Is fallen order Star Wars canon?

The world isn’t short on Star Wars games, but the best game in recent memory is Jedi: Fallen Order because of how it allows us to go back to the roots of what Star Wars is all about. However, we do know that the official canon of Star Wars has changed ever since Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise in 2012. All of the backs and games before 2012 were considered Legends and are no longer part of the official canon. So, is Jedi: Fallen Order canon? 

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is canon and is part of the entire official continuity of Star Wars. It takes place five years after Order 66 and five years before the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. However, this original story used to be non-canon but eventually developed to become canon to the continuity.

After Disney acquired Star Wars, it has been strict with what is canon and what is part of Legends. Nevertheless, almost everything that has been released since the Disney acquisition is canon because all of the Star Wars games and shows have to go through Lucasfilm. And while we are yet to see Cal Kestis in any of the other Star Wars stories, we are sure that he is canon.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to video games is that these are usually created by independent bodies that are able to craft their own story. In that regard, the challenge that comes with creating a Star Wars video game is that the development of the gameplay and the story should be kept within certain limits because this is a film franchise and not a video game franchise. This isn’t the same as creating a Final Fantasy game where the developers could create an original story that doesn’t have a lot of limits.

It is the fact that Star Wars games tend to operate within certain limits that have held the games back. We have seen a lot of great Star Wars games in the past, especially during the 2000s. However, Star Wars video games haven’t been the same since Disney acquired the entire franchise in 2012. That’s because only the Star Wars movies and Clone Wars were included in the official canon after Disney acquired the franchise.

All of the video games and books written about Star Wars before the Disney acquisition became non-canon and are now part of the Legends storyline of Star Wars. That is why, since then, most of the Star Wars games that were released were not narrative-based. But Star Wars Jedi: Fall Order changed that.

When Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was released in 2019, TIME called it the first great Star Wars game released in a decade. That’s because this is the first Star Wars game in a long time that’s narrative-based and tells a deep and intricate story that’s tied to the lore of Star Wars. Of course, it also follows a ragtag group of underdogs, and that is a story that fans have always loved about the Star Wars franchise. 

The main character is Cal Kestis, a former Jedi Padawan that’s hiding from the Empire that has been sending out Inquisitors to hunt down former Jedi and Force-sensitive individuals. Throughout the game, you control Cal, who is on a mission to find a Holocron that contains the locations of all of the Force-sensitive individuals so that he can keep it safe from the Empire. With that said, is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order part of the official Star Wars canon?

It is a fact that Jedi: Fallen Order was developed with the idea that it should be consistent with the entire Star Wars canon that has already been established by the movies, series, and books that are all canon. But it didn’t start out as a canon game. It only became canon when Respawn, the studio that developed the game, was asked to create a canonical game about a Jedi.

Aaron Contreras was hired as the narrative lead for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order while working together with the developers of the game. So, while Lucasfilm and Disney were not the ones in charge of the development of the video game, Contreras acted as the bridge between Respawn and the Lucasfilm Story Group, which is basically a council that determines the boundaries and limits of certain Star Wars stories based on the already established canon.

That is why, throughout the development process of the game, Contreras worked hand in hand with both the Lucasfilm Story Group and the developers while acting as the mediator between the two parties so that everything in the game would be consistent with the Star Wars timeline.

Speaking of timeline, Jedi: Fallen Order takes place during the events of the purging of the Jedi by the Inquisitors, which were tasked to locate all of the remaining Jedi and Force-sensitive people so that they wouldn’t be a threat to the Empire. Cal Kestis’s story begins five years after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

As a survivor of Order 66, Kestis has been hiding from the Inquisitors but was forced to eventually go on the run and work together with a ragtag crew when the Inquisitors finally found him. And his adventure eventually leads him on a mission to save all of the other Force-sensitive people in the galaxy by keeping their location away from the Empire.

This entire story is five years after Order 66. Meanwhile, its sequel game, Jedi: Survivor, is set five years after the first game. That would mean that it takes place right around the same time as the events of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

How Does Jedi: Fallen Order Connect With The Star Wars Universe?

As mentioned, Respawn made sure to work together with Lucasfilm on the story of Jedi: Fallen Order so that it would be consistent with the entire Star Wars canon timeline. That means that there are a lot of ways it connects with the Star Wars universe.

First of all, the game makes allusions to Order 66. Although Cal and his master were stationed away from the Jedi Temple during Order 66, we still see a flashback scene where he has to escape the Clone Troopers sent to kill them. Obi-Wan’s warning message to the other Jedi all over the universe was even played in the flashback scene, as we all know that Kenobi sent out a warning back in Revenge of the Sith so that the other Jedi could stay away from the Clone Troopers.

Second, the entire story happens during the earlier part of the Jedi purge. During this entire time, the Inquisitors were already hunting Jedi down. We already know that the Inquisitors were quite active during the events of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The Inquisitors in this game are the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister.

Third, Dathomir is one of the most important planets in this game, and we have seen Dathomir and its denizens during the canon story of Star Wars: Clone Wars. In Clone Wars, the Nightsisters worked with Count Dooku and ended up betraying him. This led to the slaughter of all of the Nightsisters, except for one survivor named Merrin, who becomes Cal’s ally in the game and even told the story of how General Grievous slaughtered all of her sisters. Of course, the Nightbrothers, who are basically the people of Darth Maul, were also featured in the game.

Finally, there is the fact that Saw Gerrera is an important character in this game. Saw was first introduced during the events of Clone Wars, where he was still a rebellious young man. He was seen as a rebel upstart against the Empire in Jedi: Fallen Order. Saw Gerrera also appeared in other Star Wars stories, such as Rebels and Rogue One.

In many ways, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was able to craft an original story without stomping on any of the established events and facts that were seen in the previous canon Star Wars storylines. Nevertheless, most of its connections are loose at best, but we believe that Jedi: Survivor will be more connected with the other Star Wars stories once it gets released.

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  Ysmael is a self-professed geek that loves anything related to fantasy, sci-fi, video gaming, and anime. Spends his free time watching movies, TV shows and gaming, a lot.