New STAR WARS Book Reveals Luke Skywalker Knew Cal Kestis Survived Order 66

There’s a cool new piece of Star Wars canon making the rounds, and fans of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are definitely going to want to pay attention to it.

A newly updated Star Wars reference book confirms that Luke Skywalker knew that Cal Kestis survived Order 66, and that opens up a whole lot of interesting questions about where Cal’s story eventually goes.

The reveal comes from Star Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi: The Chronicles of Luke Skywalker, an updated version of Star Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi written by Marc Sumerak.

A fan shared one of the pages from the book online, and it includes a passage written from Luke’s perspective that directly references Cal Kestis and his former Jedi Master, Jaro Tapal.

Luke writes: "Order 66 might have seemed like a quick and efficient method of eliminating the Jedi, but not every member of the Order succumbed to this act of betrayal.

“A small handful of Jedi managed to escape execution, such as Master Jaro Tapal's Padawan Cal Kestis, but their numbers continued to fall during the years that followed."

That’s a pretty big reveal considering Lucasfilm still hasn’t shown us what ultimately happens to Cal after the events of Jedi: Survivor.

The game takes place in 9 BBY, which is nine years before Luke destroys the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. By the end of Survivor, Cal is still alive, still fighting, and still operating in the shadows of the Empire.

But after that? Nothing. No appearance in any later canon stories. No mention in the films or live-action shows. Just a massive question mark hanging over his future.

That’s why this little detail stands out so much. Luke doesn’t just know Cal existed. He specifically knows Cal survived Order 66 and even identifies him as Jaro Tapal’s Padawan. That suggests Luke eventually learned details about Cal’s life and history somewhere along the way.

The updated book itself is framed as being written in 34 ABY, decades after the fall of the Empire, but there’s no indication of when Luke actually discovered this information.

There are a few possibilities. Luke may have learned about Cal through Rebel Alliance records since Cal worked alongside Saw Gerrera during the events of Jedi: Survivor. But there’s another wrinkle to all of this that longtime fans immediately pointed out.

In Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Yoda tells Luke that he will soon be “the last of the Jedi.” Luke never argues with him or suggests otherwise. So if Lucasfilm wants to keep that moment intact, it probably means Luke didn’t learn about Cal until sometime after Yoda’s death.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that Luke and Cal actually met at some point after Return of the Jedi. That would honestly be awesome to see explored someday.

Another fun possibility is that Luke learned about Cal through Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost. After all, Cal crossed paths with Darth Vader more than once, and Vader clearly knew exactly who he was.

For now, though, Lucasfilm is keeping that mystery locked away. With a third Cal Kestis game still expected to happen eventually, fans are now going to spend even more time wondering whether Cal survives into the New Republic era or if Luke simply uncovered old records about a Jedi who was long gone by then.