The ending of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order forces Cal Kestis and the crew of the Stinger Mantis to come to a difficult decision - one that holds big consequences for the direction of the franchise going into its sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Cal's original mission in Fallen Order saw the former Jedi Padawan attempting to rebuild the order Darth Vader and the Emperor had destroyed. However, Jedi: Fallen Order's ending confronts Cal with a tricky moral dilemma, and his decision at that point poses interesting questions for his next adventure.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.]The events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order see Cal on a mission to recover a Holocron that contains a list of Force-sensitive children throughout the galaxy. Cere Junda bestows this quest upon Cal and acts as his new mentor in the Force, eventually knighting him in throwback to the 2003 Clone Wars cartoon. She pursues the Holocron, left by her former master, because it could help form a new Jedi Order. However, there does seem to be some confusion after that point, fueling speculation that Jedi: Survivor will see Cal Kestis continuing this quest when the game’s ending directly contradicts this notion.
Although Cal's original quest in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was to rebuild the Jedi Order by finding Force-sensitive children, the ending shows him coming to a different conclusion. After locating the Holocron containing the locations of these Jedi prospects, Cal decides to destroy it rather than use it, having decided that the risk of assembling so many Jedi in one place could tempt a repeat of Order 66. With a clear view of Cal’s decision, more reasonable predictions can be made about Jedi: Survivor’s story.
Cal Kestis' Journey In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
At the beginning of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal Kestis has been hiding on the planet Bracca as a scavenger for five years. He is terrified of being revealed as a Jedi, but one day has to use the Force to save his friend Prauf’s life. This triggers a chain of events that pulls Cal into the open and sets the Empire on his tail. A former Jedi, Cere Junda, rescues Cal, and they set off on a journey to access a vault containing a Holocron with a list of all the Force-sensitive children in the galaxy. Cere hopes to use this to rebuild the Jedi Order.
In order to gain access to the vault, Cal must trace the path of Cere’s former master, Eno Cordova. This task is essentially the trajectory of Cal’s character arc. As he makes his way from waypoint to waypoint, he becomes more of a Jedi and learns what it truly means to be one. This includes the most challenging task Cal must overcome: confront his past trauma and move forward with his life.
Trilla Suduri, the Second Sister and Cere’s former apprentice, undergoes a dark version of Cal’s character arc. She couldn’t face her traumatic past and embraced the dark side and joined the Inquisitors as a means to find strength. Jedi: Fallen Order's Nightsister Merrin also has a dark history, but instead of confronting it, she sank into it, unable to move forward. Cal’s journey forces him to face them and oppose their destructive perspectives. In the end, he is able to convince them to embark on a new path. Unfortunately, Trilla doesn’t live long enough to pursue it. Cere and Cal may have wanted to restore the Jedi Order. Instead, they got what they really needed: to come to terms with the past and make amends with their connection to the Force. Part of this acceptance means abandoning the quest to find and recruit new Jedi, which is cemented when Cal destroys the Holocron following their assault on Fortress Inquisitorious.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Ending - Why Cal Destroys The Holocron
After one of the best moments in Star Wars gaming, Cal and his crew succeed in securing the Holocron of Force-sensitive children. It is again proposed that it could be used to rebuild the Jedi Order, but the crew agrees that reaching out to anyone on the list would inevitably put them in danger of being hunted by the Empire, just as Cal and Cere have been for the past five years. Cal boldly decides to entrust the children's destiny to the Force and destroys the Holocron. This action not only protects the children but also confirms Cal’s growth into a proper Jedi. His journey makes him stand out as one of the best Jedi introduced in Star Wars games.
The very last line of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order plainly states what Cal’s intentions are moving forward. He looks to his crew and says, “So where to now?” Cal is a Jedi now. He no longer hides the truth of his identity, and his past trauma no longer bogs him down. He is finally free to do what he wants and find his destiny, as his friend Prauf suggested he should do at the beginning of the game.
When the Holocron was destroyed, Cal and his crew buried the quest to rebuild the Jedi Order. They decide to embrace the future and new possibilities, not retread the past. While it is possible that any number of things could have changed his mind in the five years between Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, which is being set up in a novel called Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, the teaser trailer and the developers seem to indicate that Cal’s path is moving in a new direction.
Fallen Order - How Cal's Decision May Inform Jedi: Survivor
Stig Asmussen, director of Jedi: Fallen Order and its upcoming sequel, confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s story will be darker than the first game. In an interview on the Star Wars blog, he said that the game is all about Cal and his crew trying to survive. Dark times are upon them, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep going. Asmussen remarks that the crew will be in business with individuals they would typically steer clear of. This could potentially imply that Jedi Survivor's new villain - the Imperial Pau’an senator in the teaser trailer shared by EA Star Wars - may have hired Cal and the crew, which they accepted either willingly or by blackmail.
Now that the Force-sensitive children of the galaxy seem safe, the obvious thing to hold over Cal’s head - and the fact that puts him in the most danger in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - is his identity as a Jedi. The Empire is still clearly hunting down the Jedi at this time, but others could also be looking for Jedi. Individuals like the Pau’an senator could be looking for Jedi to conduct high-risk missions for them, threatening to turn them over to the Empire if they refuse.
Other possibilities for Cal’s new quest following Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could involve exploring the galaxy for more Jedi artifacts or maybe even discovering what truly happened to Cere’s former master, Eno Cordova, which could bring Cal to duel an ancient dark side evil. All this is to say that Cal seems to no longer be concerned with forging a new Jedi Order in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Instead, his primary mission will revolve around finding a means to survive the brutal times.
Sources: Star Wars, EA Star Wars/YouTube