Whatever you think about Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker, it is still the concluding chapter of the Skywalker Saga. Despite not actually being mentioned in the movie, the divisive ninth instalment of the long-running franchise has officially made one of the most popular and iconic Star Wars characters canon.

Who?

None other than Darth Revan, the protagonist of Bioware’s legendary Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, or KOTOR, for short.

Darth Malak on the left and Darth Revan on the right.

How?

Star Wars The Rise Of  Skywalker introduces the Sith Troopers, a new type of stormtroopers never seen before in the franchise. According to the official Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary (via ScreenRant), these Sith Troopers were divided into different legions, each of which boasts 5000 of these new stormtroopers.

What’s interesting is that each Sith Trooper legion is named after an ancient Sith Lord. One of them is named “The 3rd: Revan Legion”, essentially confirming that Darth Revan did exist in the far-flung past of Star Wars official canon.

Besides Darth Revan, the names of Sith Lords Andeddu, Tanis, Tenebrous, Phobos, and Desolous are now also canon. Darth Phobos and Desolous first appeared in the now non-canon Star Wars The Force Unleashed developed and released by LucasArts in 2008.

The classification for these Sith Trooper legions state that “”only the Sith Eternal cultists know the significance of these names.”

This is all made more fascinating considering that reports from earlier this year have claimed that a film trilogy based on Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic trilogy of films is currently in development. However, Disney and Lucasfilm have yet to officially confirm or deny the project.

It remains to be seen if anything will come out of this easter egg, but with the current level of the franchise’s expansion into live-action TV and video games, it would be a waste for Disney not to adapt what is the most iconic Star Wars IP outside of the films.

In the meantime, check out my review of Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker, or head on over here for my 4000-word spoiler FAQ of the movie, discussing all its problems and more.