Hope is the second promotional trailer that BioWare created for the video game titled Star Wars: The Old Republic. This video, which runs for almost six minutes, was made available on June 14, 2010, and it dramatizes the Republic's attempt to recapture Alderaan from the Sith Empire's forces during the Battle of Alderaan. The events of the video occur 24 years before the game's narrative begins, and 14 years before the release of the first trailer. Jace Malcom, a Republic trooper voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, provides the narration for the video. A 4K version of the trailer was re-released on November 11, 2021.
A soldier of the Republic narrates the history of peace on the planet of Alderaan, and the significance it held for the Galactic Republic. This peaceful nature made the world a prime target for the newly powerful Sith Empire, who, in a destructive assault spearheaded by the Sith Lord Darth Malgus, appeared to seize control of Alderaan. However, several Republic troopers from Havoc Squad are equipping themselves to counterattack the Sith presence. Despite being outnumbered, the soldiers capitalize on surprise, launching an attack from a high cliff, unleashing a barrage of fire from blasters and missile launchers led by the unnamed soldier. This surprise attack inflicts substantial damage on the Sith, catching them unprepared and resulting in the destruction of several war droids and even Sith Warriors struck by blaster rifles and grenades.
The Sith retaliate, killing several troopers using both lightsaber combat and Force abilities. When Darth Malgus joins the battle, pulling a trooper towards him only to kill him, the unnamed soldier who led the initial attack charges Malgus alone. The trooper fires three shots from his cannon at Malgus, who deflects the first two, but the third hits him in the chest, wounding him. After colliding with two Sith warriors, the trooper attempts to do the same to Malgus but is caught in a stream of Force lightning. Despite the pain, the trooper draws a knife and struggles to continue his assault on the Sith Lord but is thrown backward and loses consciousness. As he begins to regain consciousness, the trooper is being dragged by his arms to be killed by a waiting Sith Warrior, as many other Republic troops are killed around him. However, just as the Sith is about to deliver the final blow, Jedi Knight Satele Shan saves the soldier and engages the Sith, wielding a blue double-bladed lightsaber. After she defeats the Sith who was about to kill the trooper, the trooper manages to stand up, catching a rifle thrown by a nearby comrade before rejoining the battle. Shan cuts through the Sith forces, defeating Sith warriors and one of their droids before finally facing Darth Malgus.
The two Force users engage in combat using both lightsaber attacks and physical strikes. Malgus uses his superior strength, forcing Shan to defend from her knees; she then uses the Force to collapse the trunk of a nearby tree, which falls in the middle of their fight, separating them. With the playing field now even, Shan jumps onto the fallen tree and continues her fight with Malgus until she is thrown into another tree. Malgus moves to end the fight and kill her, but Shan manages to avoid him with a last-second jump, though Malgus manages to slash through her lightsaber and attempt a killing strike. Shan catches the Sith Lord's blade, holding him off long enough for the Republic trooper whose life she saved to return the favor by tackling Malgus while he is distracted. As they grapple, the trooper reveals an armed grenade in his hand, detonating it close to their faces. Both are thrown backward by the explosion, though Malgus gets to his feet first, his face and armor burned. Before he can retaliate, Shan uses the Force to slam Malgus into a cliff face, driving him deeper with another blast.
The Republic trooper who attacked Malgus with the grenade wakes up as the battle ends, his face burned and cut, and his armor blackened from the explosion. As he surveys the battlefield and the dead Republic soldiers, the trooper is joined by Shan and fires a single flare into the sky above the forest. This is followed by several others, until flares are seen all over the planet, as the Republic Navy arrives in orbit above Alderaan.