The release of Star Wars Jedi Survivor may have gotten pushed back, but Sam Maggs’ novel Star Wars Jedi Battle Scars is still right on schedule. Releasing on March 7th, Battle Scars will take us on an adventure with Cal and the Mantis crew between the events of Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor. If you still need to play the game and plan to, I highly suggest not reading ahead. We will be briefly going over the events of the first game before moving on to the novel.
What Happened in Fallen Order
Jedi Fallen Order takes place five years after the events of Order 66. The Empire has been established, and the Jedi have been seemingly wiped out. Cal Kestis, a young Jedi Padawan, has been forced into hiding, working in a scrap yard on the planet Bracca. However, when he uses his force abilities to save his friend from certain death, he is caught.
Before he is captured and killed by the Second Sister, a malicious inquisitor, he is rescued by Cere and Greez. Cere is an ex-Jedi who swore off the force after a traumatic event, and Greez, a gambling addicted Lateron. Together, they embark on a quest to rebuild the Jedi Order. They find a lead from Cere’s master, Eno Cordova who hid a special Holocron that contains the names and locations of force-sensitive children.
Through a series of trials and tribulations, Cal slowly rekindles his link to the force. Struggling with his guilty conscience over witnessing the death of his master, Jaro Tapal, he comes to terms with the events and finally lays it to rest.
Cal successfully defeats the Second Sister and retrieves the Holocron. And after surviving an encounter with the infamous Darth Vader, Cal decides to destroy the Holocron in order to protect the children from being caught and used by the Empire. The game then ends with Cal asking his crew, “So, where to now?”
Cal and Cere Face Off Against the Fifth Brother in Battle Scars
Jedi Battle Scars takes place after the events of Fallen Order. During a routine mission, Cal and the rest of the crew stumble upon a female stormtrooper who deserted from the Empire. In exchange for helping her start a new life, she leads them to an invaluable tool that will help them fight against the Empire. However, this mission will force them to face an inquisitor, the Fifth Brother.
In the recently released excerpt, Cal and Cere are seen fighting the Fifth Brother. You might be familiar with him as he was in Star Wars Rebels and appeared in Kenobi. You can read a part of the excerpt below:
Reaching out through the Force was second nature to Cere at this point in her life. It was as much one of her senses as sight or smell, a constant input and output from her energetic body that pulsed into the world around her, flowed through her mind, seeped out of her pores. She let her mind roll out through her palm, across the rapidly closing space between herself and the onrushing Inquisitor, into his lightsaber, and all at once time slowed.
Her nerves felt electrified as she rushed down each side of the sword, its blazing atoms searing her brain, and she willed it, just enough, not too much to get her into trouble, to hold.
She knew what Cal would see, from where he was getting back on his feet. He would see the Inquisitor slow like he was hitting a wall of water, his feet betraying his own orders to continue their forward motion. He would see the red lightsaber and its circular threat halt, frozen mid-spin, returning to its less dangerous form. He would watch the Inquisitor sweat as he tried to push back through the Force, to regain control over himself and over his lightsaber, and he would see the dawning fear on the Inquisitor’s face as he realized he was outmatched.
Cere had faced down Darth Vader himself and lived. She had come the closest any living soul ever had to ending the Sith’s reign of terror over the galaxy. She was possibly the most powerful remaining Jedi in existence.
And she wasn’t going to let this punk forget it.
She felt the pushback through the Force, the Inquisitor’s attempt at ruining her control, and bit down on her bottom lip. There was a way to end him through the Force, just like this, and it would be so easy. It would be an assured victory. To flow up from his lightsaber over his arms, to spill over his shoulders and creep around his neck before he even became suspicious, before he was even able to notice. All she’d have to do was curl her fingers into a claw as she squeezed the Force around his neck. She would watch the light drain from his eyes and she would know that the Mantis crew would be safe, that the future of the Jedi Order would be one step closer to assured.
Connecting to that energy—to the dark side—that was how she’d held out for so long against Vader.
She knew it, and Vader had, too.
Pretty riveting wouldn’t you agree? You can read the rest of the excerpt here.
Leading Up to Jedi Survivor
Five years later after the events of Fallen Order, Cal is seemingly now alone on his journey and fight against the empire. What happened during the events of Battle Scars? The Mantis crew, a group of outcasts bound by tragedy who saw each other as family, seemingly now has dissipated. We will have to wait and find out in April.
While the news of Jedi Survivor being delayed did sadden some fans, there were several positives about pushing the date back a few weeks. Not only would it allow Respawn more time to iron out a few bugs, but it also gives us a chance to read Battle Scars. Judging by some of the sneak peeks we’ve received, it looks like it’s going to be a good time. For those who love Cal and the rest of the Mantis crew, reading the book will fill help fill in the necessary information that will make us appreciate these characters even more.
Star Wars Jedi Battle Scars releases on March 7th, 2023.
Star Wars Jedi Survivor releases April 28th, 2023 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S..
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