After a fraught period of controversial movies, games, and microtransactions, Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order gave Star Wars fans a new hope for the mega franchise—especially where games are concerned. Fallen Order‘s crowd-pleasing blend of Souls-like combat, Metroidvania exploration, and Uncharted-esque cinematic action introduced players to a crew of likable new characters.
Mechanically, there are some obvious areas where Fallen Order can improve, but Respawn can push the narrative envelope even further in its next installment with a change-up that will delight hard-core Force lovers.
Fallen Order‘s lead, Cal Kestis, is a solid, if-traditional Star Wars protagonist, but also an all-around compelling character who contends with real-world issues such as survivors’ guilt and the associated PTSD. That struggle maps extremely well to the Light vs. Dark Side of the Force dynamic. Arguably, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker missed a huge opportunity to give Cal a call-out that would have made both properties feel more cohesive. So how can Respawn improve on his character? Give him a vacation.
Cal’s initial character arc—becoming a Jedi Knight in full and facing his past demons—concludes at the end of Fallen Order, which is what makes the game’s ending so satisfying. Instead of foreshadowing a new threat or quest, the Mantis’ crew reaches a decisive—though somewhat controversial—solution to the threat posed by the Jedi holocron. Even though the ending has major implications for the future of Fallen Order, it leaves the door wide open for other Fallen Order characters to step into the spotlight. It also provides an opportunity for mind-blowing special guest appearances and new characters to join the fold, introducing a new protagonist for the second game.
Cere’s journey mirrors Cal’s in that both characters are facing past trauma, inflicted at the hands of the Empire. But while Cal reaches a fairly clean resolution and remains at peace with the Force, one gets the sense that Cere is fighting an ongoing battle against the urges and temptations of the Dark Side. Seeing her gradually repair her connection to the Force would make for an amazing journey, and one of the most distinctive video game protagonists the video game industry has seen. There is a lot more to Cere Junda than meets the eye, even if looking carefully at all of Fallen Order’s lore.
Merrin is one of the best new characters in Fallen Order and stands as another promising option. If Cal inspires her to take up the mantle of a Jedi, it would create an extremely intriguing dilemma between her sense of duty to her deceased sisters, and her newfound desire to move forward as a survivor. Merrin’s brutally blunt personality would also make for a refreshingly distinctive voice with lots of opportunities for humor. Mechanically, Merrin would also present Respawn with the opportunity to explore the distinctions between her seemingly-Dark Sided Night Sister Force powers, the abilities of the Sith, and those of the Jedi. The puzzle-solving applications of her reanimation ability are exciting by themselves.
Either of these Mantis crew members would make for amazing leads. But in terms of generating excitement, Respawn can go even further.
Ezra Bridger is a character who got bigger and better as Rebels continued, and many fans would be happy to see him again, especially since his current status is unknown. If the next game occurs shortly after the first, Bridger would make an admittedly poor choice for a lead given his other activities during Rebels, but he could still provide a spotlight-stealing cameo or guest-star in a mission. And if the Fallen Order series vaults past the Battle of Yavin, the Mantis crew could team up with Bridger as he attempts to reunite with Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano.
The most exciting option, however, would be Ahsoka herself. Anakin Skywalker’s former Jedi Padawan is quite possibly the most popular Star Wars character who does not appear in one of the series’ main episodes, and her complex relationship with Darth Vader, the Force, and the Rebellion could provide the foundation for a powerful new story. The prospects of her joining the cast are strong too, as Ahsoka’s voice actor, Ashley Eckstien, wants Ahsoka to be part of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2.
While it is unlikely that either of these characters would replace Cal as the series’ sole lead, one can easily envision a situation where they star for a few missions as members of an ensemble cast.
Following Fallen Order‘s tremendous success, Disney expressed interest in developing more single-player, narrative driven Star Wars titles, and creating new characters would lead to more opportunities for properties to branch out down the line. Even though adding an excessive number of Jedi could beggar belief about the efficacy of Order 66, having Cal take on an Padawan of his own seems like the next natural step in his Jedi journey and seems like the most plausible opportunity for a protagonist-change up.
But Disney has an even deeper well to drawn from than the Star Wars television universe. After David Filoni rescued Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars‘ non-canonical Legends material, other famous Jedi are also on the table. A game starring the fan-favorite Mara Jade or Kyle Katarn isn’t impossible. Kyle was the lead character in the Jedi Knight series, which could be loosely considered Fallen Order’s spiritual predecessors—especially since Fallen Order was nearly a first-person shooter.
Regardless of who ends up leading the eagerly anticipated Fallen Order follow-up, the fact that the franchise has so many intriguing options to choose from is a promising sign indeed. Until it arrives, speculating about what may be is a fun way to pass the time.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One with a release for Google Stadia planned later this year. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 has yet to be officially announced.
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