The romance between Cal and Merrin in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor succeeds in a major way where the Star Wars' sequel trilogy failed. Both Jedi: Survivor and the Star Wars sequel trilogy showed attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order after it fell in Revenge of the Sith, but Jedi: Survivor arguably showed how it could evolve and change better from its more restrictive past, with Cal's romance being one factor of this.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor]
Since their interactions in Jedi: Fallen Order, it's clear that there was an attraction between Cal Kestis and the Nightsister Merrin. Sam Maggs' official canon novel, Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars furthered this, taking place sometime between Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, before the Stinger Mantis crew parted ways. While Merrin had a short-lived romantic relationship with an Imperial deserter called Fret, Battle Scars made it clear that Cal had romantic feelings for Merrin, but struggled with them due to having no frame of reference due to the rules the Jedi Order had surrounding personal attachments.
Cal And Merrin Finally Express Their Feelings For Each Other In Jedi: Survivor
Jedi: Survivor takes place years later, and Cal and Merrin finally express their feelings for each other. Merrin hastily kisses Cal on Jedha before fighting a giant excavator, and although Cal attempts to bring up the topic, it takes until much later in the game for the two to discuss their emotions and become a couple. After retrieving the Koboh Abyss com from Dagan Gera, the Stinger Mantis crew celebrates, and Cal addresses the Jedi Order's rule about attachments.
Despite attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order with former Jedi, Cere, Cal comes to realize that the order is gone, and it's time to move on and leave it behind. Although wanting a romantic relationship with Merrin is a key component of this, Cal understands that the Jedi Order may not have been right all the time, which ultimately led to its downfall. This new attitude suggests that his idea of a new Jedi Order could pick and choose elements based on the failings of the previous one and a Jedi's own personal experiences and abilities.
Jedi: Survivor Explores A Post-Jedi Order Galaxy's Potential Better Than The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
One of the most compelling and unique parts of the Star Wars sequel trilogy was Luke Skywalker's mentality that 'it's time for the Jedi to end' in The Last Jedi. Unfortunately, the series backtracked with this to include more appealing fanservice moments in The Rise of Skywalker; although it could be argued that this was detrimental to the trilogy as a whole and made it feel disted upon its conclusion. The idea that an older Luke, who was once heavily optimistic could have fallen and become a broken shell of a man who has seen the failings of the Jedi teachings one too many times would have been an interesting angle if Disney had chosen to explore it.
The light and dark sides of the Force have traditionally been very binary in Star Wars movie mythos, and although it makes it easy to follow who is good or evil, this lack of a gray area hasn’t done it many favors from a storytelling standpoint. Luke tried to restart the Jedi Order between the original and sequel trilogy and failed because he repeated the mistakes of old. This was highlighted when he tried to teach Grogu in The Book of Boba Fett and forced him to choose between letting go of emotional bonds completely and becoming a Jedi, or holding on tighter and returning to his Mandalorian father figure, Din Djarin. The Last Jedi directly addresses Luke's failings, as Yoda's Force ghost tells Luke that masters "are what [students] grow beyond".
Cal's path seems to directly mirror Yoda's sentiment, as he has had glimpses into what the Dark Side of the Force could hold. He momentarily succumbs to it in Jedi: Survivor when escaping Nova Garon, and then later when defeating his former ally Bode Akuna; but Cal never lets it fully control him. It's these moments of gray and knowing when to harness elements from both sides of the force, combined with Cal even opting to leave some rules behind that show the potential of what a post-Jedi Order galaxy that still includes Jedi could hold. Merrin is aware of this too, comforting Cal at one point as he worries about losing himself to the Dark Side, and tells him if he ever strayed from his path, she would "guide him back".
“guide her through the darkness”. Merrin and Cal will likely both serve as mentors as Merrin has already appeared to take on this role by offering words of wisdom based on her own traumas to Kata in the moments after Bode's death. With this in mind, Cal and Merrin's relationship - particularly with how they have learned to overcome their similar traumatic pasts and make each other stronger - could allow more perspectives on the teachings than most Padawans would receive.
Although Cal declared that the Jedi Order was gone - and by the time of A New Hope years later many seem to believe this to be true - it's unclear how well Cal's straying from the rules will play out and whether this is yet another failed attempt to revive the Jedi, or merely a more underground group with fewer people involved. The recently announced, yet untitled "New Jedi Order" movie indicates that Rey - who, like Cal, channels the light side of the Force but understands the dark - is going to attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order following the sequel trilogy.
It's yet to be seen how close to the original Jedi Order teachings Rey will stay considering she has already seen and learned from Luke Skywalker's failings, but hopefully, the new film will not be afraid to lean into her experiences and what she learned in The Last Jedi to make for a more interesting kind of master. Until then, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's storytelling is certainly succeeding more through its relationships at offering a new perspective on what the way of the Jedi could be when detaching itself from the more dogmatic rules of the past.
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