The reason skykestis hit me that hard is, I think, the whole “hope” motif. A Cal & skykestis essay ahead. Jedi fallen order & survivor spoilers, look out.
Cal’s a Jedi Padawan who barely survived the purge because of his master’s sacrifice; he’s been hiding on Bracca scrapping ships until found by Inquisitors and escaping with the help of a former Jedi Master Cere and her pilot Greez. Together they embarked on a mission to find the Jedi holocron containing locations of force-sensitive children in hopes to restart the Order - quietly, in shadows. Ever since, Cal’s been fueled by hope. It guided him, it was the source of his power: he reclaimed his old abilities and was rapidly gaining new strength. By the end of the Fallen Order he’d dealt with two Inquisitors and beat a former Jedi Master Taron Malicos, who, unlike Cere, did not sever his connection to the Force, but fell to the Dark side and was actively conquering Dathomir. (I bet Maul was on a business summit on Nar Shaddaa at the time, otherwise he wouldn’t have tolerated Malicos). Anyway, upon finding the holocron and realising the danger that its existence was for the force-sensitive children, Cal decided to destroy it. However, this victory only encouraged his devotion and love for the Order, which he never stopped missing.
In the years to come his self-imposed mission was to stop the Empire. I see little mention of it, but we know for a fact that by 10 BBY he’s become the most wanted man in the Empire. The bounty for his head was so large that he could never stay in one place, actively hunted by the imperials, mercenaries, and criminal syndicates alike. He worked with Saw Gerrera and became Saw’s “sword” (or rather “lightsaber”), making the resistance a force to be reckoned with. His team split up - Greez retired and opened a cantina on a remote world of Koboh, while Cere deceived Cal, saying that she’s retiring as well but instead she went to develop a secret network to help force-sensitives and those who sympathised with resistance - the “Hidden Path”. She used Cal rampaging around the galaxy as a distraction and a shield to help her quietly establish the Hidden Path. Cal knew nothing of it, though. He believed that he was the only one of them left fighting. But he could not quit - it would be a betrayal of his love for the Order and his hope of one day restoring it.
Throughout all these years and the second game he was actively discouraged to fight by his companions, who’d been telling him to stop, take a break, lay low, but it was something he could not do:
(Credit for the screenshots to the wonderful theRawTRex on YouTube).
I know Jedi Survivor for some reason wants to make it look like Cal’s just fighting to avenge his lost people, but, knowing the original Star Wars universe, I see it as not him being misguided and desperate, but rather guided by hope - so strong that he still finds strength in it after years on the very front line. And, of course, by the Force.
Again, none of what he did was futile, despite the Empire’s optimistic reports. I understand that it was him, together with Saw Gerrera’s military prowess, that made Rebellion a possibility, and he was the reason why by the start of the Force Unleashed in 1–2 years BBY Vader and the Emperor both were so concerned about the rebels that they even sent Galen Marek, aka Starkiller, to lure them all into a trap. They hoped to finally kill Cal, but by then he’d taken permanent residence on the hidden world of Tanalorr to hide a force-sensitive child, Kata, so no one could reach them. Cal and Saw’s reputation drew imperial forces and the Emperor’s attention, letting other Jedi like Eno Cordova, Rahm Kota, Shaak Ti, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and also rebels like Cere Junda, Merrin, Lothal cell with growing Ezra Bridger, survive. Unfortunately, it also made the Empire angrier and angrier, tightening the grip on the Senate, which is extensively addressed in A New Hope. But it was Cal and Saw’s doing that started the Rebellion. Galen Marek later completed it, gathering the Alliance leaders together, Ezra Bridger supported it, sacrificing himself to kill Grand Admiral Thrawn, all laying foundation for Luke and the others’ victory.
The end of Jedi Survivor is controversial. Throughout the game Cal’s strong in his belief and conviction. He’s a Jedi, despite being completely alone in doing so. But everyone he knows keeps telling him to accept the end of the Order as he knew it and start a new life. Everyone - except Bode, a new crew member. Cal instantly warms up to him. Of course, Bode ends up slowly talking back to him, too:
“Abandon your way, embrace a new, easier one.” Sound familiar? Yeah, Bode ends up being an imperial spy and a Dark Jedi, who kills Cal’s friends and sets Darth Vader after them all. This breaks Cal - in a way, and he surrenders. He goes to hide on Tanalorr with Merrin and the others. And he starts struggling with the Dark Side. He’s losing his way. He’s losing the Order - and himself - from his vision. In his heart he still longs for it sincerely, desperately, but what can he do when he lost so much and so many, and the remaining want him to surrender? He’s giving up the galaxy to the evil, betraying his very nature as a Jedi. The conflict tears him open. He becomes unbalanced. The hope in him dims. But it’s still there. His hope is the root of his conflict, but it is also the root of his strength, it is his very heart. Will he destroy it, passively living out his remaining days, waiting to die? Will it destroy him, twisting him to the Dark Side, making him destroy what’s left?
Or will he listen to it, as he did - always? Will he, a conflicted Jedi Master, try to teach force-sensitive Kata, and find his way through his teaching, hear again the will of the Force?
What if one day he dreams of a man in a black cape, holding a strange black-and white saber over a small green creature; of legions of imperial troops marching through peaceful towns; of twelve bacta tanks crammed in one room, with identical shapes inside, so heavy in the Dark Side, filled to the brim with the will to tear kill maim burn, and a programming typed on their screens: destroy Luke Skywalker!). What if, troubled by horrible anticipation, he returns - and where were burnt worlds exhausted by tyranny, finds a newborn republic…
And there, on a remote planet - a young man, struggling to build a temple with a tiny green apprentice?
For Cal Luke is not just “hope”, but hope realised, the embodiment of something you’d been fighting tooth and nail for - come to life. He is the proof that Cal’s way was right and righteous; he is the proof that every battle was worth it. He is a hope for an even brighter future. He is the purpose and the meaning. Post-ROTJ Luke is the Order, despite being just one scarred young man. He is balance and peace. He is home Cal’s been fighting so long for.
On the other hand there’s Luke, who’d recently completed fighting a war. He’d mourned his aunt and uncle who raised him, his Master Obi-Wan, his Master Yoda, his father; he’d been travelling around the galaxy first to stay alive, then to find traces of others who stayed alive - only to learn that he truly is the last of his kind. His whole world is now his temple (which he’s slowly building. It’s not like he’s got much money. Or experience building temples) - and Grogu (who’s still learning to talk but is always very eager to help, which is why Luke is doing twice the work to plan, build and simultaneously keep his little apprentice away from the rather dangerous construction site). They cannot take more students: it is too dangerous now. He feels loneliness - the same kind he saw killing Yoda - overtaking him. His only guests are mercenaries sent by Moff Gideon, or notorious Boba Fett making attempts at his life, who’s sent by Moff Gideon, or old imperial TIE fighters sent by Moff Gi- well, you get the idea. It is expected. But it also makes him feel, despite the welcoming, sincere whisper of the Force, that the huge galaxy wants him gone. It has forgotten the Jedi. He will persevere no matter what - for his Master, for his lineage, for Grogu, for the Order he’d never seen but loves so much, but it takes a toll on him. Leia, who finally visits him, notices with concern how he stopped smiling. She also tells him what he’s been noticing in the Force for a while: the situation in the galaxy is changing; imperials gather troops massively, they’re organised now, as if something encourages them, as if they think they have a chance against the young republic. They’re preparing to strike. That means - Luke will be going to war soon, again; leaving the small temple he’s built for Moff Gideon to rampage through, again; sending away his Grogu, again, - the boy’s father, who’s very busy with bounty hunting work, will not be happy, but Luke would rather let his whole planet burn than endanger Grogu even for a second and bring him to a battlefield. The future seems like a burden; he prays that they’ll not be crashed by it. Grogu is eavesdropping on his conversation with Leia. Luke lets him. When he exits, the boy attaches himself to Luke’s shirt and does not let go until falling asleep in the evening. As if to mock Luke, the Force, despite all terrible prospects, despite all the facts, seems light and merry.
The next morning at dawn Luke is outside. He’s already finished with his own training and meditation, and is doing some light yoga while waiting. It’s time for Boba Fett’s routine assault. Boba Fett is probably not aware that his assaults are addressed as “routine”, but the Force warns Luke well in advance so that he’s able to make his schedule work. He wonders what it will be this time - lasers, smoke bombs, or some aggressive creature? Strangely, Boba’s eleven minutes late. It’s not good: they should start on time to finish before Grogu’s morning meditation. Luke stretches his senses. Slave One is in the orbit; it bounces from side to side, as if playing tag with someone, then slips away. Instead, there’s another ship. There is something about it that makes Luke stand up, throw his robe on; it tingles the back of his neck, and there’s a knot in his throat that he cannot swallow; disoriented for a moment, he grabs his lightsaber, searching the sky until his eyes hurt. He commands C3PO not to share their coordinates with the approaching ship, then withdraws the command; then repeats it. But the ship does not need coordinates. Soon it emerges from the shining clouds, a sleek form, and starts towards the temple in a perfectly straight line.
