Where Cameron Monaghan's New Star Wars Video Game Fits In The Movies' Timeline

Cal Kestis seeing the Order 66 transmission

Cameron Monaghan may be best known for his roles on television shows like Shameless and Gotham, but this fall he is hopping to a different medium for a story set in a galaxy far, far away. The actor stars in the new video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from developer Respawn Entertainment and publisher EA. The game will follow Cameron Monaghan’s Cal Kestis in a fascinating period in the Star Wars timeline, unexplored by the Saga films.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order slots in to the canon timeline of the Saga films between Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, according to Business Insider. Along with the 30-year gap between Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this 19-year gap represents one of the most intriguing time periods in the galaxy that fans want to see explored.

After the fall of the Republic in Revenge of the Sith, the Empire spread, tightening its grip over the galaxy while the first sparks of rebellion began to form, eventually leading to the events in the film timeline of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and A New Hope.

We've seen some of this period in the aforementioned Rogue One, as well as Solo: A Star Wars Story and other canon stories outside of the movies, but 19 years is a long time and a lot can happen. This is the time period that will be further fleshed out in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and it sounds like the game will be set closer to Episode III than Episode IV.

Cameron Monaghan stars as Cal Kestis, a Jedi Knight who, like Kanan Jarrus from Star Wars Rebels, an animated series also set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, survived Order 66. How he managed to escape the slaughter is unclear, but Cal Kestis will be on the run from the Empire in the game and he will start out on the new planet called Bracca.

The reveal trailer for the game came at Star Wars Celebration back in April and it teased a story where Cameron Monaghan’s Cal Kestis is on the run, unable to trust anyone or anything but the Force as the Empire hunts him and those like him, hoping to stamp out all dissent and any threats for good. It’s that paranoia and bleakness that makes this part of the Star Wars timeline so interesting, and it will be cool to see it explored.

Cal Kestis may be one of the few Jedi Knights left post-Order 66, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be fighting alone. Like most Star Wars stories, he’ll interact with a motley crew of characters, including the adorable droid BD-1 and Saw Gerrera from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rogue One. You can see Forest Whitaker reprising his role as Saw in the Fallen Order gameplay demo revealed at E3 in the video below:

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order looks to be a gorgeous and cinematic new exploration of the galaxy far, far away in a cool time period we can’t get enough of. The game releases on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC on November 15.

That’s just part of a great end of the year for Star Wars fans because The Mandalorian arrives with the launch of Disney+ on November 12 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker blasts into theaters on December 20. Request your days off accordingly and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest headlines from a galaxy far, far away.

Nick Evans

Nick grew up in Maryland has degrees in Film Studies and Communications. His life goal is to walk the earth, meet people and get into adventures. He’s also still looking for The Adventures of Pete and Pete season 3 on DVD if anyone has a lead.