Why Cal Kestis Could Turn to the Darkside After Star Wars Jedi Survivor! (Star Wars Lore & Theory)

Merrin is already a dark side user as a Nightsister. Maybe she can teach Cal on how to channel it without corrupting himself.

Honestly? Cal doesnt strike me as someone who'd fully delve into the darkside. He seems more like he'd be a gray jedi

I think there is a vast difference between Padme/Anakin and Cal/Merrin. Padme was incapable of stopping Anakin's fall to the dark side because she never really understood him to begin with. They were too different, with two very different pasts. Their relationship was very surface level, and almost entirely cloaked in deceit and secrecy, from the council, from the senate, from their closest friends, and lets be honest, even from themselves. They never really knew each other. The ending sequences of Revenge of the Sith bare all of this out over and over again. For Anakin to be deluded enough to really believe that Padme would be at his side to rule the galaxy together and "make things the way we want them to be" shows how little he ever really understood her. The entire concept is completely alien to her and the disbelief at what hes saying shows in her reaction. But the same goes for Padme as well, she really didnt know Anakin. When Obi-Wan tells her that Anakin has turned to the dark side, her first reaction is literally, "No, not Anakin, he couldnt". Well, actually he could, and he did, because as it turns out honey, you dont know your man anywhere as well as you think you do, despite the fact that the signs were always there, but she was incapable of recognizing them. When Anakin slaughtered the sandpeople that were responsible for his mothers death, Padme did what she could for him. She was sympathetic, she tried to comfort him, as best she could. But she did not understand him, and she did not understand how it changed him forever. Padme and Anakin were always destined for tragedy because they never should have been together in the first place. Cal and Merrin are completely different. They know and understand each other on a much deeper level. They are virtually identical to each other in what theyve experienced, what theyve lost, who theyve lost, and the pain they both carry inside. They are a nearly perfect support system for each other. They are stronger together. They each make the other stronger. When Cal is about to murder the imperial base commander(Denvyk? was that his name?), Merrin immediately recognizes the danger in whats going on, because she understands it. Shes been through it as well, and is still going through it. This understanding is why she is able to jump in and talk Cal off the ledge. Had this been Padme and Anakin, she might have held his hand, comforted him, but she could have done nothing to stop it. When Cal and Merrin are making their way to the temple on Tanalorr to confront Bode, it is Cal that stops and has a moment of clarity, realizing that by killing Bode, they are committing his daughter to the same pain and loss that Cal and Merrin have lived through. Merrin, who just a minute earlier had been warning Cal that Bode would fight to the death and they have no choice but to kill him to get the compass back, also stops in her tracks and instantly realizes that Cal is right, because they have that shared understanding. Cal and Merrin bring out the best in each other, while Anakin and Padme only enabled each other. Im not saying they didnt love each other, but it was a dark, secretive and destructive love that only led both of them to their downfall. As long as Cal has Merrin, he will never turn to the dark side. If Merrin dies, then maybe, but somehow I dont think Respawn would do that, because, regardless of whether or not Cal would riot, the fanbase certainly would.

I feel cal will be a big player in actually finding true balance between light and dark.

I do feel like the temptations will continue to rise as the stakes rise as well. This game kept presenting temptations; but also evoked a NEED to use the dark side (as in the end, during the beating). One of the hardships for Kal and other survivors is that the Jedi of the Old Republic were so far fallen from what they had set out to be. So, if we accept that the video games mimic the main trilogy in theme (which they kind of do so far), most likely the third game will be about Both finding balance and starting something new.

If Merrin dies Cal probably would go on a rampage and I think the best way to stop him from falling to the darkside is the mirror in Bogano. In JFO he saw himself as inquisitor. This time he would see a jedi for him to realise what monster he became. That way Cal would become a grey jedi.

Merrin saving cal gives me the hope that cal will never let her go and be with her always since she was the one person to pull him form the darkness cal understands that every Jedi faces the dark side it’s how they deal with it that defines them his love for his friends and more importantly merrin is what drives that passion to be a grey force user, much like Luke in the legend timeline Kinda a reversal of Revan and bastila from a certain point of view Also I’m thinking that cal could be the cannon version of legend Luke skywalker since a lot of the stuff he does almost mirrors him in that way

I feel like Cal facing the dark side will be one of the major themes of the next game, he embraces the darkness multiple times in survivor but there's no feeling that he goes too far. He will continue to embrace the darkness and possibly slowly begin to get comfortable with it. I'm excited for what's next in this story

I want the third game to have Kata be Cal's padawan, and he has to protect her, maybe that would have him rely on the darkside more, maybe Merrin would die and Kata would have to keep Cal from losing himself, or maybe Cal could die or become the main villain or something and we end up playing as Kata, that sequence when you "die" as Cal, and then respawn as Cere, then die as Cere to fucking Darth Vader, before he trudges off and Cal finds her dead body felt like such a fever dream, I want more of that lol

I want to see some type of darkside abilities and stuff the reason why cal going to the darkside is interesting is because we never expect a character like cal to act like such and its amazing

I think he will attemot to find balance. Embracing the dark in some moments, but holding to the light in the other times.

I think they're setting him up to be a Grey Jedi. He's too against the Empire and the Dark Side to fully embrace it. If anything he'll utilize it as a power in no-win situations but otherwise I think he'll avoid it.

Cal uses the dark side a lot and he’s already accepted it as a means to achieve his goals.

i hope in the next game cal is using the dark side in secret cause hes afraid of loosing everyone since loosing cerre took a toll on him and now wants the power to help and protect them but also trying to stay on the path he believes being a jedi i think this could be a good story as we have seen ezra using the dark side for a little while hopefully we can something similar with cal using the dark side for good or so he thinks

I think this is the last story we get for Cal. Unless he gets a padawan, there isn't any more arc for him.

Seems possible. He was super conflicted by the end. But I think Merrin will help. I'm just curious how the story progresses in general

Kestis is a character that is one that is similar to what many would call "a more rational Anakin Skywalker." Though Cal has dipped his toes in it, he doesn't keep splashing around in it, and eventually drowning in it like Anakin did. He has pursued a path to save all he had cared about, like Anakin, but he was aware of the Dark side when it flared up, not attempt to rationalize his actions and turn a blind eye to it. Say Cal explores the galaxy after many years, he realizes that the Empire has fractured. He reenters the galaxy to the Empire, fractured, and a new Repiblic in its place. He begins hearing of a Jedi bringing balance to the Force by the name Skywalker. Initially thinking it was Anakin, he decides to investigate. When he realizes that it is Luke, he begins to question how long he was truly gone. This gives him a mixed reaction; happy that the Empire is gone (so the galaxy thinks), but sad about all the time he had missed, disappointed that he wasn't part of the downfall of the Empire, that he couldn't save any more Jedi. As he tries to open himself up to the state of the Galaxy, he begins to let himself worry about how Merrin, Kata, Greez, and possibly any biological kid he may have would be affected by the changed galaxy. If he encounters another Dark Side threat, his solo encounters would slowly drive him towards the dark, fearing that he would lose what he had fought to maintain. If he does submit completely, it would be something very deep taken away from him again that would unshackle the emotions he had trained to keep at bay.

i have a feeling that he will not fall per say but he will use the dark side or atleast some of its powers. in a sense become like marrin or a redeemed assag who has to use the dark side for their abilitys but did not fall (thou both cononicaly did). now i dont expect him to be blasting out force lightning or anything but using magic yes. their are already a bunch of her skills he wants to learn after all so it makes sense

I think they have many choices? They can let him fall to the dark side and fall completely just to come back to the light and become a grey Jedi and for this he needs to accepts the flaws of the Jedi and why they would not survive the empire the way they are and how he needs to become something else

I'd love to see the next game bring in a major character from the movies/TV. There aren't many they could interweave into Cal's story without breaking the lore, but I think they could do it with Darth Maul. It would be a good way to have a darkside arc for Cal (which they seem to be teasing). They both have a personal vendetta against Vader at this point, and him being from Dathomir would add a layer of trust because of his relationship with Merrin (Unless Merrin knows about Maul, but i don't think so because she was kind of ignorant about Jedi/Sith in the first game). Maybe they return to Dathomir for Merrin to retrieve something and run into Maul at the temple