Ever since the Star Wars canon was reset by Disney in 2014, the franchise has been steadily building its lore back up through comics, novels, television, and video games. The sequel era films may have given fans a look at what happened after the Empire was finally defeated, but a large portion of Star Wars media has illustrated what happened right when the Empire was getting started. This time period, set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, is one of the most popular with a lot of fans, specifically for how it highlights Jedi that are on the run after the fateful Order 66 Jedi purge.
In addition to well-known Jedi such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, a few brand new characters have been introduced as Order 66 survivors. In the world of television, Star Wars Rebels introduced the franchise to Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi that survived the purge as a padawan and eventually became part of a small rebel cell. The 2018 game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order also brought with it a new Jedi in the form of Cal Kestis, who also managed to survive the purge as a padawan. When it comes to these two Jedi, they may have gone down different paths after Order 66, but there are a number of parallels that connect them.
The story of each Jedi’s Order 66 experiences are fairly similar, but still uniquely painful. In the case of Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr.), the young padawan was originally known as Caleb Dume and was trained by Jedi Master Depa Billaba. When Order 66 was executed, the then Caleb Dume and his Master were in the middle of a heated battle when their clone troopers turned on them. Billaba sacrificed herself in order to save Dume, and the young padawan was able to avoid clone patrols long enough to escape on a transport.
Cal Kestis’ story is rather similar, if not identical to Kanan Jarrus’. Following a successful mission on the planet Bracca, Cal and his master Jaro Tapal were preparing to travel to the planet Mygeeto when Order 66 went into effect. Cal was instructed to make his way towards their ship’s escape pods while Tapal sabotaged the main reactor. The padawan was eventually able to meet his master at the escape pods, but they became overrun by clones and Jaro Tapal was killed in the conflict. In his rage, Cal was able to Force Freeze all of the clones and escape, but the trauma of the events caused him to cut himself off from the Force.
Following the events of Order 66, the story of each Jedi begins to vary. Shortly after escaping on a transport, Caleb Dume got the attention of a smuggler named Janus Kasmir. The young boy soon learned the tricks of the smuggling trade, going on a number of adventures with his new mentor. He eventually separated himself from Kasmir, changed his name to Kanan Jarrus, and hopped from planet to planet until he found steady work on the mining planet Gorse. After some time, he came upon the rebel Hera Syndulla, and partnered himself with her after they saved Gorse and its moon Cynda from destruction.
Unlike Kanan, Cal Kestis was not able to escape the circumstances of his master’s death so easily, as the escape pod he fled in brought him right back to Bracca. Cal later became part of the planet’s Scrapping Guild, where he worked to deconstruct Republic and Separatist flagships. After an accident put his friend’s life in danger, Cal used the Force to save him, blowing his cover in the process. Two Jedi hunting Inquisitors came to find Cal soon after, but he was able to escape with the help of fellow Jedi Cere Junda and pilot Greez Dritus.
Both of these Jedi eventually found a reason to deepen their connection with the Force after laying low for quite some time. For Kanan Jarrus, this motivation came in the form of the young, Force-sensitive Ezra Bridger. After running into the teenager on a mission, Kanan eventually took Ezra on as a padawan despite the fact that he was not formally a Jedi Knight. This relationship would prove to be a vital stepping stone in his connection to the Force, and after a few years Kanan reached Knighthood. The two would go on many adventures with the rest of the Ghost crew, culminating in Kanan’s final sacrifice to save them all from a massive explosion.
Similar to Kanan, Cal Kestis’ rescue at the hands of Cere Junda and Greez Ditrus would spark his own reconnection to the Force. Cal soon learned of Cere’s plan to rebuild the Jedi Order using a holocron that contained a list of Force-sensitive children throughout the galaxy. This list would be incredibly dangerous in the hands of the Empire, so Cal took on many different challenges in order to secure it. After rekindling and deepening his connection to the Force, Cal was able to confront the Inquisitors that had been after him and retrieve the holocron. Following a close brush with death at the hands of Darth Vader, Cal secured the list of children and decided to destroy it so that the Empire could never access it.
The origins of these two characters may possess similarities, but in the end they are each unique characters with distinct stories. Each of their masters did die during the tragedy of Order 66, but how they processed their trauma is where they really vary. While Kanan Jarrus adopted a cocky smuggler persona, Cal Kestis did his best to remain as discreet as possible. Like the Jedi they are however, the Force called upon them to do heroic things. Although Kanan’s story may have come to a close, the highly anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 will likely continue the story of Cal Kestis that many players have come to love.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 is currently in development.
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