The story of Cal Kestis in the Star Wars Jedi video game series is one that fans follow incredibly well, especially because fans are placed in the shoes of the Jedi character in his journey during the reign of the Empire. Of course, Cal’s story continues in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the hit sequel to the successful Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game. The thing about Cal’s journey, however, is that it might come to an end soon because most of the Jedi were dead by the time Luke Skywalker and the Rebels fought the Empire. So, does Cal Kestis die?
Cal Kestis doesn’t die at the end of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. He survives the entire events of Survivor, which will probably get a follow-up video game to complete the trilogy. However, Cere Junda ended up dying in the climax of Survivor, following an encounter with Darth Vader.
The thing about the Star Wars Jedi video game series is that it will probably be a trilogy, as that has always been the case for Star Wars. As such, Cal Kestis’ story is yet to see a conclusion after he survived the events of the Survivor video game. That said, let’s look at what we know about Cal Kestis and his fate in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
The ending of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was quite open as we saw how Cal Kestis and the crew of the Stinger Mantis were able to escape Darth Vader’s wrath in one piece and were set to see more adventures. Five years have passed since Fallen Order, and Cal and his allies are still alive and kicking. Their story continues in the events of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, set on 9 BBY, which is around the height of the Empire’s power.
In Survivor, Cal starts off by going to Coruscant, where he fails a kidnapping job. That was when he and the crew were forced to escape the planet, only for Cal and a new friend named Bode Akuna to realize they were probably the only ones to leave the planet alive.
Because the Stinger Mantis was heavily damaged, Cal needed to land it on Koboh, where he met up with Greez, who was working in a saloon in the town. However, this town was run by a marauder named Rayvis, a Gen’Dai. However, because of some information he received, Cal went deeper into the planet.
It was deep on the planet that Cal could encounter a robot named Zee, who had been around since the time of the High Republic. That was when Cal agreed to help the robot in its mission involving its Jedi Masters. Helping the robot allowed Cal to encounter a Jedi named Dagan Gera, who has been around since the time of the High Republic and was actually preserved in stasis in a Bacta tank for hundreds of years.
Gera, however, was distraught that the Jedi Order failed to protect the Jedi Temple that he established on a planet called Tanalorr. He bled his lightsaber red and attacked Cal due to his rage and anger. But while Cal defeated Dagan Gera, Rayvis arrived to save the High Republic Jedi Knight. Cal pursued Gera and ended up on the planet called Jedha, where he reunited with Cere Junda, Eno Cordova, and Merrin.
Cal learned that Cere and Eno work together to preserve the Jedi records and the Jedi that were being trafficked in secret by the Hidden Path network all over the galaxy. You would know the Hidden Path if you’ve seen the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Cal suggested they could use Tanalorr as a place to hide from the Empire. But they must find a compass to get them to that planet.
While many things happened in between, Cal and Bode encountered Rayvis, who also wanted the compass. The two groups don’t see eye-to-eye, and that is when Cal is forced to kill Rayvis. He and Bode went on to chase after Gera.
Cal and his allies spent a peaceful night together and learned that Cordova had repaired the compass and could now guide the crew to Tanalorr. But while they thought they were safe, they learned that the Tanalorr was under attack by the Empire. Bode ends up betraying the group by killing Cordova and stealing the compass. He also nearly killed both Cal and Cere.
But while Cal learned that Bode lied to him about almost everything, he learned from him when he confronted him that he wasn’t lying about his daughter and that the Empire held her captive. That was when Cal learned that Bode made a deal to keep his daughter Kata alive but still hoped to use Tanalorr as a new home for him and his daughter.
The shocking part was that Bode revealed the ability to use the Force as he pulled out an orange lightsaber and fooled Cal into thinking he was just some random person. Cal was shocked that he never sensed Bode’s ability to use the Force, and that was when Bode revealed that he worked as a spy during the Clone Wars and was quite skilled at hiding his ability to use the Force. This allowed him to prevent Cal from sensing his sensitivity to the Force. Bode also revealed that the Empire abducted his daughter and forced him to do terrible acts for them for a while until he met Cal and his crewmates.
Bode wasn’t only tricky but was very powerful. In the fight between him and Cal, Bode won and seemingly left Cal for dead. That was when the game shifted to Cere Junda, who we know is also a Jedi Knight.
Cal Kestis’ Fate in Jedi: Survivor
While it may be true that Cal lost to Bode and seemingly died, he survived his encounter with the rogue Jedi Knight. However, Cere Junda died in an attempt to protect her allies from Darth Vader’s wrath. Cal returned just in time to preserve the bodies of both Cere and Cordova, even though he could never say her goodbyes to Cere.
Cal and his allies were able to track Bode down. However, Cal was presented with the prompt to embrace the dark side in the pursuit of Bode. Doing so would allow him to access the dark side and use an ability to easily remove all of the Imperial forces.
Even though Cal momentarily tapped into the dark side of the Force to defeat the Imperial forces, he decided to spare Bode’s life when given a chance to kill him. That means that he was yet to completely turn to the dark side of the Force and that he still has his wits and control over his decisions. Nevertheless, Bode ended up dying in a duel with Cal.
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Bode’s defeat allowed Cal and his friends to revisit their intentions of turning Tanalorr into the haven that the Hidden Path can use for the Jedi and for any Force-sensitive person that the Imperial forces are actively pursuing. But the plan is much more complicated now because Bode’s daughter needs a new home.
In that regard, Cal is still very much alive and still has a long way to go before his journey ends. That means there is a good chance that the Star Wars Jedi video game series will wrap up with a third game that will allow us to see how Cal’s story will end and whether or not it is a happy one for the surviving Jedi Knight.
