The end is nigh.
If you’ve already made it to the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ending, you might need an explainer on what the heck just went down. And what could these key spoilers mean for the future of Cal Kestis?
We were lucky enough to play the game early, so we’ve already explored all the twists and turns and had time to think about what could be next. Certainly, the game ends in a place where can you imagine what a sequel could look like, but it’s also a great conclusion in its own right.
The Star Wars Jedi: Survivor story hinges around a classic gaming McGuffin. The item that everyone wants is a compass that will lead them to the planet Tanalorr, a sort of promised land that the Empire can’t reach. Goodies, baddies and people in the middle all have their reasons for wanting a safe haven. But who will get there in the end?
Keep on reading, and we’ll run you through the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ending and everything you need to know going forward! Beware major spoilers from this point on.
Dagan Gera’s defeat
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Dagan Gera, a villain dating back to The High Republic era, is killed in the lab above Koboh after a tricky fight with Cal Kestis.
Dagan’s plan to head to the remote planet Tanalorr, build an evil army and come back to replace the Empire is now kaput. With his best bud Rayvis already out of the picture, this particular villainous operation seems to have been stopped stone dead.
In the final fight, Cal and Dagan seemed to have some kind of shared hallucination mind meld, with Cal weaponising Dagan’s memories of Santari Khri (his former Jedi ally that locked Dagan away for all those years) to create an opening and win the day.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the game’s story was going to end shortly after this, and the developers definitely play with those expectations by seeing the Mantis gang celebrate on Jedha. But there’s more to come!
Bode’s betrayal
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Cal took the Tanalorr-leading compass from Dagan and brought it to the good-guy base on Jedha, where Bode promptly stole it, in a villainous twist that you may have seen coming. Remember – always suspect the random new character that shows up in the sequel acting like the main character’s new best mate.
Bode, as it turns out, has been working for the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), the same Empire spy unit that was seen in the Andor series. Back at the start of the game, Bode was on an ISB mission to infiltrate Cal’s crew.
Depending on how you read Bode’s intentions in the endgame, you might choose to believe that Bode really did want to leave the ISB life behind and make a new life for his daughter on Tanalorr. Or you might think he was always a baddie, or a goodie, or playing both sides whilst also looking out for his personal interests.
Either way, Bode isn’t willing to let Cal use Tanalorr as a base for the Hidden Path rebels. Bode kills Eno Cordova, Cere’s master, and makes a run for it. He escapes Jedha with the compass leading to Tanalorr, knocking Cal out after a brief scuffle, but this isn’t the true ending either! (This game has more endings than The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.)
The Empire’s attack
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As part of his plan to escape with the compass, Bode revealed the Jedha base location on the Empire. While Cal goes off to try to catch Bode before he can leave the planet, the other characters have to defend the base.
Playing as Cere, you work with Merrin to protect the Anchorites and blow up AT-ATs in creative ways. It all seems to be going well. Cere even pops back into the archive room to pick up some information about the Hidden Path network.
However, Darth Vader meets you there, casually walking in through the door. Vader taunts Cere, pointing out that the events of Fallen Order didn’t really make a dent in the Empire’s galactic supremacy.
Cere says she has been preparing for this, and she pulls a lever to descend the whole room into the floor, seemingly trying to trap Vader in one place (rather than opening up another terrifying chase scenario like last time). They fight until Cere is dead. She put up a decent fight, though, hammering down Vader’s health bar and covering him in debris.
But at the final moment, as Cere lunged in for the kill, Vader managed to parry the attack and shift his body out of the way, plunging his own lightsaber deep into Cere. By the time Cal gets back from his failed fight with Bode, Vader is gone, leaving Cal to cradle Cere’s dead body in anguish.
Cal embraces the darkness
Cal follows Bode to a planet called Nova Garon, where he visits an ISB base and learns that Bode was working with the Empire all along. He also meets Bode’s daughter, Kata, which complicates the emotional side of the story.
Eventually, Cal works out that Bode lured him to this ISB base. Bode left his tracker on deliberately, in the hope that Cal would show up, destroy the base and therefore kill Bode’s employers. This is exactly what happens, and it frees up Bode to enact the final stage of his plan, retiring to live on Tanalorr with Kata.
Bode manages to leave the ISB base, and Cal is now seriously annoyed. Players are given a prompt to embrace the darkness, which essentially gives Cal a rage mode in combat like you’d see in God of War. Cal tears through Dark Troopers and everything else that the Empire can throw at him.
Eventually, Merrin pulls Cal back to normality, but the rage mode option remains in place for the rest of your time with the game. And even this isn’t the actual ending! Cal finds out that the compass isn’t the only way to Tanalorr, so he heads back to Koboh for a bit to set up an alternative route through the Koboh Abyss.
Groundfall on Tanalorr
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After puzzling around on Koboh, lining up the arrays and enlisting Zee’s help, Cal and the surviving Mantis crew finally make it to Tanalorr. It is a nice-looking place to be fair, but there’s not exactly much in the way of amenities. There’s not a pub in sight in this promised land, or even a little shop.
Cal confronts Bode for a final time on Tanalorr, trying to convince his frenemy that there is room for both of their visions. Cal argues that Bode and Kata can live peacefully on Tanalorr, whilst Cal also sets up a safe haven on Tanalorr for the Hidden Path to use.
Cal wants to work with this secret rebel group to provide safety and security for people that are persecuted by the Empire. The remote/difficult to reach nature of Tanalorr makes it the perfect spot for everyone’s big dream idea.
Bode will not yield, even for his daughter Kata, believing that Cal’s plan will lure the Empire to Tanalorr and put Kata in danger again. Bode goes to shoot Cal but his blaster misfires. Cal takes the opportunity to shoot Bode twice, killing him stone dead.
What next?
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After the credits roll and the main story is done and dusted, you’re able to keep playing. Greez explains that it will take a while to actually set up a base on Tanalorr, so you’re free to return to the rest of the galaxy to keep collecting stuff, taking on side missions and hunting for bounty hunters.
In the long term, there is a lot to ponder! Merrin and Cal have now snogged a few times, and Merrin has helped Cal step back from the darkness for now. Will their romance prevail? Will Cal ever fall to the Dark Side? Will Greez set up a second Pyloon’s Saloon franchise location on Tanalorr? Will the Mantis crew basically adopt Kata? The questions are endless.
Of course, we’ll have to wait until the potential sequel to find out what happens to Cal and company in future. We assume that he will set up a base for the Path, but will the Empire catch wind of them like Bode predicted? Will Cal fight Vader again, or perhaps even Palpatine?
Given that this second game looked back to the High Republic era and the prequel era to find enemies outside of the Empire, it’ll be interesting to see if the third game goes off in a different direction as well. Could criminal gangs play a larger role, allowing Darth Maul to pop up, following on from his cameo in the Solo film perhaps? Or will Cal finally meet an Imperial entanglement that he can’t escape from?
Given that Cal was nowhere to be seen in the original trilogy of Star Wars films, it does feel like a third game would have to address that. Does he stay on Tanalorr to protect innocent people while Luke goes around blowing up Death Stars, or is Cal destined to die a hero’s death in a similar way to the characters of Rogue One? Only time will tell, but we’re looking forward to finding out!
Read more:
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review – our fill verdict
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor planets – worlds apart
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor trophies – all achievements
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor cast — confirmed actors
- When is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor set? Timeline explained
- How long is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor? The hours you’ll need
- Does Star Wars Jedi: Survivor have New Game Plus?
- Why isn’t Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on PS4 or Xbox One?
- Is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor coming to Xbox Game Pass?
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