One of the things that we know about Cal Kestis and his journey in the events of the Star Wars Jedi video game series is that he didn’t take the conventional route to become a Jedi. While he was taught the fundamentals of the Force and could master most of what the Jedi were supposed to know, he followed his own path in Fallen Order and Survivor because the Jedi Order no longer existed. As such, the type of experiences he had were different from the ones that other Jedi experienced. So, does that make Cal Kestis a grey Jedi?
Cal Kestis is not a grey Jedi because, canonically speaking, no one is a grey Jedi in Star Wars. Grey Jedi are those that know that there’s an area between the light and the dark sides of the Force and are the ones that dwell within the grey areas instead. However, Cal, while not a conventional Jedi, wells in the light side.
The thing about the grey Jedi is that these are the types of Force users that longtime fans regard as the best of both worlds due to how they see the strengths and faults of the Force’s light and dark sides. But the fact is that this concept is yet to be officially introduced in canon, and that’s why we can’t call Cal a grey Jedi. Now, let’s see what we know about Cal and his possibility of being a grey Jedi.
What Is a Grey Jedi?
When we look at the world of Star Wars, the thing that has always been known is that there are two sides to the Force. The Jedi are known as the ones that dwell in the side of the light and are often called the good guys among all Force users. On the other hand, the ones that use the Sith are the ones that dwell in the dark side of the Force. These two orders have been locked in endless wars for thousands of years.
However, we all know that nothing in the world is ever truly black and white, which is the same regarding the Force. It has always been suggested that there is a grey side between the Jedi and the Sith, and those who dwell in it are often called the grey Jedi because they don’t really see things as black and white.
Most of the grey Jedi are those that the Jedi and the Sith consider to be Force users that don’t necessarily walk the path of either the light or the dark side. Instead, they do things their way and would rather see things in the grey areas of the Force in the sense that they can see the strengths and faults of both the Jedi and the Sith. However, the term “grey Jedi” has also been used to describe those who tend to distance themselves from the Jedi and the conventional ways of the Jedi Order but are still part of it.
Whatever the case, the grey Jedi are unconventional Force users that don’t restrict themselves to the teachings of either the Jedi or the Sith because they know that extreme beliefs have truly defined the universe. Instead, they would rather try to find the true nature of the Force without holding down their beliefs by the shackles of either the Jedi or the Sith.
Of course, we know that the Jedi Order was destroyed during the rise of the Empire when Palpatine initiated Order 66. However, Cal Kestis was one of the few Jedi that managed to survive Order 66 even though he was still just a Padawan when Order 66 killed most of the Jedi in the galaxy. As such, Cal’s journey from Padawan to Knight was detailed in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, where he took an unconventional route.
During Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, people saw how unconventional Cal is compared to the Jedi that lived when the Jedi Order still existed. He did things unorthodoxly and was never shy of doing things the Jedi would never do. But while he may be an unconventional Jedi that took a different path to become a Jedi Knight, that doesn’t mean that Cal is a grey Jedi.
The reason why Cal Kestis is not a grey Jedi is the fact that the grey Jedi concept was never truly canon. This was introduced during the Legends part of the Star Wars continuity, which means it is yet to become official in the current canon storyline of Star Wars. As such, we can’t say that Cal is a grey Jedi because this concept is yet to exist in canon.
But we can say that Cal is truly unconventional in terms of the way that he does things. The only reason he doesn’t always follow the Jedi rulebook is that he became a Jedi in a manner that was different from how the other Jedi were knighted. Cal may have been trained in the Jedi Temple and was taken by Jedi Master Jaro Tapal under his wing. However, Tapal died when Cal was just 13, and Cere Junda knighted Kestis for the valor he showed during the events of the Fallen Order.
However, Cal was never forced to restrict himself to the rules of the Jedi Order because the Jedi Order didn’t exist during his time as a Jedi. Unlike the other surviving Jedi, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and even Kanan Jarrus, Cal didn’t spend a lot of time with his master and was not used to the usual Jedi way of doing things because he was only a Padawan for a short time before his master died.
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There’s also the fact that Cal’s primary focus is survival. Because he has to survive the wrath of Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius, he has to do things outside the Jedi rulebook to survive. That is why he might have done things only the grey Jedi did. But, at the same time, Cal’s heart is in the right place, which means he is as true a Jedi as any Jedi can be. It’s just that he is a Jedi during a time when there’s no Jedi Order and when he needs to prioritize his survival more than anything else.
Who Are the True Grey Jedi?
As mentioned, no true grey Jedi exists in the current Star Wars canon. Nevertheless, there have been people branded as grey Jedi in the Legends and even by fans. Two of them are Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Ahsoka Tano.
Qui-Gon was often called a grey Jedi in the Legends storyline because he did unconventional things even though he was a true Jedi that was loyal to the light side of the Force. It was just that he was more interested in things beyond the conventional teachings of the Jedi Order and would rather seek his own path to enlightenment rather than restrict himself to what the Jedi Council wanted him to do.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka Tano is someone that fans call a true grey Jedi because she left the Jedi Order after seeing its flaws. Meanwhile, during the Empire’s reign, Ahsoka learned more about the Force in her own way while discovering secrets about the Force that not even the Jedi knew. But she isn’t a grey Jedi because she never tried to look at the perspective of the dark side or the Sith. One can even argue that Ahsoka was someone who all of the Jedi should have tried to become.
All that said, there is no true grey Jedi because this concept is yet to exist in the Star Wars canon. As such, we can’t say that Cal, Qui-Gon, or Ahsoka are grey Jedi because there was never a point in the Star Wars canon that says that they are grey Jedi.
