Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order takes place in-between the canon timelines of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. In this timeframe, Respawn has a lot of content and characters to explore that would be appropriate for the era and for the sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, to cover.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s cinematic reveal teaser at the Star Wars Celebration shared a brief and ambiguous look at several characters, and there has already been much speculation about whom a couple of them may be. Still, there is an opportunity to further capitalize on the dissolution of the Jedi Order and the Rebel uprising in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Just as Saw Gerrera was featured in an era-appropriate cameo, so could a wholly unique Jedi Master from the prequel trilogy who is assumed dead: Mace Windu.
Mace Windu Could Still Be Alive in Star Wars Canon
Windu was last seen in Revenge of the Sith, where he was seemingly killed while attempting to execute a criminally convicted Chancellor Palpatine. In defense of the Chancellor, Anakin Skywalker dismembers Windu before Windu’s blow can fall, and the Chancellor reveals himself as the Emperor before striking Windu with Force lightning and hurling him through an open window.
The prevailing Star Wars continuity has been perfectly content keeping Windu dead since this scene, with no hint toward his survival or revival. However, it is also completely plausible that the purple-bladed lightsaber wielder could have survived. Other characters have survived far worse than Windu’s supposed fate; dismemberment is sort of a rite of passage in Star Wars, and fortunately dismemberment via a lightsaber also results in an instantaneous cauterization of the wound.
Further, Obi-Wan Kenobi was capable of falling a great distance onto a flying vehicle in Coruscant himself in Attack of the Clones, and it is probable that another such vehicle could have caught Windu on his descent. Force lightning would surely be a doozy and could potentially leave Windu scarred, but Luke Skywalker was apparently able to endure the Emperor’s Force lightning and come out unscathed afterward. As such, it was likely not enough to kill or severely harm Windu, either.
Even if he had been severely injured and incapacitated by the assault, Windu’s body could have been found and placed in a bacta tank to recover. The possibilities for his survival and a potential reprisal in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are infinite, while still considering the idea that the character could also be deceased or shelved indefinitely.
Mace Windu Would Make for a Perfect Survivor Character in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s narrative cliffhanger implies that Cal and the others are not going to go looking for other Padawan children and Force users since that could lead the Inquisitors to them, and thus they must find their paths on their own. This probably means that Cal will not be following the guidance of any more holographic Jedi Masters whose wisdom is documented in holocrons, but there is still an opportunity for Windu to appear, and his sudden reprisal would certainly make sense with regard to the sequel’s Survivor motif.
The subtitle could refer exclusively to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's mysterious individual suspended in a bacta tank, or it could refer to a host of characters as a recurring theme in the wake of Order 66 and the fallen Jedi Order. But there is also an argument for Star Wars leaving Windu’s character dead and buried.
Windu does not need to be rehashed in order to satiate fans’ nostalgia, and his death is significant in Anakin’s descent to the dark side of the Force and his allegiance to the Emperor. The past could be left to the past, and instead Star Wars Jedi: Survivor could choose to concentrate its narrative on new characters introduced to the canon, as some have speculated the bacta tank patient to be. Either way, it will be interesting to see what characters do appear, and there may still be a chance that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor shares more at Summer Game Fest.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.