Cal Kestis' Jedi Temple Is The Secret To Rebuilding The Jedi Order

A secret Jedi world discovered by Cal Kestis may hold the key to bringing back the Jedi Order in the Star Wars timeline. A survivor of the Jedi Purge seen in Revenge of the SIth with Order 66, Cal Kestis was just a Padawan when his master was killed by the Republic's clone troopers. Since that time, Cal Kestis worked to resist the Empire and provide a place where those seeking refuge could be safe from Imperial oppression. To that end, Cal's secret temple could become crucial to future efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Played by Cameron Monaghan (via voicework and motion-capture), the story of Cal Kestis has been told in EA's Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor video games, both being set during the Dark Times when most surviving Jedi were in hiding. However, Kestis and his allies took a more active role in the galaxy, defying the Empire even before the official formation of the Rebel Alliance. While his journey has not been fully depicted (a third game is on the way), Cal Kestis' legacy and secret Jedi temple will likely remain long after he does in the Star Wars timeline.

Tanalorr Is The Safest Place For Jedi Secrets

A Hidden World From The Empire

In Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal Kestis and his allies recover an important Jedi holocron containing a list of Force-sensitives who had the potential to become Jedi. While he initially wanted to use the list to bring back the Jedi Order, Cal recognized the danger of this list if it were to fall into the Empire's hands. This prompts Cal to destroy the list, leaving the listed beings' fates up to the will of the Force. Cal then began working jobs with Saw Gerrera and his Partisans, defying the Empire bit by bit. However, that was all prelude to an even bigger discovery made by Kestis.

In Jedi: Survivor, Cal Kestis discovers the existence of Tanalorr, a planet rich in the Force and hidden within the dangerous nebula known as the Koboh Abyss. It's also the site of an old and abandoned Jedi Temple from the High Republic Era. After a bitter conflict involving the betrayal of a friend who was secretly working for the Empire, Survivor ends with Cal and his remaining allies securing Tanalorr as the final destination for the Hidden Path, the secret network during the Dark Times dedicated to helping Force sensitives and their loved ones escape the grip of the Empire.

Requiring special compasses to safely navigate through the Koboh Abyss, all knowledge of Tanalorr was lost to time and/or intentionally destroyed by the Jedi Order. This is what makes Tanalorr so valuable, as its limited access would allow any residents to be protected and hidden from the eyes of the Empire. Furthermore, it's also the best place for Jedi secrets to be kept from the Imperials and the ultimate preservation of the Order's history.

Cal's Fate Is Likely Sealed... But That Doesn't Mean Tanalorr Is Gone

He Likely Won't Survive The Dark Times, But His Legacy Can

As far as Cal Kestis is concerned, the Jedi survivor's days are likely numbered. In both Fallen Order and Survivor, Cal Kestis has faced several Imperial Inquisitors and barely survived an encounter with Darth Vader himself. The Imperials are well aware of who he is, even if they don't know all that he's been up to with Tanalorr. The fact that Kestis has been so open in his Imperial defiance has likely ensured that he won't survive past the Dark Times.

Additionally, the absence of Cal's involvement with the Rebel Alliance is a dark omen as well, not to mention his brush with the dark side combined with recent personal losses as seen in Survivor. However, that doesn't mean that Cal Kestis' legacy can't live on for the sake of the Jedi Order's eventual revival. At the moment, there's nothing to suggest that Tanalorr was ever found by the Empire, meaning that its value as a Jedi world likely still remains even after the Empire's fall and the dawn of the New Republic Era.

Assuming Tanalorr will indeed be secured and kept secret to all aside from Cal and his allies with the Hidden Path, Tanalorr could be of great value to the future of the Star Wars franchise. The planet's limited access and Jedi temple secrets could prove to be hugely important, either in the New Republic Era or even beyond the events of the sequel trilogy. After all, Cal Kestis wasn't the only Jedi seeking to bring back the Jedi Order after the rise of the Empire.

Luke Skywalker (Or Even Rey) Could Use Tanalorr's Secrets To Rebuild The Jedi

Cal Kestis' Jedi Dream Could Be Realized (Even If He Doesn't Live To See It)

Custom Image by Kevin Erdmann

Cal Kestis likely won't survive past the Dark Times and into the Galactic Civil War seen in the original trilogy of Star Wars films. However, his legacy and dream for the Jedi Order can still come true thanks to Tanalorr and his legacy. After all, Luke Skywalker went on a galaxy-wide search after the Empire's fall for Jedi secrets, strongholds, and relics to help him build his Jedi academy on Ossus. Perhaps Tanalorr was one of his stops, its Jedi Temple holding key secrets and knowledge of the past the Jedi Knight would have seen as invaluable.

At the same time, Rey Skywalker could also end up having connections to Tanalorr. Rey's upcoming New Jedi Order movie is currently in development, set after the sequels as she seeks to bring back a Jedi Order that lasts. Perhaps Tanalorr will help Rey do that, and could even become the site of her own Jedi Order, one kept safe from any new dangers that might arise following the Empire, First Order, and Palpatine's Final Order. Regardless, it would certainly be very exciting if Cal Kestis' legacy lived well beyond his own life with Tanalorr being involved in the Jedi Order's full revival.