How does ‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’ tie into the movies and TV shows?

This article contains spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor‘s release day is finally here, with the game continuing Cal Kestis’ battle against the Empire and providing some exhilarating action along the way. Prior to release, many had been wondering whether the game was going to crossover with any of the ongoing Disney Plus TV shows or movies.

It’s a fair assumption that it would. Survivor takes place five years after Fallen Order in Nine BBY (before the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope). This is at the height of Imperial rule, meaning we have Darth Vader at the peak of his powers, a Rebellion still far from being allied, and the construction of the Death Star very much underway.

Survivor also takes place in the same year as Obi-Wan Kenobi, with some even predicting a cameo appearance from Ewan McGregor. We’ve now rolled credits on Survivor and can reveal exactly how much it ties into the wider Star Wars universe. Major spoilers for the game follow, so consider yourself warned if you read on.

A long time ago…

The short answer is that Survivor is very much its own story and doesn’t crossover with many existing Star Wars characters at all. The plot is focused on the relationships between Cal and his friends Merrin, Greez, Cere, and Bode and the game has to fit into a tightly established canon, meaning the conflicts here are interpersonal rather than galaxy-changing.

That’s not to say it’s not strongly informed by previous Star Wars stories though. Cal’s overarching objective is to reach the mysterious planet Tanalorr, which was once occupied by Jedi of the High Republic. Set a few hundred years before The Phantom Menace, this setting has previously been explored in novels and comics. A focus of this story are Jedi Knights Dagan Gera and Santari Khri, who construct a Jedi Temple on Tanalorr but are abandoned by the Order when the Nihil (the villains from the books) attack.

High Republic tech frequently appears in the story, with ancient droid Zee proving invaluable in deciphering how it works. No knowledge of the existing High Republic storylines is necessary to understand Survivor‘s story, though it’s nice to see the setting get a big nod. Upcoming Disney Plus show The Acolyte will also be set during the High Republic, so perhaps that’ll feature some of these Survivor characters.

You don’t know the power of the Dark Side!

But that’s not to say there aren’t any major cameos. Two-thirds of the way through the game, the Imperials attack a Jedi enclave, with Cal’s mentor Cere retreating to secure some key data that cannot fall into Imperial hands. She’s met by none other than Darth Vader, who’s eager to duel and defeat one of the final Order 66 survivors. Judging by Vader’s behavior during this fight, this likely takes place prior to the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi, with the Sith Lord at the peak of his intimidating powers. Vader references the last time he met Cere in the closing moments of Fallen Order and is impressed with how she’s honed her powers since their last meeting.

Sadly Vader doesn’t stick around in the game for long. We’d have liked to see Cal get a rematch against him after having to flee in panic during their last encounter, though we suppose the problem is that canon means he can never actually defeat Vader.

Vader is certainly the biggest cameo, though there are a few other existing characters that at least get nods. The bounty hunter side missions eventually see you briefly encounter Boba Fett (as voiced by Temuera Morrison), though you don’t get to do battle with him. Saw Gerrera also gets an early namecheck, though unlike Fallen Order, he never appears in person or by voice.

It should also be noted that one of the main locations in Survivor is the desert moon Jedha, which was visited in Rogue One and received a test blast from the Death Star superlaser. No locations or characters from Rogue One are present during your trip, though the monolithic statues and sandy scenery feels directly inspired by its portrayal in that movie.

Cal’s story also begins on the very familiar city planet of Coruscant, seen across multiple Star Wars movies, TV shows, games, and other media, and it’s the same vaguely cyberpunky neon metropolis you’d expect.

Another somewhat familiar faction is the Anchorite cult. In Survivor, they’re led by Cere and are preserving what’s left of the Jedi archive. Anchorites have previously appeared in The Clone Wars and Rebels, where they’re closely allied with the Jedi. They look rather different here than in previous appearances, but their behavior matches what we already know from the animated shows.

Later in the game, Cal will also infiltrate an ISB base, the Imperial intelligence organization featured heavily in the excellent Andor. Sadly, no characters from that show appear, with this base’s main character, Commander Denvik, created just for this game.

Easter eggs

The game is also fairly short on Easter eggs. However, we did spot that some of the bonus music tracks you can purchase to liven up Greez’s cantina make direct references to the planet Taris in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Beyond that, the surviving tomes from Cere’s Jedi archive look suspiciously similar to those owned by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and given how thorough the Empire was in destroying them, they could very well be the exact same tomes.

Arguably Survivor is a missed opportunity for crossovers. It’d be possible for Han Solo and Chewbacca to appear, get a glimpse at The Mandalorian‘s Grogu, have Cal tutored by Obi-Wan, or even a duel with the Emperor himself. The probably correct counterargument to all that is that crowbarring in too many existing characters would be a pain to squeeze into a canonical story and distracts from Cal’s journey.

Oh well, at least we get a truly kickass rematch with Darth Vader.