This makes a lot of sense too, as Cal Kestis is not the most adept Force user; he’s nothing in comparison to the OP Starkiller from The Force Unleashed or even Jedi as seen throughout the movies. Between his status before Order 66 and his recovery after, he’s nowhere near the levels of Luke, Vader, or any of the big names. Yet, the best part of this discovery is not what it means as far as commentary on Cal’s skills in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but it means for his growth in the unconfirmed sequel.
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Fallen Order: From Padawan to Jedi Knight
After passing their Initiate Trials, Younglings go on to become Padawans who receive training from a Master. In some rather rare cases, it is a Jedi Knight who trains the Padawan (as seen with Anakin and Ahsoka). There doesn’t seem to be any hard line for when a Padawan becomes a Knight; from the movies, it’s only clear in that Anakin was a Knight in his late teen years, crossing that threshold at some point between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. That’s a lot of open space, but given how the Galaxy WAS at peace for so long, it would seem training would go smoother than it did during the Clone Wars. Given how quickly Ahsoka develops her skills with her lightsabers and the Force, even war helped develop these skills.
All of this is to say that Cal Kestis’ rise to Jedi Knight was peculiar: he went from Padawan to in-hiding to Padawan again, later saving thousands of potential Jedi across the galaxy and being Knighted by Cere. In other words, Cal has already hit a new level, something that would likely be reflected in the skill trees for Jedi: Fallen Order 2. However, that’s just to start.
Fallen Order 2: From Knight to Master?
Assuming Cal is treated as a proper Jedi Knight from the get-go, there’s a chance he would then have even more room to grow in the sequel. Anything said about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s ending and sequel story is just speculation, but progression is natural in the universe and in video games. As such, whether a time skip happens or not, Cal Kestis could be working his well into a full-fledged Jedi Master…or maybe not.
He could take on an apprentice in Merrin in Jedi: Fallen Order 2, but what’s a Master without others to teach? It could be in name only, which itself would make an interesting point of growth for Cal Kestis. Off the deeper end of the speculation pool, it’s worth noting that Cal is knighted by a Red, Inquisitor-thus-Sith lightsaber. This could have dark implications that sees Cal unlock future skill trees…for a potential dark side/light side split. After all, it’s not that Jedi cannot perform Force Lightning, but that there’s a recognizable resistance to the dark side, effectively locking them off from those powers. This hidden skill tree of sorts could reflect that as well.
It would be interesting to see Cal fall and ultimately, obviously, be redeemed—the original didn’t have choices because it was a Jedi story after all. But the story of the confused Padawan-turned Jedi Knight has been told, and if there’s more growth for Cal’s power, beit an unofficial Master or Sith, this hidden skill tree is an indication that the gameplay progress will reflect the story.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. A sequel is reportedly in development.
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