It's a bit of a surprise that no Jedi appear in Star Wars Outlaws is an immersive scoundrel simulator, through and through focusing almost entirely on the seedy criminal underbelly of the galaxy far, far away. If it weren't for the aliens, spaceships, and laser guns, it could almost be a gritty crime drama grounded in reality.

But it's not - it's still a Star Wars story at the end of the day, which makes the total exclusion of Jedi from all elements of the plot more than a little bit confusing. But as it turns out, there are a handful of perfectly good reasons why there are no Jedi in Star Wars Outlaws when considering the game's angle and place in canon.

Jedi Wouldn't Make Sense With Star Wars Outlaws' Setting

Star Wars Outlaws Is Set During The Original Trilogy

The main reason why there are no Jedi in Star Wars Outlaws is that the game takes place during the original trilogy, during which there are few Jedi left alive, and even fewer out in the open. Specifically, Star Wars Outlaws takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, during which the Galactic Civil War is still raging on. Most Jedi were killed long before the war even began, at the very tail end of the sequel trilogy timeline, when Order 66 identified them as traitors to the Galactic Republic, effectively sentencing them to death.

A handful of Jedi, like those most prominently seen in the original trilogy (Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi), did survive Order 66. At least one, Star Wars Jedi protagonist Cal Kestis, attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order, with results that won't be quite clear until the conclusion of the third game in the trilogy. But those who did survive were driven into hiding by clone trooper pursuits. In the intervening years, instruction of further Jedi padawans ceased, and older Jedi masters slowly died off, leaving the entirety of the Order trending towards extinction.

For a Jedi to become involved in the world of scoundrels and smugglers (i.e., where Star Wars Outlaws is set) would be akin to self-sacrifice. As Kay learns very early in Star Wars Outlaws, most of the criminal underworld would happily sell someone out for a little bit of pocket money. A living Jedi would likely fetch a hefty bounty from the Empire, and there are few who would hesitate to claim it. As a result, most Jedi simply avoid the kind of places Kay Vess hangs around in as a matter of practicality, and so they don't show up in Star Wars Outlaws.

Jedi Are Closely Allied With The Rebels - Kay Vess Isn't

Star Wars Outlaws Eschews Franchise Tropes

The few Jedi who do exist out in the open tend to align themselves with the Rebel Alliance, if only because of their common cause. Having lost friends and colleagues to Order 66, the Jedi are firsthand witnesses to the tyranny of the empire. The Rebel Alliance represents, for many, an opportunity to strike back at that tyranny, freeing the galaxy from oppression and quite possibly allowing the Jedi Order to flourish once again. To others, it simply represents a means of survival.

The Rebels do make an occasional appearance in Star Wars Outlaws, but Kay Vess is pointedly resistant to ing them throughout the majority of the game. She compares them to "just another syndicate," corrupt and manipulative in their own right. While Kay is eventually convinced that the Rebel Alliance is at least somewhat worthy of her implicit , she never fully s them, preferring to seek her own fortune and maintain a healthy distance. As a result, she never encounters those Jedi who have entwined themselves with the Rebels.

Star Wars Outlaws Is Kay's Story Alone

A Smaller Scope

As helpfully delineated by the three core rulebooks of Fantasy Flight's Star Wars Roleplaying Game, there are effectively three different spheres to the Star Wars setting: that of the Jedi and the Force, that of the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, and that of the scoundrels and the crime syndicates. Occasionally, the bigger, more epic bits of Star Wars media - think the main trilogies - portray rich intersections of these three spheres in a converging Venn diagram of storylines. In the original trilogy, for example, Luke represents the Force sphere, Leia the Rebel/Empire sphere, and Han Solo the scoundrel sphere.

Star Wars spinoffs, however, like Outlaws, generally focus on one of the three spheres. Without even leaving the franchise's video game output, Star Wars Jedi represents the Force sphere, Squadrons the Rebel sphere, and Star Wars Outlaws is completely entrenched in the scoundrel sphere. It does occasionally go off on tangents into the Rebel/Empire side of the setting, but those tangents are brief and far between, and it avoids touching on the Jedi sphere entirely.

In a similar vein, Star Wars Jedi incorporates some Rebel Alliance stories, but leaves the scoundrel factor out almost entirely.

This allows it to tell a more grounded story, one in which the stakes are governed by a complex network of inter-syndicate politics. As a result, Star Wars Outlaws is entirely the story of Kay Vess' journey from rags to riches; nothing more, and nothing less. The intergalactic conflict between diametrically opposed political ideologies scarcely enters into it, which prevents Kay's arc from being diminished in relation to a larger conflict. If it weren't for the aliens, light-speed spaceships, and laser guns, it could almost be a real-world crime drama.

So while it's a little unusual to see a Star Wars property without any mention of its most memorable lore conceit, there are a few perfectly good reasons why Outlaws doesn't touch on the Jedi. Their exclusion from the game doesn't mean they were forgotten; rather, it seems a calculated choice that allows the game to focus more closely on its grounded story and unique protagonist. The result is that Star Wars Outlaws is unlike any other game released in the franchise to date, an overdue foray into an underexplored region of the galaxy.