SWTOR =/= KOTOR. Having him in the game at all was clearly intended to just be a callback/easter egg; they didn't him to upstage their new characters (i.e Malgus). He ended up getting his own expansion later, but I don't think it was part of the plan at all, and it really seems like they shooed him away as quickly as possible once the expansion was over.
Garbage expansion. Heavy spoilers.
Spoiler:
Malgus survived. He’s currently working under Emperor Vowrawn (LMAO), who took over after Acina died. Acina is the one who put Malgus back together (expect Malgus to be much more machine than man now), and Malgus was subservient to her as well. If you do the Imperial storyline, Malgus aids you in killing Gnost Dural, if you do the Republic storyline Gnost Dural aids you in killing Darth Malora, a member of the Dark Council. Either way, Malgus survives and along with Vowrawn has some sort of plan to set into motion.In terms of past beef, Malgus seems pretty chill towards the Outlander, and clearly respects his strength. It seems Malgus has been relegated to sub-Dark Council tier in terms of relevance, though. That said, he still (possibly) has the insane feat of surviving the fight in FE + the explosion of the space station that would have destroyed the Republic/Imperial Fleets.
Overall, though, pretty shitty stuff.
To be honest, after reading the mined data, it seems it's just an introductory chapter for more Malgus badassery.
Spoiler:
There's enough dialogue pointing that Vowrawn and Acina "control" Malgus through some kind of subterfuge, especially the part where the Wrathlander is skeptical about someone like Malgus following them. I wouldn't discard that Malgus is going to be the final boss, with a proper history development this time.
Spoiler:
Even if he demonstrates just some kind of loose parity with the Outlander later I'm satisfied. I will not discard the possibility of him pulling some ace, however.
Spoiler:
Malgus more or less claims inferiority to the Outlander, though. I suspect Malgus and the Empress have something in store.
Originally posted by XSUPREMEXSKILLZSpoiler:
Malgus more or less claims inferiority to the Outlander, though. I suspect Malgus and the Empress have something in store.
Spoiler:
The tone of their conversations is very interesting. Seems like Malgus is acting against his wishes. Let's see what happens next.
Also,
Spoiler:
Darth Jadus has been confirmed to be dead by Gnost Dural.
Spoiler:
Malgus is subservient because Vowrawn/Acina is the Emperor/Empress. That still depends on your choice on Iokath. If you choose Republic she dies and Vowrawn becomes Emperor. If you choose Empire then Jace Malcom dies and she remains Empress.Also Malgus being sub-Outlander isn't surprising. Following on the logic of the Hero stalemating him, then a far better Outlander getting wrecked by Arcann, before becoming stronger than everyone bar Tenebrae by the end of KOTET and being given the accolade of being the most powerful Force-user in the galaxy afterwards. Yeah, Outlander is the MVP now.
More importantly, Malgus just gets more and more powerful.
AP,
Spoiler:
In the dialogue scripts there's the implicit but rather obvious mention that Malgus is following Acina/Vowrawn due to some subterfuge they did, probably during the reconstruction, but it hasn't been disclosed yet. Later, even the Wrathlander literally wonder why someone like Malgus is following those chumps.