live-action depictions, which allows them to fit in nicely with SWTOR’s aesthetic. Unlike the Loth Cats seen in Disney’s productions, SWTOR‘s Loth Cats, however, do have more cat-like, open ears. The Freckled Loth Cat Kitten seems to have been inspired by Murley, Sabine Wren’s Loth Cat from Ahsoka. Sabine first appeared in Star Wars: Rebels, my favorite Star Wars show and I’ve been hoping for a Loth Cat pet since the earliest days of this blog. I am very happy indeed to finally have this kitty as a friend on my journey across the galaxy.

Happy Holidays!

This will likely be my last post of the year, but I want to thank everyone who has followed and supported this Pets of the Old Republic project. It was something a little different and perhaps more silly than normal, but I very much appreciate the kind words of support I have received from friends and visitors this year. I felt I needed to change things up a bit, and I’ve had great fun discovering unexpected creatures and corners of Star Wars lore. I want to especially thank Swtorista whose pet collection was always the first stop in my research, and the fine folks at Jedipedia which allowed quick access to SWTOR’s codex entries and helped me track down critters in the game world. Illeva, Kal from Today in TOR and Vulkk also authored invaluable resources and guides that helped me with nearly every entry in this series.

Iago the Cat liked me just fine, but sometimes he’d give me a look that seemed to indicate that if our size ratios were reversed, our relationship would’ve been very different.

As I was preparing this post, Keith Kanneg shared his end of the year producer’s letter which includes a road map for 2026. I’ll have more to say in my January prediction post, but if you haven’t looked at it yet, definitely take the time and see what is coming in year ahead. I’m glad the team has the confidence to lean into its fifteenth anniversary and start building excitement for SWTOR‘s next expansion, hopefully around this time next year!

Here’s to a fun and fuzzy, 2026!

 

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December 12, 2025 · 9:01 am

POTOR Raffle

Pets of the Old Republic will soon reach its 25th installment.  I am proud of my work on this project. It was great fun to research, illustrate and write each entry. Therefore, I feel like it is a great time to end of this project with a raffle open to players of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

To enter this raffle, all you need to do is guess what the last pet, #25, will be! You don’t need to guess correctly to be eligible to win, anyone who enters will have a chance at a prize.

I can say it will be a variety of creature which I have not yet covered in this series. For example, since the Opal Vulptilla was Pet #1, the final pet will NOT be either the Amethyst or blue Vulptilla puppies. Feel free to check out the previous pets in this series to narrow your choice down.

I will select 10 winners who will have their choice of either 450 Cartel Coins OR 30 days of SWTOR subscription time. The first person to pick the correct pet will receive BOTH!

Here are the full rules:

To enter, leave a comment below this post with the following information:

  • Your character name (be mindful of spaces and special symbols!)
  • Your faction
  • Your server
  • Which prize you prefer to win: 450 cartel coins or 30 days of SWTOR subscription time

That’s it! I will accept entries for one week from this posting and will randomly select the winners on December 19 at 6 PM ET. I will send prizes through SWTOR’s in game mail to the character name in your entry.

If you prefer not to comment publicly, I will also accept entries via email at twia@generic-hero.com or through Bluesky.

There are no country or server restrictions on any of the prizes that will be awarded.

This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with LucasFilm Ltd, Broadsword or Electronic Arts Inc.

We’re on the honor system here, so one entry per person, please.

Good luck and may the pets be with you!

 

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December 8, 2025 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #24: Kowakian Monkey Lizard

This installment of Pets of the Old Republic features the most famous pet in all of Star Wars lore, even if it may not actually be a pet: the Kowakian Monkey-Lizard! There are several varieties of monkey-lizards available to players of Star Wars: The Old Republic, but in honor of the yuletide season, I picked the jolliest and reddest of them all: the Ruddyscale Kowakian Monkey-Lizard.

There are six very different monkey-lizards currently available for players to collect. They be found with different colored fur, with cybernetics, carbon-frozen or even zombified. The Ruddyscale was introduced in the Cartel Market, but these days players of Hero rank with the Underworld Exchange reputation track, can purchase it for 100,000 credits and 10 Cartel Market Certificates from one of the Underworld Exchange vendors in either Fleet’s Cartel Bazaar.

A troop of Kowakian Monkey-Lizards (clockwise from the left: Carbon-Frozen, Sablefur, Cyborg Sablefur, Flamehair, Ruddyscale and Plaguetail), confront a chef who seems to have over-cooked some of their kin.

In the interest of honesty I must admit that I did not include a monkey-lizard on my original list of pets to include in this project. The monkey-lizard is one the older pets I’ve studied as part of this project, and in comparison to many of the recent pets we’ve seen, it hasn’t aged well. However monkey-lizards, tied with Dwedtoof, were the most requested pet for me to illustrate for this project. Even though I put it off to very nearly the end, never let it be said that I did not give the people what they want.

I’m glad I did. SWTOR’s depiction of the monkey-lizard has a ton of charm with an expressive face and signature cackling laughter. If someone in your group is adventuring with a monkey-lizard, everyone will hear its mirth clear as day, as well they should. Nevertheless, the SWTOR team has shown a willingness to revisit some older assets in the game, and I would not object if they decided to update one of Star Wars’ classic little buddies.

Salacious B. Crumb, moments before Jabba’s sail barge exploded.

The most famous monkey-lizard in Star Wars is Salacious B. Crumb, the companion of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt from Return of the Jedi. This fellow not only merits a first and last name, but is the one of only two live-action Star Wars characters with a middle initial.

During the production of Return of the Jedi, aliens were often given humorous names by Industrial Light and Magic’s creature designers. The first name “Salacious” was derived from a drunkenly slurred pronunciation of the word “shoelaces” and the last name came from George Lucas after the underground cartoonist Robert Crumb, known as simply R. Crumb. Crumb’s comix are often infamously obsessed with exaggerated depictions of women, and the creature’s mocking laughter and leering presence likely connects the names Salacious and Crumb.

The question of whether Kowakian Monkey-Lizards are intelligent is not clearly addressed by Salacious’ portrayal in Return of the Jedi. Wookieepedia describes them as “semi-intelligent” which seems to me like dodging the question. Salacious’ puppeteer, Tim Rose, gave him a speaking voice which we can hear in the movie’s supplementary material, so I think it’s fair to say he is intended to be an intelligent life-form and not simply an animal. Numerous depictions in other Star Wars lore reinforce this interpretation of monkey-lizards as intelligent as any other alien species in the galaxy.

However, I should point out that in The Mandalorian and even in SWTOR, Monkey-Lizards are regarded as food in some corners of the galaxy. Personally I don’t consider it ethical to eat a monkey-lizard, but I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there, probably starting with many of the Hutts we have met who wouldn’t think twice about it.

Salacious B. Crumb and the monkey-lizards as seen in SWTOR fit within a larger culture traditions that are worth mentioning. They are the court jesters of the Star Wars universe. Jesters and Fools can be found across the history of our own world. Jesters were known as entertainers and musicians and had a prominent position in court because they would laugh at the king’s jokes and laugh at the king’s subjects.

The cultural significance of monkeys is far too broad a topic to cover here, but monkey companions are extremely common in all sorts of stories including but not limited to Tarzan media, the Ronald Reagan comedy Bedtime for Bonzo, the Flying Monkeys of The Wizard of Oz, Abu from the animated Aladdin movies, Marcel from Friends, Boots from Dora the Explorer and many, many more. Monkey-lizards fit perfectly within the role of “pets” rather than “companions” for our characters in SWTOR. Even though I do not think of them as animals, they, like many bards, escape notice in a firefight simply for being not important enough to kill in the heat of battle.

Laughing Jester, unknown Early Netherlandish artist (possibly Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen), c. 1500. This fellow could pass for a human cosplaying as Salacious B. Crumb today. 

The monkey-lizard’s design reflects this history. As with nearly every pet in this series, they are a hybrid of many types of animals. Its long tail and body type are unmistakably simian, but I don’t actually see much lizard in the creature’s design. The monkey-lizard’s long pointed ears remind me very much of a jester’s cap with points sticking straight out from the side of the head. Instead of a mouth, Monkey-lizards have a broad sharp beak like a vulture, a creature whose reputation as a scavenger seems appropriate for Jabba’s nasty little sidekick.

Salacious’ big mouth and comic relief status reminded many people of the Muppets who, thanks to their TV show and series of movies, were very popular at the time of the original trilogy. Muppets and Star Wars intersected in many places at this time; Frank Oz performed both Yoda and many Muppets including Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. ILM’s creature designers were influenced by what Jim Henson was doing both with the Muppets and also the fantastic creatures created for Henson and Oz’s movie the Dark Crystal. I also believe Salacious influenced the creatures seen in the movie Gremlins, both the friendly Gizmo and the mischievous Stripe.

Imagine being a Star Wars fan who hates Wicket W. Warwick, Salacious B. Crumb and Max Frickin’ Rebo.

In time, however, serious minded fans came to dislike these similarities. Even though the original trilogy now occupies a rarified space in the canon of Star Wars films, hipsters of the 1990’s criticized Return of the Jedi with the same fury and opprobrium that some of today’s fans reserve for many modern Star Wars productions. I’ve always felt that this rage was misplaced, and this project is proof that I enjoy the sillier and weird side of Star Wars. If I’m being honest, I don’t think there is anything wrong with The Phantom Menace or The Clone Wars cartoons or The Rise of Skywalker that isn’t also wrong with Return of the Jedi. So, yeah, if you ask me, we all could stand to have a monkey-lizard around to laugh at us and keep us honest when we start taking things too seriously.

 

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November 23, 2025 · 9:01 am

Welcome to the Rock

It is probably an understatement to say that it has been a tumultuous few years for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Between Covid forcing major changes in how the developers work on the game, the behind the scenes chaos at Bioware, SWTOR’s move to Broadsword two years ago, and the year-long voice actors’ strike I suspect things have often felt unsettled for the fine folks who make the game.

This large boulder can be found in a place of honor on Dantooine.

Despite it all, the devs have clearly worked to put the game on a regular schedule of updates so that players can reliably predict what to expect at least in the near term. I won’t say that every step has landed on firm ground, but the team has done a good job pivoting when they had to and keeping the game moving forward. We’re seeing their hard work pay off. Last week’s developer livestream was chock full of news about not only the next update in December but also the year to come.

Road Maps? Where We’re Going We Do Need Road Maps

My biggest takeaway from the stream is that Keith Kanneg came very close to announcing that SWTOR will get an expansion next year. Even if that was not an official announcement, he said that December’s Producer Letter will include a 2026 road map for SWTOR. I cannot remember the last time SWTOR had a long term road map, and I think it speaks volumes to the team’s confidence in the release cadence they’ve established and stuck to the past several years. I certainly hope there will be a surprise or two in this road map, but we can also look at the last few years of releases and come away with a general idea for what to expect in the months ahead.

Dantooine, We’re On Dantooine

I won’t comment on everything that came up in the livestream, but I do want to touch on a few other topics. I am most happy that we’ll be able to continue the story after more than a year’s delay. The last installment ended on a cliffhanger, and it will be fun to discover where the action goes next. I imagine it will be a bit like catching up with old friends, and I’m eager to see how everyone is doing.

The major gameplay feature included in the next update is an entire zone on the planet Dantooine full of Dynamic Encounters. I have been quite impressed with Dynamic Encounters. I enjoy taking my characters out into the world and having adventures with them, and the Encounters strike a good balance with different types of gameplay and the option to run as few or as many as I want. Unlike Daily Areas where I feel committed to finishing every quest in the zone once I start, I like that I can hop into and out of Encounters as the spirit moves me.

Unlike previous Encounters, these new ones have a new and unique zone dedicated to them. I poked around on the PTS, and the new areas are breathtaking. If you are a collector, an explorer or a completionist, it seems like there will be plenty for you to do there. The most prominent reward for players who engage with the Encounters on Dantooine is a massive stronghold, with huge fields, a sprawling ranch house, caves and natural environments to make your own. If you crave a Stronghold full of wide open spaces, this will be the one for you.

I say this every time I get to visit a new location in the game, but my favorite part of each SWTOR update is getting to explore another unseen corner of the Star Wars universe. The majority of my time on the PTS was spent trailblazing off the paths, climbing trees and finding spots to admire the landscapes.

Always read the plaque.

With very big thanks to Illeva and Swtorista, I was able to find a hidden nook with some surprise Aurebesh for me to translate. I had intended to wait until this update went live to officially translate this, but Eric Musco forced me to change my plans. Musco played the Dantooine Encounters on Twitch on Friday, and he mentioned how much he loved the giant boulder he was lugging around on his brand new speeder, only to learn that the boulder itself can both be found somewhere on Dantooine and also has a name! Since the cat is out of the bag, I feel okay sharing my translation a little early.

Given the off-screen comments from Musco’s stream, I think it’s fair to say that this big, happy rock was named either for or by Emily Henderson, an Environment Artist at Broadsword. It’s very cool when artists get to sign their name or make their mark on these massive works that they’ve helped create. It’s something I’ve seen throughout the history of both Star Wars and SWTOR.

UPDATE: Vulkk has uncovered more information about the rock! There are four data pads hidden around the Dantooine encounter area with in-game information about this curious boulder! Knowing that there are secrets out there for explorers to discover always makes me happy. I’m looking forward to officially visiting Sample 3m1-L3 when it makes its official debut!

The Orbital Core

I want to finish up with a discussion of two controversial topics. First, the Dantooine Encounters conclude with a heroic-4 mission meant to be tackled with a standard group with a tank, a healer and two DPS. As it stands on the PTS, it is a very difficult encounter. On Friday, I went in blind with a solid group to check out the heroic, and we got our butts kicked. The fights have complicated and unforgiving mechanics that need to be understood and practiced in order to complete the encounter.

Poison gas, angry droids and furious lizard-cats, oh my!

This is a good thing. SWTOR has not always been great at providing challenges for its elite players, but casual players will absolutely struggle with these fights. We’ve been told that there will be buffs that we can unlock to make these encounters easier to manage, but they don’t seem to be fully implemented on the PTS so I don’t know how they will work.

I love facing challenges with new or inexperienced players, but if someone asks me how to finish the Dantooine heroic, I’m worried the answer will be to grind reputation for six or eight weeks so they are allowed to buy the buffs they need. It doesn’t feel fun to discover a cool new fight only to be told you won’t be able to try it for several weeks or months if you play casually.

I’m honestly confused by this choice. The Heroic is instanced, and the game has been creating separate difficulties for instanced group content since launch. I don’t know why it wasn’t set up like a flashpoint with Story, Veteran and Master Modes. Absolutely make Master Mode as tough as nails with special rewards for those who rise to the challenge, but not everyone can or wants to play at that level, and let them have fun too without being forced to grind rep for a fight they may only do once.

The Loading Screen

Finally, I want to put down my thoughts about the new “Galactic Threads” loading screen. There have been accusations that it was produced via generative AI, but I do not agree. As I see it, this loading screen is stylistically similar to the ones we’ve had at least since Onslaught. Typically SWTOR‘s loading screens are collages of separate character and background illustrations combined with varying degrees of internal consistency. Since the game’s start, many of the artists who have been doing character illustrations and design have worked in a loose, almost impressionistic style which is in contrast to the more realistic rendering we are used to seeing in the game’s cinematics and some other loading screens. Moreover, people might also be reacting to the way that the various elements that go into this image are assembled into a whole; seeing characters rendered with heavy brush strokes combined with backgrounds using smooth photographic effects and gradients can feel off. This illustration feels to me as messy and idiosyncratic and human as many if not most of the loading screens we’ve had over the years.

Could I be wrong? Absolutely, but the more I look at it, the less I think I could be. I am a working artist myself, have a degree in art history and have been examining the art and design of Star Wars: The Old Republic for this blog for almost ten years. Does that make me an expert? Nope, but I do think that I have enough grounds to stand upon to share my opinion on this matter.

 

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November 19, 2025 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #23: Gree Data Core

This installment of Pets of the Old Republic features the third and final droid to appear in this series. I feel like I should’ve featured more droids given their importance in Star Wars history, so should I return to this project, I’ll be sure to expand their numbers. For today, however, let’s take a good look at another one of my favorites: the Gree Data Core.

The Gree Data Core is, at first glance,  simply a hovering cube. It shares design elements with other Gree technology players encounter on during their testing on Ilum, in the Operation Terror from Beyond and the Ancient Hypergate, PVP Warzone. The Core is one of four pets players can collect from the “Relic of the Gree” Event, Star Wars: The Old Republic’s very first recurring event, and one that is still a favorite of mine whenever it comes around. Players can purchase this pet once they achieve the Reputation rank of Newcomer with the Gree Enclave; a level that can be achieved the first week players participate in the event.

A Bit program from Tron can respond with only two states: positive or negative.

I’ve always been fond of the Gree aesthetic for the simple reason that as a child of the 1980s, I thought the movie Tron was cool. By today’s standards, the film’s story is slight, and its once groundbreaking special effects seem rather quaint. I was taken by its neon soaked glow, its terrific electronic musical score, and the fact that it very presciently asked at the start of the internet age who should have access and control of the online world. Finally, it explores the question of how much of ourselves we put into the things we create, a question as old as art itself. And, to be clear, Light Cycles are totally rad.

The first published depiction of the Gree by artist Christian Gossett from the article “The Gree Enclave”.

The Gree made their first appearance in 1995 during the early days of the Expanded Universe in an article written by Timothy O’Brien for West End Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game. The Gree have been mentioned here and there in subsequent Star Wars lore, but they’ve appeared most prominently in SWTOR. Many aspects of the Gree that players will recognize from our interactions with them, such as the planet Asation, their extensive use of Hypergates and their interest in maintaining ancient technologies come straight from O’Brien’s writing. The Gree’s distinct neon-piped technology and the color and geometry based metaphors that fill their speech patterns are additions to their lore from their roles in SWTOR.

Portal‘s Weighted Companion Cube really isn’t much of a companion.

I should mention the Gree Data Core’s two most obvious inspirations. The first is the Bit from Tron. The Bit is a small, polyhedral, floating shape that can only communicate using Yes or No answers. They also float above the ground and accompany more complicated programs or users across the Game Grid, much like the Gree pet in SWTOR

However, the Data Core closely resembles the Weighted Companion Cube from the acclaimed video games Portal and Portal 2. Portal is about traversing spaces using technology that resembles Gree Hypergates, so it is reasonable to believe that the Gree would be fans as the game as well. Unlike the Gree Data Core, the Companion Cube is inconveniently immobile and seemingly uninterested in accompanying anyone on their adventures.

A collection of cubes: B1-SAL Probe Droid, Gree Data Core, BX-23 Probe Droid, BX-24 Probe Droid, P1-XL Probe Droid, B25-Sal Probe Droid.

Curiously, cube-shaped pets are very common in SWTOR. In recent years, the game has awarded five more to players as login promotions. The first of these pets was inspired by the infamous “orange pixel” bug from the very, very early days of SWTOR, and contains in its design elements of other droids from across Star Wars lore. The two most recent cubic airborne droids are cousins of the beloved, sad sack droid B2EMO from Andor.

Listen to the Gree speech patterns long enough and it starts to make sense!

Currently, the Gree Data Core is only cube pet available to players, so I highly recommend checking out the Gree Event next time it comes around on Ilum. After that, definitely take time to raid the Terror from Beyond, one of my favorite SWTOR operations. When leveling up a player on the Republic side, also make sure to earn the title “Black Bisector” from the Gree side quest on Coruscant. The player’s interactions with the Gree Operators assisting the reconstruction of Coruscant are both amusing and a good introduction to the Gree’s culture and distinctive dialect.

 

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November 12, 2025 · 9:45 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #22: Earthen Thurrb

This installment of Pets of the Old Republic features a creature not with too few eyes but a pet with too many: the Earthen Thurrb. This is one of the most distinctive pets in Star Wars: The Old Republic. This baby Thumb and its grown up kin are found, for now at least, only in SWTOR.

In the game, the source of the Thurrb pet is the harvest themed Feast of Prosperity event, and had I kept to my original schedule for this project, this entry would have appeared while the Feast was still active. If you have leftover Feast tokens, you can still purchase this pet from the Feast vendor on Nar Shaddaa. Even if you have to wait until next year, it is worthwhile to highlight pets that are available from the game’s many factions and events.

As of this writing there is not much information known about Thurrbs, but I think I can conclude a few things from the pet itself as well as the three Thurrb mounts. Two of the three existing Thurrb mounts were found on the second Galactic Season reward track and for the moment are otherwise unavailable to new players, but the third, the Conflagrant Thurrb is available from the “Classic and Non-Seasonal Rewards” vendor as part of their rotating offerings past Season rewards.

Adult Brumal, Tellurian and Conflagrant Thumbs keep watch over a tiny Earthen Thumb while explaining the value of a strong vocabulary.

Because of their colorful hides and names, we can assume that Thurrbs thrive in many diverse habitats from fiery hot to wintery cold and everything in between. Thurrbs are mammals but based on their frog-like faces and fish-like fins and ears, seem to be adapted to thrive in aquatic environments and might even be amphibious.

At this point in this series, it should not surprise anyone to learn that Thurrbs are inspired by all sorts of creatures whose parts combine into a unique whole. Fully-grown Thurrbs have massive tusks like a walrus, eyes like frogs, and the cavernous mouth, the thick hide and hefty frame of a hippopotamus. Unlike hippos, which are aggressive and dangerous to humans, one fact we know about Thurrbs is that they have a much milder temperament.

It’s hard to maintain eye contact with the prequel era Aqualish and the original trilogy Talz when you don’t know which eyes to look into.

The first thing you might notice about a Thurrb, however, are its four eyes. While creatures with a single eye are somewhat rare in Star Wars, aliens with four are remarkably common. During this very project, I have already covered the quadruple eyed Ginx, the Mewvorr and the Nexu. That’s just the tip of the iceberg of four-eyed aliens in Star Wars lore. Other examples include the Lisk found on Ilum, some species of Aqualish, and the Talz which was first seen in the cantina scene of A New Hope and will be familiar to SWTOR players from the Sith Warrior’s companion Broonmark. It makes sense that strange monsters with extra eyeballs are common in Star Wars. Extra eyes immediately make a creature into a literal “bug eyed alien” and mark it as something very far outside our usual frame of reference.

I want to conclude with some remarks about how the Thurrb was introduced and discuss how the game’s approach to pets are has changed over the years. The large majority of pets featured in this project were created specifically for Star Wars: The Old Republic. I think this speaks to the goal of the game’s developers to tell stories not just within Star Wars’ existing setting, but to add to it and create worlds and characters and creatures all their own. Certainly much of the fun of SWTOR is getting to dig in the Star Wars sandbox and play with the toys we recognize from its lore, but a big part of what makes the game so memorable to me are the people, places and things we’ve never seen before.

The Curious Rodir Cub is another unique pet that debuted during the Feast of Prosperity.

The Thurrb is one of those. It was introduced first as an adorable and silly pet, and reappeared in a different context as a full sized creature we can ride across the galaxy. Many (but not all) of SWTOR’s original pets were simply miniature versions of their fully-grown counterparts, but in recent years, extra care has been given to the detail and texture of the pet models to make them both cute as babies and distinct from their adult versions. We can see this with other pets such as the Rodir, the Varactyl, the Pritarr and many more.

As for pets inspired by other Star Wars stories, I’m all for adding those too. My unsuccessful years-long campaign to get SWTOR to add a Porg pet is proof of that! But I will never object to seeing something unexpected and fresh, and I look forward to seeing what tiny robots and cuddly critters they can come up with next.

 

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October 31, 2025 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #21: Devious Creep

Halloween is the perfect holiday to inspire me to explore another spooky and weird corner of Star Wars: The Old Republic with a pet whose name literally says it all: the Devious Creep! The Creep is part of a class of pets like the Mischievous Miniprobe, whose name is entirely descriptive and does not clarify what kind of creature it is or where it comes from. We know nothing else at all about this strange, alien imp beyond its appearance and epithet.

Is this a larval form of an adult monster? Is it related to other creatures or species from SWTOR or Star Wars in general? Is it a creep like someone who leaves inappropriate voice mails or a creep like something that lurks in the shadows? Is it both? And what do you mean it’s devious? Is it plotting against me?

Nobody knows! And here’s the thing, I’m not sure I want to know. In fact, yes, I am certain, I do not want to know. This thing is nightmare fuel, and learning anything more about it can only make it worse. The tooltip players click to summon this pet refers to it as a Blurrg, which it clearly is not. The pet’s model does seem to use the same skeleton as a Blurrg, and this reference may simply be a placeholder that was never corrected. This oversight suggests to me that even the devs refuse to name this beast! I don’t blame them.

Against my better judgment, let’s take a close look at the Creep. It has long, sharp, hooked horns that frame what seems to be a vertically aligned mouth, two large tusks for holding its prey, and two tiny teeth at the base of its mouth for tearing flesh. It just gets ickier. Those two chonky legs suggest it can run fast in a pinch, and its armored carapace means it can take a beating after it has clamped down on its next meal.

And what are those yellow things on the Creep’s back? If it’s an armored braincase, it might explain how it got so devious. But I fear they might be coverings for wings like we see on a flying beetles. The notion that these things can fly just makes it so much worse.

However, the Devious Creep’s most prominent feature is, of course, its single, large glowing eye. Like small cats and snakes, the Creep has an eyeball with a long vertical pupil, which indicates that it is an ambush predator. The fact that the Creep’s large eye glows with yellow malice seems to me that it really doesn’t care if you see it coming. At the first sight of that peeper, you really should start running or pull out a flame thrower.

An Abyssin cowers in the tomb of Naga Shadow on Korriban.

Aliens and creatures with a single eye, are relatively rare in Star Wars lore, but the two most prominent cyclopic examples can be encountered in SWTOR. The first is an Abyssin, an alien race that appeared in the cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope. Aside from the trait of having just one eye, the Creep and the Abyssin seem to share little else in common.

This Baby Dianoga has found its way into the kitchen of Bog’s Bounty Banquet Hall and is hoping to snatch up a scrap or two.

The Creep’s eye is similar in shape and color to the most well known single-eyed creature in Star Wars: the Dianoga, the tentacled monster encountered by Han, Luke, Leia and Chewie in the garbage masher scene in A New Hope. The eye of the Dianoga is only the tip of its much larger octopus-like body, so the Creep doesn’t seem closely related to the famous alien cephalopod either. However, I agree with Luke Skywalker’s assessment that shooting either of these ravenous creatures “Anywhere!” is an appropriate response to an unwanted encounter with them.

“Once you name it, you start getting attached to it!”

The one positive point in favor of the Creep is its similarity to creatures from a different franchise of Disney movies. If you told me that the Devious Creep was the bad seed cousin of Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc., I would not doubt it. If that is the case, then the Creep is likely extremely good at inspiring nightmares in small children. Probably too good.

Finally, the source of the Devious Creep pet is SWTOR’s Cartel Market. The pet has only been available for sale for short periods of time, often around Halloween. Players looking to acquire this pet will have to check the Galactic Trade Network. Because of its rarity, the Creep tends to be one of the most expensive pets for sale. In my research, I discovered that on the Star Forge server, there was only one Creep listed for the cool price of a half billion credits. I shall let you decide if that’s worth it to you.

I cannot deny its distinctive, yet disturbing appearance makes the Devious Creep one of the most unique and mysterious pets in the game. My Sith Inquisitor loves it dearly, but knows full well that this nasty little incubus probably does not love her back.

 

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