*** Be warned that there are significant spoilers ahead for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. ***
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor released recently, and I think it’s one of the very best Star Wars games ever made. The gameplay itself is great, but it’s also paired with a terrific story following these truly compelling characters.
When we start the game, which takes place five years after the events of Fallen Order, the Mantis crew has broken up. Cal Kestis continues the fight against the Empire by working with Saw Gerrera, and he has a new team he’s working with. But when a mission goes wrong he winds up reuniting with his old crew – Greez Dritus, Cere Junda, and Merrin. Greez has opened a cantina, Merrin has traveled the galaxy, and Cere has worked alongside Eno Cordova to recover old Jedi texts in an effort to preserve the Order.
When Cal finds out about a mysterious lost world that once housed a Jedi Temple, a planet incredibly difficult to get to, he heads to meet Cere on Jedha to tell her about it. There, he learns that Cere and Merrin, as well as the acolytes at the camp, are working to aid the Hidden Path, a group that helps Jedi escape the Empire’s grasp. Merrin first learned about this while traveling the galaxy, and then connected Cere to it.
This is an obvious connection to the Obi-Wan Kenobi series that aired on Disney+ last summer. During that show, Obi-Wan is on the run, trying to return a kidnapped Leia Organa safely home to her parents, but Darth Vader and the Inquisitors are hunting him down. He meets Tala, a rebel in Imperial disguise who is aligned with the Path. Obi-Wan joins up with them and fights alongside them during this mission. That series actually takes place around the same point in-universe as Jedi: Survivor, as both of them happen approximately ten years after Revenge of the Sith. We don’t know which one came first, but it’s very interesting that both of them deal with the Path.
The Hidden Path is sort of like an underground railroad for Jedi, a system that helps to smuggle Jedi or other Force sensitives to safe houses throughout the galaxy and away from the Empire’s detection. It’s a great narrative idea and I’m glad to see it being explored in both of these formats.
As to which of these stories takes place first, the answer is that we don’t know. But it seems like whatever the answer, Darth Vader is a key to it. He shows up in both the game and the show, facing off against Jedi. If Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place after Survivor, it could be explained that the reason Vader is in the bacta tank at the start of the show is due to his injuries sustained during his fight with Cere Junda. On the other hand, if the show takes place before Survivor, then Vader showing up personally to confront Cere could be explained as both him hunting down this Hidden Path, and him also seeking to take out his anger on other Jedi since he failed to kill Kenobi. Either way would work, and it’s not essential for us to know it. I’m sure that eventually we’ll get clarity, but I don’t expect it any time soon. What’s most important is that the Hidden Path has now shown up in both of these projects, and I really hope that we get more stories focused on it. It’s a cool, unique concept, and it’s made even better knowing that Jedi like Obi-Wan and Cere were part of it for a time.
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