Mandalorian Season 2 theory: A video game Jedi will protect Baby Yoda
Protect Baby Yoda at all costs.
While the Skywalker Saga may be over, there's plenty of new Star Wars content in the pipeline to get excited about. On Disney+, Clone Wars is airing its final season and the hit debut season of The Mandalorian provided a glimpse into a totally different aspect a galaxy far, far away. Late last year, EA and Respawn found wide acclaim with the action-adventure video game Jedi: Fallen Order. Now, some intrepid Star Wars sleuths have come up with a pretty compelling idea for how the lead character may live on the rapidly expanding Star Wars universe, and it may include a live-action role.
Unlike similar games in the genre, Fallen Order does not allow character customization, instead providing a single playable character: Cal Kestis, a Jedi padawan who's one of the few survivors of Order 66. Cal was played by Gotham and Shameless actor Cameron Monaghan using motion capture à la Death Stranding. There's reason to suspect we'll be seeing the ginger-haired actor's recognizable face again, possibly even reprising his role as Cal in The Mandalorian Season 2.
Star Wars fansite The Sandcrawler Blog shared the theory earlier this month, explaining how the timelines connect. Jedi: Fallen Order begins five years after Order 66, known in the Star Wars fandom as 14 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin). The events of The Mandalorian occur around 9 ABY, meaning there's a 24-year gap between the two narratives. However, according to a recent Kotaku report, Fallen Order is getting a sequel. The Sandcrawler Blog speculates Fallen Order 2 will follow Cal through the events of the original trilogy, narrowing the gap between the timelines.
From a purely logistical point of view, it seems feasible that he could pop up in The Mandalorian: Monaghan's two long-running roles as Ian Gallagher on Shameless and Jerome Valeska on Gotham have just recently wrapped.
From a canonical standpoint, it also makes perfect sense. The end of The Mandalorian saw the title character aiming to find the "sorcerers" who hold the same powers of The Child. Surely Cal, now 23 years older than when we met him first, would be in a position to help out the bounty hunter. Cal would even be able to recognize The Child as the same species as Yoda, since he was studying to be a Jedi Knight at the time of Order 66. He could even take The Child under his wing, if Mando can bear to part with the little bundle of green joy.
Cal and his orange lightsaber (a perk for Fallen Order preorders.)
Tutelage isn't the only thing Cal could offer: the last shot of The Mandalorian Chapter 8 saw Moff Gideon emerge from his ship wielding a darksaber. There's no way Mando and his crew can face against that alone: they need a lightsaber. Cal's got one. It would be a win-win.
Although other theories surmise The Child's mentor will be Clone Wars protagonist Ahsoka Tano, translating an animated character to live-action presents considerable challenges.
No matter which Jedi it is, whoever The Mandalorian encounters in Season 2 will have their work cut out for them.
The Mandalorian Season 2 premieres October 2020 on Disney+.
