With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in the rearview of 2023, let’s look at some of the best canon contributions from the game. This is my opinion, so apologies to Bode Acuna fans in advance because you will not find him on this list.
**Spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Jedi: Fallen Order, and Obi-Wan Kenobi**
The Ninth Sister’s Fate
Since the Inquisitors were reintroduced in Star Wars canon in Star Wars Rebels, they have been a perfect foil for Jedi Survivors of Order 66. And having them as antagonists in Jedi: Fallen Order made sense narratively and for gameplay. But like a sweet treat, they are best served in moderation.
Luckily Jedi: Survivor story did not revolve around Inquisitors, and the game made it clear early that there would be other problems for Cal and the Mantis crew. On a mission to Coruscant to retrieve information from Senator Sejan for Saw Gerrera, Cal’s team is ambushed and attacked by the Ninth Sister. She is the second boss battle on Coruscant, and when the fight begins, there is a sense that she is no longer the threat to Cal she was in Jedi: Fallen Order. He calls her by her Jedi name and strikes a killing blow, ending the Ninth Sister.
Lucasfilm has not left many questions on the fate of the Inquisitors they introduced. Their numbers during the Galactic Civil War have still not been confirmed, but most are dead. Reva is still around after the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and we will find out about the mysterious former Inquisitor in Ahsoka.
The Ninth Sister seemingly plunged to her death on Kashyyyk in Fallen Order. Still, the creators left it open enough to warrant one of my Whatever Happened to… treatments, so the clarity that she is dead is most appreciated.
Cere Junda, Eno Cordova, and Merrin are helping The Hidden Path
After the events of Fallen Order, the Mantis crew struggles to find direction after years of fighting the Empire with little impact. The growing distances within the group are highlighted in the novel Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, although that ends on a more positive note as the team is still together. Survivor fills in the gaps of Cal’s decision to continue fighting the Empire. We soon learn that Greez has retired and is running a bar on the backwater planet, Koboh, in the Outer Rim.
When Cal travels to Jedha to see Cere, he also reunites with Merrin, who is also visiting Cere. Merrin has been traveling the galaxy after being on Dathomir all her life and has let go of much of her hate for what happened to her sisters. But the big reveal is that Cere and Eno have reunited and are a part of The Hidden Path, a network of people helping those targeted by the Empire (primarily Force-sensitives and their families).
It is also a prime example of synergy and the value of shared storytelling across divisions, as this concept came up during the Jedi: Fallen Order development, first mentioned and expanded upon in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and continued in Jedi: Survivor as an important plot point. This “Underground Railroad” for Force-sensitives is also essential in Cal’s development. He finally finds purpose in continuing Cere’s legacy and helping establish a haven on Tanalorr. And, strangely, Cal is also continuing Dagan and Santari’s legacy as he will likely be teaching some in the ways of the Force.
Tanalorr and its High Republic History
The Hidden Path isn’t the only Star Wars canon element that found its way into gaming. Lucasfilm Publishing is in the middle of its most significant initiative, The High Republic. The High Republic is the era in Star Wars set around 500 BBY to 100 BBY and consists of three Phases (Light of the Jedi, Quest of the Jedi, and Trials of the Jedi).
The High Republic era will make its live-action debut in the upcoming The Acolyte series; however, we did not need to wait long for it to show up in other mediums.
Game mechanics and narrative combine perfectly to introduce Cal Kestis to the High Republic with his psychometry. We see things from a droid ZN-A4 (Zee’s) POV during the High Republic when he touches her. He meets Jedi Master Santari Khri, who erases Zee’s knowledge of navigating through the Koboh Abyss to the planet Tanalorr. Cal learns more about Tanalorr through his abilities when he discovers Dagen Gera in a bacta tank. Dagan and Santari discovered Tanalorr and intended it to be the home of a Jedi Temple for training Younglings; unfortunately, the Nihil found them and attacked the Jedi. Instead of fighting, the Jedi Order ordered a retreat, angering Dagen and leading to his fall to the dark side.
Dagan’s obsession with Tanalorr is one obstacle Cal has to face, but the existence of a planet untouched and unknown to the Empire is too good to pass up. Cal can research Tanalorr by completing Koboh quests before visiting near the end of the game. And the planet has a High Republic Jedi Temple that you don’t get to explore (you only get to fight Bode in the audience chamber). There might be more to see if a third franchise installment gets released.
As for the High Republic Jedi Dagan and Santari, I have my own theories on when/if we could see them again.
A Potential Reason Why Cal is Not Around During The Original Trilogy
I do believe we will see or hear about Tanalorr again, even if we do not get a third game. And a big reason is that I also think that we will get a live-action Cal Kestis. Cameron Monaghan is still young enough to bring the character to life during the Galactic Civil War time, or he can play the character post the Battle of Jakku closer to when The Mandalorian and Ahsoka take place. And like other survivors of Order 66, there had to be a reason why Cal or Merrin was not around during the events of The Original Trilogy. Establishing a Hidden Path settlement on Tanalorr is an excellent reason to be absent during the Empire’s final years. And it leaves the door open for Cal to reappear in other mediums.
Repurposed Clone Wars Tech
The Bad Batch and Rebels touched upon people trying to repurpose Clone Wars droid parts and ships. An older Captain Rex has to relive The Clone Wars in the Rebels episode “The Last Battle” against a Tactical droid and many B1 battle droids.
And it would make perfect sense for a group of raiders formed by a bloodlust leader like Rayvis would want to use droids that gave the Jedi Order all they could handle. The Bedlam Raiders had a complete army of Clone droids to use against Cal, including B1-series battle droids, B2-series super battle droids, BX-series droid commandos, droidekas, IG-100 MagnaGuards, and vulture droids.
Credits and Canon 