History
Taris is located in the
Outer Rim Territories. Around 4,300 BBY, Taris was a major transport hub along the
Perlemian Trade Route. After only a century, Taris became a
ecumenopolis or city planet, an amazing feat considering ecumenopolis typically took centuries, if not millennia to form. Though not a true ecumenopolis because of its ocean, it is still normally considered to be one. Even though it suffered from overpopulation, Taris' grandeur and luxury nearly rivaled Coruscant.
However, because of Taris' transformation into an ecumenopolis, it had no landmass to dedicate to agriculture, leading to the ocean housing massive kelp farms. These farms helped to sustain the massive population of the city planet. Unfortunately, the industry of Taris cut back on sanitation and proper disposal of their waste to save money, resulting in Taris' ocean ecosystems being destroyed by pollution. The ensuing famine lead greedy nobles to start hoarding the remaining food, this caused the lower class to starve and became the genesis of a civil war. The nobles eventually won and began banishing criminals to the
Lower City. Unfortunately, many of the rebels were aliens and the majority of the nobles were human. This caused human nobles to become prejudiced against all non-humans, therefore banishing many of them to the Lower City as well.
Lore suggests swoop bike racing originated on Taris around 4,000 BBY. As a result of fast communications, huge and profitable gambling operations emerged around betting on the races. This gave rise to Taris becoming the center of the
Galactic Swoop Racing Circuit. At around the same time, new hyperspace routes rendered Taris obsolete in terms of its relevance to intergalactic trade, making the once great planet slip further into decay.
Due to Taris' proximity to the
Mandalorian War front, it was granted Republic membership in 3,966 BBY. Therefore, it became the center of the Republic's defense for the region. The planet served as a staging point for Jedi and their allies for campaigns against the
Mandalorians. Around the year 3,964 BBY, Captain
Saul Karath commanded the Republic fleet that protected Taris at this time.
At the same time, Taris compensated for its decaying importance to trade routes by negotiating with
Lhosan Industries, which employed over half of the Lower City residents in its mining activities. However, as a result of increased swoop bike gang activity and the mysterious deaths of an entire graduating class of Jedi Knights, Lhosan Industries abandoned Taris. Fueled by the this, riots began all over the city and began moving into the
Middle City. With crime escalating beyond control and the Taris senator's disappearance, all Jedi on the planet were recalled to Coruscant. The Republic largely abandoned Taris at the same time, save for a small military base. With the planet's defense gone, the Mandolorians easily took over. At first, the Mandolorians used Taris as a staging ground for their attacks into Republic space. However, a resistance made up largely of the swoop bike gangs rose up, and eventually drove the Mandolorians from the planet.
Although the Republic hadn't considered Taris important since the
First Battle of Taris, this all changed when the Sith succeeded in overrunning nearly the entire Outer Rim, once again leaving Taris as the last line of defense. In 3,956 BBY, the
Endar Spire was sent to bolster the Republic's forces on the planet. On board the Endar Spire were
Carth Onasi,
Bastila Shan, and an amnesiac
Revan. While on a mission over Taris, the Endar Spire was ambushed by a Sith warship, boarded, and destroyed. Fortunately, Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan, and Revan were able to make it out alive and onto the surface. Though initially separated, they managed to rejoin forces after dealing with the swoop bike gangs of the
Hidden Beks and the
Black Vulkars, a swoop bike race, and many
rakghouls. With some help from
Canderous Ordo, they managed to escape using stolen codes from the local Sith base to get away in the
Ebon Hawk.
Darth Malak, worried about Bastila's escape, ordered the bombardment and destruction of Taris. This resulted in the deaths of most
Upper City citizens, among millions of others. At the time of
Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Republic attempted to re-colonize Taris by establishing a spaceport, a military base and the beginning of settlements. Though Taris is a now a post-apocalyptic swamp that has been abandoned for three centuries, so there are many mysteries lying in wait among the ruins of this once great city planet.
Speculation
Taris was largely abandoned for three centuries. During this time plant and wildlife has been able to progress unabated. With the planet's life coming back, it would be likely the rakghouls either mutated or evolved to become any number of strange creatures. If there are survivors of the bombardment that did not later die to starvation, the toxic waste, or the rakghouls, then they are probably a far cry from the people they once were. They might be mad or feral, or possibly even devolved into a form that would be similar to the rakghouls themselves.
Revan saved some of the Lower City citizens that were looking for the
Promised Land by showing them the way there. It is possible that these people found some form of sanctuary before the assault. If this is the case, and players manage to encounter their descendants, then it might be a safe zone, city, or even a trading hub. Other survivors could be the descendants of people who received the rakghoul cure that Revan gave the general population before Taris was destroyed. If so, then perhaps players will encounter the descendants of not only the survivors of the bombardment, but of the Sith soldiers that were left on the planet to die when Malak bombarded it.
Some of the pictures from the Taris Holonet page
seem to show the Endar Spire. This could be an explorable space; perhaps similar to the Mass Effect 2 DLC of the wreckage of the Normandy. This would allow a sort of closure for some players by offering more insight into the KOTOR characters, and the lore connecting the two games.
Something to keep in mind is that the above image was in the Concept Art section for quite a long time. However, it wasn't mentioned or attached to a planet until now. This definitely shows there are plenty of hints about the game on the official website if you are willing to look for them.
One interesting piece of
Aurebesh translates as Death's Claw Stronghold. Though rather vague, it could be thought of in two ways. Either that some of the survivors of the bombardment have managed to not only tame the rakghouls, but to use them to enslave or force the local populace to heed their demands. Or perhaps it means that one or more rakghouls managed to keep their sentience, and are therefore terrorizing the local populace from this stronghold. This piece of Aurebesh can certainly be explained in other ways, though nothing could be terrifying than a sentient rakghoul.
There is plenty more to speculate about when it comes to Taris. No planet thus far means as much to BioWare fans, being the first planet that Knights of the Old Republic players encountered. It holds many memories and mysteries, both good and bad. Taris' introduction as the tenth planet for Star Wars: The Old Republic shows that not only does BioWare understand its player base, but also that there are plenty more hidden surprises yet to be revealed.
Sources:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tarishttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Outer_Rimhttp://swtor.com/info/holonet/planets/tarishttp://frikifaraday.wordpress.com/
