What Star Wars fans need to absorb from Jedi: Fallen Order’s story

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is an expansive, galaxy-hopping adventure. You play as Cal Kestis and jump from planet to planet fighting stormtroopers, murdering local wildlife, and solving puzzles in giant tombs. But what might not be so clear to you is why exactly you’re doing any of this. Fallen Order’s story is full of proper nouns and Star Wars universe details, and if you spend too long exploring a planet you might overlook its narrative purpose in the grand scope of the series.

To help you figure out exactly what’s going on, we’ve connected the dots on a few key moments, without spoiling any of the game’s biggest reveals in the process.

[Ed. note: this post contains slight spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.]

What is a Zeffo?

Zeffo is two things at once: the name of a planet that Cal visits during Jedi: Fallen Order and the race of beings originally from that planet. A new race to the Star Wars universe, Zeffo are an ancient people that were highly attuned to the Force. Their reach spread throughout the galaxy, but the most phenomenal examples of their power existed on their own planet, where Cal finds tombs designed by the ancient race. These tombs have force power-puzzles, designed as tests for anyone who enters.

Why does Cal have to go to those tombs?

Because Eno Cordova, Cere’s Jedi Master, was obsessed with the Zeffo and used their tombs to hide certain pieces of a key. Cordova hid these pieces as best he could because he wanted to ensure that only a true Jedi could reach them. And what better tests to use than those designed by the Zeffo? All those tests and trials eventually lead to a key that opens a Vault on the planet Bagano, where Cordova hid an important Jedi Holocron.

What is a Jedi Holocron exactly?

A Holocron is a device used to keep information, usually very private or secret information. There are Jedi Holocrons and Sith Holocrons. The only way to access a Jedi Holocron is by using the Force, which opens the device and allows it to reveal its information — the Sith Holocrons require the dark side of the Force to open, which actually makes them a little more secure. Holocrons can store an incredible amount of information, but it might be easiest to think of them as something like a password protected USB drive, but for Force users.

Image: Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

What exactly is on Cordova’s hidden Holocron?

This particular Holocron contains the identities of many force-sensitive children and younglings throughout the galaxy. It seems Cordova’s idea was to use this list as a contingency plan should anything ever happen to the Jedi. So, in a post-Order 66 world, this list represents a chance to restore the Jedi Order to its former glory. But the existence of the list is dangerous because if Darth Vader and his Jedi-killing Inquisitors get their hands on it, they’ll have a list of potential threats that they can hunt down before they become a real issue. Because it’s both an asset and a threat to the safety of the beings on the list, Cal and Cere are after the Holocron.

Bonus question: What does Taron Malicos have to do with any of this?

Nothing really. Malicos is a former Jedi who has taken over Dathomir after the fall of the Republic. While he does prevent Cal from accessing the Tomb of Kujet on the planet, it doesn’t seem like he has any desire for the Holocron, or any real awareness of the Zeffo and their various tombs.

Update: A previous version of this story speculated that the Holocron might automatically update periodically with the identity of new Force-sensitive beings. However, Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive Matt Martin has clarified in a tweet that it does not. Instead, Martin says, “Its contents are basically the ‘final class of Jedi.’ They were next to be picked up... had Order 66 not happened. So at the time of the game, they’re all around 5 years old.”