Summary

• New Star Wars Outlaws trailer teases Kay Vess' adventure, allies, and enemies in the criminal underworld.
• Massive Entertainment crafts game set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, incorporating new storylines and nostalgic nods.
• Star Wars Outlaws introduces iconic crime syndicates like Crimson Dawn, hints at Han Solo's Carbonite journey, and showcases original Sarlacc pit.

Star Wars Outlaws' new story trailer provided the best look at Kay Vess' adventure yet, explaining her motives while introducing some of her allies and enemies as she attempts to navigate the Outer Rim's criminal underworld. Many elements of the wider Star Wars universe were also teased through this new footage, from iconic creatures to characters who haven't been seen on-screen in years.

Star Wars Outlaws is set in an era that hasn't been visited in gaming in almost 30 years, being set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Therefore, it seems like Massive Entertainment has taken the opportunity to establish some of the newer storylines from recent comics through its game, while also incorporating nods to moments that all fans will know and love from the original trilogy of films.

Crimson Dawn Is Revealed

Along With A Character Not Seen On-Screen Since Solo: A Star Wars Story

While the Hutts, Pykes, and a new clan called the Ashiga were previously confirmed to be in Star Wars Outlaws, the Crimson Dawn is mentioned by name during Sliro's meeting with the Outer Rim's major organizations at the start of the trailer - which can be found on Ubisoft's Youtube channel. At this moment, the camera pans across a character who could be Qi'ra, the face of Crimson Dawn during this time, who was introduced in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Qi'ra and the Crimson Dawn's role in Star Wars Outlaws would make perfect sense, as the recent canon Marvel comic stories show that they played a significant role during this era, initiating the Syndicate War by using agents to cause rifts between the various criminal factions across the galaxy.

The Ashiga - which has been created for Star Wars Outlaws - did not seem to be present during this meeting, but it's known that this syndicate is situated on the frozen planet Kijimi, which was introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, and Kay meets with them later in the trailer.

Han Solo In Carbonite Establishes Star Wars Outlaws' Timeline

And Could Hint At Comic Events Being Featured In The Game

Kay can be seen standing in Jabba's palace looking at a frozen Han Solo encased in Carbonite, which may let on more about Star Wars Outlaws' timeline than viewers may first think. While it's already well known that the game takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the reveal trailer showed Solo's Carbonite being transported across Tatooine, suggesting that players may see some of the events that unfolded on the way to Jabba's palace.

If so, this could see the return of one of the series' most iconic bounty hunters, Boba Fett, as the War of the Bounty Hunters comics established that Crimson Dawn stole Solo in the War of the Bounty Hunters arc as bait for a trap before Boba Fett reacquired him. With the Carbonite secured in Jabba's Palace, where it was situated at the start of Return of the Jedi, in the new trailer, this makes it more possible that players will see some of these events unfold, potentially while working with Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn, or at least hear about them occurring off-screen while exploring Jabba's palace.

Some Major Crime Syndicates Are Still Missing

Two Of The Five Major Syndicates Haven't Been Shown Or Mentioned

Perhaps the most telling outcome of Sliro's meeting was some of the crime syndicates that aren't mentioned, notably, Black Sun and Crymorah. Black Sun was very active around this time, as shown in the now non-canon Shadows of the Empire multimedia event of the '90s, and was re-established in Disney's new canon during the fifth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in 2012. With how established Black Sun was, its omission suggests that the syndicate may be being downplayed in the promotional material for a larger role in Kay's story, especially with Sliro's bounty hunter later suggesting Kay is "mixed up in something bigger" during the story trailer.

Crymorah, however, has never been shown on screen but originated from James Luceno's novel Tarkin. The syndicate is formed of several major crime families who backed pirate gangs and used repurposed Separatist battle droids as their muscle as they conducted their nefarious schemes, with this group being called the Droid Gotra. Considering one of Kay's main allies, ND-5, is a battle-hardened, repurposed Separatist battle droid, it's possible that this group could be mentioned at least, even if the Crymorah remains unseen.

"A Rebellion That Won't Quit"

The Rebellion Is Growing, Posing A Greater Threat To The Empire

Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, it looked as though the rebellion was doomed, but Sliro's comment during his meeting with the major syndicates suggests that their forces are growing much larger at this time and posing an actual threat that the Empire can't ignore.

Sliro states that the Empire is too distracted by "a rebellion that won't quit", as one of his reasons for believing it's a "golden era" for crime. This further establishes that Star Wars Outlaws may take place closer to the opening of Return of the Jedi than the end of The Empire Strikes Back.

The Mon Calamari's Role In The Criminal Underworld

Danka's Information Broker Could Be Poking Fun At iral Ackbar

Kay's information broker, Danka, appears briefly in Star Wars Outlaws' new story trailer but was revealed last year in its gameplay footage as she shared she was cooperating with a corrupt Imperial officer who threatened criminal prosecution against Kay if a bribe is not provided to her, demonstrating some of the choices players would get to make and their consequences. The story trailer shows a moment from a different scene as Danka tells Kay: "Out here you live and die by your reputation. You wanna survive? Know the players."

Having a Mon Calamari working as a broker between syndicates and the Empire is an interesting choice considering the franchise's most well-known member of the species, iral Ackbar's immense disdain of the criminal underworld in the now non-canon Legends continuity. This was due to him being a slave to Moff Tarkin before A New Hope in that continuity, where he was often abused and degraded. Fortunately, Ackbar used the insider knowledge he acquired during his time with the Empire to assist the rebel forces, and became one of their master tacticians following his escape.

Kay Is Moved Over The Rancor Pit

One Moment Is Made More Amusing With A Return Of The Jedi Scene In Mind

Following Kay being physically thrown out of a meeting with the Pyke crime syndicate for still being "too new to this world", Star Wars Outlaws shows Kay's first meeting with Jabba as she turns to the Hutts. In an attempt at bravado, Kay opens the conversation by telling Jabba "Don't try anything" before his Gamorrean Guards push her into position toward him.

This moment has a dark element of humor for those who are familiar with Return of the Jedi, as it's apparent that the Gamorrean Guards aren't pushing Kay closer to Jabba, but rather over the Rancor pit. In Return of the Jedi, Luke was dropped into the pit along with a Gamorrean Guard, and while the towering Rancor ate the guard as Jabba watched with amusement, Luke was able to escape, dropping a large door down upon the creature's head.

The Rancor has appeared in several Star Wars games, from the Jabba's Palace map in 2005's Star Wars: Battlefront 2 to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's challenging boss fight in the Sodden Grotto on Koboh. With this in mind, it's likely that Kay will also have a run-in with the creature during her time on Tatooine.

Star Wars Outlaws Features The Original Sarlacc Pit

The Sarlacc Doesn't Have One Of Its Post-Special Editions Features

Another indication that Kay's conversation with Jabba doesn't go well is that Kay and Nix can later be seen sliding toward a Sarlacc pit during a daring chase, suggesting that Jabba sent her to die in the "Great Pit of Carkoon", much as he tried with Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. More surprisingly, Massive Entertainment seems to have used the original version of the Sarlacc from before George Lucas' 1997 Special Edition re-releases of the original trilogy as inspiration.

While the original Sarlacc was a seemingly never-ending void with razor-sharp teeth around the edge, the version seen in the Special Editions of the film and subsequent releases was intended to be far more animalistic, with the addition of an unintimidating beak in the middle, visible tentacles, and sound effects. According to The Book of Boba Fett - which originally showed Boba Fett escaping from a seemingly beakless Sarlacc as well, the beak is a retractable tongue and a secondary mouth, and its tentacles will pull its prey toward it.

Whether its beak was merely retracted or not, the version of the Sarlacc in Star Wars Outlaws' trailer doesn't seem to have moving tentacles either. While there are tentacle-like things around the edge, these seem lifeless and certainly don't try to pull Kay further into the pit, suggesting that Massive Entertainment took more inspiration from the classic Sarlacc than the later versions.

Source: Ubisoft/YouTube