There have been 2 games so far in the Jedi franchise, with a third on its way from Respawn. Both games, in my opinion, have been the best games in the Star Wars franchise to date. I’m always going to say that simply due to the fact that I prefer lightsaber combat.
We’ve already had to control Cal to fight some heavy forces. The Second and Ninth Sisters, Taron Malicos, Bode Akuna, Dagan Gera, and, of course, Darth Vader himself at the end of Fallen Order. He’s overcome all of them, even if he struggled at times. He’s shown he’s resilient even against powerful foes.
Darth Vader appeared as Cal Kestis, and his team infiltrated the Inquisitorious to take a shot at the Empire. Vader took out the Second Sister for briefly hesitating before going after Cal. That scene was intense as the developers did a fantastic job of displaying just how powerful Vader truly is.
We saw Vader again in Survivor when he faced off against Cere in a captivating battle, which he came out on top. So here, we know Vader is aware of Cal anyway, but even more so after the battle against Cere.
Darth Vader and the Empire know that Cal is roaming around the galaxy, and I’m willing to bet they know he’s being a nuisance. He’s disrupted two Inquisitors, had plans to rebuild the Jedi Order, infiltrated a base on Survivor, and more. There is no way that Darth Vader wouldn’t be tasked to hunt him down. Vader’s done more for a lot less.
This is exactly why it needs to be Vader for the third game. I know the outlook is predictable. We know Vader will survive the encounter against Cal simply due to the fact that we know how Anakin’s story ends. However, just like The Force Unleashed, it’s still an intriguing aspect regardless of the outcome being known.
For me, the predictable outcome is Cal’s dying at the end.
But does it have to be predictable? I don’t think so. There are rumors Disney has plans to incorporate Cal Kestis into live-action. Whatever capacity that looks like is currently unknown, or even if it’ll happen. This could lead to Respawn deciding to spare Cal and have him go into hiding or participate in a broader war elsewhere.
When you line up the timeline, there’s a lot that could happen. Survivor is set around the same time as the Kenobi series, which is 9 years before A New Hope. There were five years between Fallen Order and Survivor, so a lot can happen afterwards in the build-up to Luke understanding he wasn’t destined to be a farmer.
We’ll hopefully see Cal tap into the dark side more during the third game, which could intrigue the Emperor, and this is where the hunt truly begins.
Darth Vader vs Cal Kestis post the Survivor game would be a very entertaining match. Cal’s come a long way since he first fought Lord Vader in the Inquisitors’ base with the help of Cere and himself honing his skills.
I hope Cal doesn’t die in the third game. I want to see the character live on. He could maybe show up in other shows, including Ahsoka and even The Mandalorian & Grogu’s movie. Whichever way I look at it, I do believe that Cal needs to go toe to toe with one of the most powerful Sith Lords in history.
I can’t wait for Jedi 3 to finally be announced. Fallen Order was released on November 14th, 2019, and Survivor came out on April 28th, 2023, giving roughly 3 and a half years. We’re already 2 and a half years from the release of Survivor, meaning if they followed a similar timescale between games, we could be looking at Fall 2027 (I hope).
