The Ending Of Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order Explained
Though cool technology, wild aliens, and spaceships fill the Star Wars universe, it also seems like a pretty dangerous place to live. If you want to look at the most perilous stretch of time in the setting, search no further than the 20-year spell between Episode 3 and Episode 4 in which the Sith officially rule the galaxy and have hunted the Jedi to near-extinction.
Respawn's Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order unfolds during this dangerous time period. You play as one of the few remaining Jedi, helping your new mentor fight for the survival of your order in the wake of Emperor Palpatine's Order 66. The closer you get to the jaw-dropping climax, which contains some of the most dramatic moments in the entire franchise, the more chaotic the world becomes. Fortunately, we're here to help make sense of it all and put everything in context. Beware: spoilers ahead.
The aftermath of Order 66
The Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order story begins with a young Padawan named Cal Kestis. Jaro Tapal, a hulking but patient Jedi Master, trains Cal on a Republic capital ship at the tail end of the Clone Wars. Aside from the rare ability to apply Sense Memory, which lets him touch an object and relive its experiences, Cal's a fairly typical Padawan whose training is progressing well. This all changes in a heartbeat when Palpatine activates Order 66. Suddenly hunted by his former clone buddies, Cal and his mentor attempt to flee the ship. Jaro Tapal dies protecting Cal from a hail of blaster fire as their escape pod takes off, leaving Cal traumatized. The guilt causes him to cut himself off entirely from the Force and go into hiding.
Fallen Order catches up to Cal a few years later working in a junkyard on the planet Bracca where he strips downed ships from the Clone Wars for parts. It's good work for a kid with Cal's agility, but the jig is up when Cal uses the Force to save a friend during an accident on-site. The Empire wastes no time sending a pair of Inquisitors to Bracca — the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister — but Cal is rescued by Cere Junda.
Former Jedi Master Cere Junda
Cere has a similar story to Cal's, but from the other side of the equation. A former Jedi Master, Cere went on the run with her Padawan, Trilla Suduri, following Order 66. The Empire captured her not long after. Under extreme torture, Cere gave up Trilla's location. Captured and tortured in turn, Trilla eventually fell to the Dark Side, joining the ranks of the Inquisitorius, the organization tasked with hunting down children of the Force.
After the Empire showed off their new recruit, re-branded as the Second Sister, Cere, in her grief and desperation, gave in to her anger and used the power of the Dark Side to break out of her prison. She then contracted a rogue captain, Greez Dritus, and his ship, the Mantis, embarking on a mission to find the Force sensitive children before the Empire tracks them down. This quest led her to Cal.
Eno Cordova and the holocron map
Aboard the Mantis, Cere gives Cal the rundown of her plan. Eno Cordova, Cere's former master, had a holocron map showing the location of potential Force sensitives throughout the galaxy. When the Empire took power, he hid the holocron in a vault on the planet Bogano, locked behind three puzzles created by a race of Force wielders called the Zeffo. Only a Jedi can solve these puzzles, the locations of which can only be found with the help and complete trust of Cordova's adorable droid, BD-1.
Cere, like Cal, has cut off her connection with the Force. She fears attempting the puzzles herself since tapping into her powers again would absolutely lead to the Dark Side. As the Empire already knows of Cal's existence and he has re-established his connection to the Force, he becomes her best hope to go through the trials, obtain the holocron, and rebuild the Jedi Order.
Kashyyyk and the Rebellion
Cal agrees to the plan, and more dangerously, to take on the Empire. Their quest takes them across the galaxy, constantly pursued by the Inquisitors and tested by the Zeffo's elaborate tests. On Kashyyyk, Cal gives the burgeoning Rebellion, led by Saw Gerrera, a crucial hand in retaking the planet. He faces Trilla once again, who gives him the rundown on her history with Cere. The Mantis' captain, Greez, has problems of his own that threaten to derail the mission. He's got a bounty on his head and a string of hunters come to collect from Cal.
Most importantly, Cal relives his training with Jaro Tapal, reconnecting with his Force powers while also bonding with the Mantis' crew and BD-1, unlocking the droid's memories along the way. Though a harsh road, Cal and Cere persevere and complete two of the trials.
Dathomir and the Nightsisters
Things grind to a screeching halt on Dathomir, the planet the infamous Sith Lord Darth Maul and the assassin Asajj Ventress come from. A clan of witches called the Nightsisters have harnessed the magicks there, gaining abilities beyond even that of the Jedi and Sith. Merrin, one of the last Nightsisters, shows up to blame Cal and the Jedi for the slaughter of her clan during the Clone Wars and orders everything still drawing breath on the planet to stop him from reaching the Zeffo trial. When that doesn't work, she raises the revenant corpses of her sisters to attack him.
Because things were going so well before, Cal also runs into Taron Malicos, a former Jedi master who crash-landed on Dathomir after the Jedi purge and eventually fell to the Dark Side. He attempts to recruit Cal as an apprentice and attacks him when the gambit fails. Cal manages to scrape his way to the trial, but Cal's worst enemy on Dathomir turns out to be himself. He faces the ghost of Jaro Tapal, who taunts him with his failures, to the point Cal accidentally breaks his own lightsaber and is forced to flee the planet, weaponless.
Ilum and the kyber crystals
Upon making it to the Mantis, Cal tells Cere what happened during the trial and informs her of his broken lightsaber. Cere, ever the Jedi, does what any Master would and takes Cal to the planet Ilum, the place where light-enhancing kyber crystals form and where every Jedi must travel to build their first saber. Ilum appears to be the future home of Starkiller Base. When Cal arrives, the Empire has already dug the trademark giant trench and started mining kyber crystals to power the planet-destroying beam.
After traversing a now derelict Jedi temple and reaching the altar where he finds his crystal, he experiences a new vision of his master. He comes to grips with the fact Jaro Tapal's death was not his fault and that he has the power to move forward and live with his mistakes. Cal also unlocks access to Cordova's entire archive of information when his bond with BD-1 becomes whole. Fully connected to the Force again, Cal builds his new lightsaber — a double-edged model — and races back to Dathomir. There, he confronts Nightsister Merrin, connecting with her over losing everything at the hands of the Empire. After Cal defeats the now-psychotic Taron Malicos inside the Zeffo temple and completes the trial, Merrin promises to come with him to avenge her sisters.
Jedi Knight
The crew flies back to Bogano and the Zeffo vault. After seeing a distressing vision of a future where the Dark Side corrupts him, Cal manages to obtain the holocron, which Trilla shows up to take from him. The two duel. On the verge of defeating her, Cal Force Pulls her lightsaber away. On contact, Cal's Sense Memory kicks in, forcing him to relive Trilla's torture at the hands of the Empire. This renders him helpless long enough for Trilla to waltz out with the holocron.
Back on the the Mantis, Cere informs him Trilla took the holocron to an Imperial fortress. Everyone agrees, wholeheartedly, to follow, but not before Cere takes care of one last important bit of business. Using Trilla's lightsaber, Cere takes up her mantle of Jedi Master once again and officially dubs Cal a Jedi Knight.
The Imperial fortress
With everyone's emotional baggage now secure, the Mantis heads to the planet of Nur to execute their most daring maneuver yet. The ship manages to slip past the Imperial blockade thanks to Merrin cloaking the entire ship with her magick. After breaching the atmosphere, Greez heads over the ocean surrounding the fortress, and Cal and Cere execute their plan as one: the master and apprentice infiltrate the fortress from underwater.
Cere fights her way to the control room and floods half the facility, leaving Cal to mop up the stragglers in the wake of the deluge. A legion of Stormtroopers, Shock Troopers, and Security Droids stands in his way, culminating in a face-off against a handful of Elite Fighters. After a rough battle, Cal manages to reach the room with the holocron where he encounters his greatest challenge yet.
The final battle
Cal finds himself squaring off against Trilla again in the holocron chamber, during which Trilla fully unleashes her rage on the new Jedi Knight. Now battling as equals in the Force, the duel stretches on, but in the end, Cal manages to subdue Trilla. Before he can land the killing blow, however, Cere shows up and stops him, making one last solemn attempt to reach and reconcile with her former apprentice. It almost works, with Trilla letting go of her hate for Cere and expressing her regrets, before the sound of footsteps, mechanical breathing, and a lightsaber igniting interrupt the exchange.
Trilla utters her last words — "Avenge us!" — just in time for Darth Vader himself to strike her down. Vader advises Cal and Cere to surrender, but they refuse and take a stab at the big guy. When their efforts prove fruitless, the pair decides to retreat as Vader collapses the corridor behind them. Just as they believe they've escaped, Vader reappears in their way. Death seems imminent until Cere taps into the Dark Side again, using her anger to go on the offensive long enough to breach the Fortress' hull and flood the hallway. Vader creates a Force Shield to protect himself while the two Jedi escape with the holocron.
A new hope
After drying off on the Mantis, the crew confirms Cordova's holocron contains the location of every Force sensitive child. Finally having it in their possession triggers a moment of clarity. In the worst case scenario, the Empire obtains the holocron and hunts down every potential Jedi, securing their dominion over the galaxy. The best case scenario isn't much better.
Having seen his potential fate on Bogano, Cal realizes the power and responsibility of training a new generation of Jedi could corrupt him. Given how easily she can tap into the Dark Side, Cere also decides she's not the best person for the job. After observing the lengths the Empire will go to in order to obtain the holocron and realizing it's not safe in their hands, Cal takes out his lightsaber and destroys the map. Free of the burden, and with a rock solid crew of fighters, Cal questions where they should go next as the credits roll.