Star Wars Jedi Survivor Ending Explained: What Happens to Cal Kestis?
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor continues the story of Cal Kestis, but how does that story end?
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the incredible continuation of Jedi Cal Kestis’ Fallen Order adventures. Now a little older, much more powerful, and significantly wiser, Cal Kestis embarks upon a journey that (try to be surprised) eventually thrusts the fate of the galaxy into his hands.
Whether you have unanswered questions about Cal’s story or you just want to know how the whole thing ends, here’s a rundown of Jedi: Survivor‘s final moments and what they mean for the franchise moving forward.
Following a failed heist/kidnapping job on Coruscant, Cal Kestis and his crew are forced to escape the capital planet. Only Cal and his new friend Bode Akuna (a mercenary who does this job to help take care of his daughter, Kata) seem to make it out alive.
In need of ship repairs, Cal lands the Mantis on the planet Koboh. There, he meets back up with Greez Dritus who has been running a saloon in the middle of a town overrun by bandits seemingly led by a Gen’Dai named Rayvis. Following a lead, Cal heads deeper into Koboh.
Along the way, Cal is surprised to find a robot named Zee who has apparently been trapped in a chamber since the time of the High Republic. Zee had a mission to complete on Koboh for her Jedi masters and hopes that Cal will finally help her complete it. Intrigued by the possibilities (and always happy to help), Cal agrees.
Shockingly, he eventually encounters a Jedi named Dagan Gera who has been preserved in a Bacta Tank since the time of the High Republic. While Gera is still missing an arm (it is Star Wars after all), he is otherwise perfectly fine. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Gera and fellow High Republic Jedi Santari Khri once tried to establish a Jedi temple on a mysterious planet known as Tanalorr. Unfortunately, Tanalorr came under attack during a visit from the council. Still distraught over his belief that the council failed to protect Tanalorr and his vision for it, Gera bleeds his lightsaber’s Kyber Crystal, turns it red, and attacks Kestis.
Kestis is able to stave him off, but Gera escapes with help from Rayvis and begins searching for a compass that will apparently lead him through the otherwise deadly area that surrounds Tanalorr. In pursuit of Gera’s path (and with a recently returned Bode and Greez by his side), Cal ends up on the planet of Jedha. There, he meets back up with Cere Junda, Eno Cordova, and Merrin.
Learning that Cere and Eno are now working to save the Jedi and Jedi records via the Hidden Path movement, Cal suggests that Tanalorr could be used as a safe haven from the Empire. Following a dangerous rescue mission, Cere and Eno suggest that they are intrigued by this proposition but that Cal needs to find a compass in order to potentially get them there.
We’ll skip ahead/skip around a bit here since a few interesting things happen in relatively quick order. Basically, Cal, Bode, and the crew endure some false starts in their pursuit of a working compass. They eventually encounter Rayvis, who seems to want the same thing they want: Tanalorr as a new home. Nevertheless, they don’t see eye-to-eye, and Kestis kills Rayvis. Now hot on Gera’s trail, though, Kestis and his friends eventually confront the High Republic Jedi. That’s where things get really interesting.
While Gera has survived quite a lot until this point, he does seem to be well and truly dead following the fight against Cal and Bode. There are no further hints that he could have possibly survived the fight, which is a shame given that we only got to see relatively little of this fascinating character. Maybe he’ll appear in a High Republic spinoff sometime down the line.
In any case, Cal and Bode are eventually able to secure a damaged compass. They return to Jedha to see if Master Cordova can repair it. Everything looks good, but you don’t need spoilers to know that doesn’t last.
Why Does Bode Akuna Betray Cal Kestis?
Following a peaceful night with his friends, Cal learns that Master Cordova was able to repair the compass that will guide the crew to Tanalorr. Unfortunately, that celebration is short-lived. Soon after the compass is repaired, the group learns that their apparent safe haven is being attacked by Imperial forces. Before they can figure out what happened, Bode turns on the group, kills Cordova, steals the compass, and nearly kills Cal and Cere as well. Cere saves Cal, though, and Cal pursues Bode through the desert.
When he confronts Bode, Cal learns that Bode wasn’t lying about his daughter. She’s still alive, but she’s being held captive by Imperial forces. Skipping ahead a bit, we later learn that Bode not only wants to make a deal to keep his Kata alive but hopes that he can eventually use Tanalorr as a new home for himself and his daughter. We’ll revisit that idea a little later on.
Nevertheless, it seems that Bode betrayed Cal in order to keep his daughter alive and further his own interests. However, that isn’t the most shocking thing that happens during this encounter.
Is Bode Akuna Is a Jedi?
Yes. During his confrontation with Cal, we see Bode use the Force and pull out an orange lightsaber. Bode has been a Jedi this entire time, and Cal can’t believe that he didn’t sense it.
Later, we learn that Bode was actually a member of a group of Jedi spies during the Clone Wars. He’s quite skilled at hiding his true nature from others. While Bode was able to survive the Clone Wars and the subsequent Jedi purge, the aforementioned abduction of his daughter forced him to do the Empire’s bidding for a time and eventually betray Cal. Interestingly, this makes Bode one of the many Jedi in the game who sees Tanalorr as a safe haven. Unfortunately, many of those Jedi are not able to share that objective long enough to work together toward it.
Nevertheless, Bode proves to be a very powerful adversary. He is able to not only defeat Cal but seemingly leave him for dead. Actually, the game shifts from here to a sequence where we briefly control Cere Junda. Why briefly? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Darth Vader’s Cameo and Cere Junda’s Death
Cere and Merrin are able to hold off Imperial forces (including a fleet of walkers) for long enough to prevent them from completely destroying the Jedi records. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends.
Cere soon senses an evil presence and tells Merrin to escape with the surviving records. Not long after, Darth Vader himself enters the room and duels Cere. While Cere puts up an incredible fight, she is ultimately no match for Vader, who strikes her down. Cal returns in time to preserve Cere and Cordova’s bodies, but he isn’t able to say his goodbyes to Cere.
Meeting up with Merrin and Greez, Cal and his crew are able to track Bode’s escape ship to an Imperial base. It seems too good to be true, and it is. Unbeknownst to even the lead officer of the base (General Denvik), it seems that Bode actually made a deal with Vader directly and allowed Cal to find him on this base so that Cal would take out the Imperial forces. We learn this during a scene with Cal, Bode, and Bode’s daughter (the same scene in which Bode reveals his Jedi backstory).
Bode is able to escape with Kata, but Cal is close behind him. During this sequence, something really interesting happens this is worth spending a little time with.
Does Cal Kestis Turn to the Dark Side?
While pursuing Bode, players are presented with a prompt that tells Cal to “Embrace his Darkness.” Doing so allows Cal to access a powerful new Force ability that lets him easily defeat the pursuing Imperial forces. However, it’s clear that this ability requires Cal to tap into the Dark Side of the Force.
The implication here is that Cal does briefly give in to his darker nature. However, because he elects to not kill Denvik when given the chance to do so, the implication is that he hasn’t completely turned to the Dark Side just yet. We’ll revisit this point a little later on.
How Does Cal Kestis Get to Tanalorr?
Cal is not able to steal the compass from Bode before Bode escapes, but he and his crew soon learn that there is a hidden message in a recording they found from Santari Khri. In a convenient twist of fate, it seems that there is another way to Tanalorr that involves using Forest Arrays on Koboh to open a temporary safe path.
With help from (droid), Cal and his crew finally make it to Tanalorr. There, they find Bode and Kata. Clearly distraught Bode lashes out against Cal and his daughter. Merrin is able to get Bode’s daughter out of harm’s way, and Merrin and Cal soon battle Bode. As before, it turns out that Bode is incredibly powerful. Ultimately, though, Cal is able to defeat him. Just as before, though, Cal must embrace his darker nature in order to summon the power needed to defeat Bode. This clearly causes Cal great distress, which leads right into our next point.
How Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Sets Up a Sequel
With Bode defeated and Tanalorr now accessible, Cal and his crew restate their intentions to turn Tanalorr into a destination for the Hidden Path and a safe haven for the Jedi. However, their plan is now complicated by the fact that Bode’s daughter is very much alive and in need of a home.
Merrin talks to Bode’s daughter about dealing with loss, and it seems that she accepts Cal and his friends as her surrogate family. However, after burning Cordova, Junda, and Akuna’s bodies, Cal has a brief discussion with Junda’s Force ghost (or perhaps just the memory of her). He talks about the fear of not giving in to the Dark Side, though one question remains. Is Cal talking about himself or is he also talking about Kata, who may have inherited her dad’s abilities and seems to be feeling the pain of her father’s death?
So that’s about where the game ends. Cal intends to establish a Jedi sanctuary on Tanalorr, and it’s at least implied that Bode’s daughter could become one of his new apprentices. However, questions remain regarding how both are dealing with their darker sides. Meanwhile, Vader is still out there…
Does Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Have a Post-Credits Scene?
There is no official post-credits scene in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The most we get is a very brief sequence with Greeze that informs the player that they can go back to revisit any unfinished content or start a new game with New Game+ options available. At this time, though, nobody has discovered any substantial post-game sequences beyond those options. We’ll be sure to update you if anything more substantial is discovered.
