Why Was Darth Vader in a Bacta Tank in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’? Did Cere Junda Injure Him?

Because Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a canon storyline within the Star Wars continuity, we know that the events of this video game affect the overall flow of events happening in the galaxy. Of course, we know that Survivor happens right around the same time as the events of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and one of the things that we saw in the Obi-Wan show was that Vader was introduced in a scene wherein he was in a Bacta tank. So, is it possible that Vader was in the Bacta tank because of the events in Jedi: Survivor?

In Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Jedi Master Cere Junda went up against Darth Vader. She almost defeated Vader but got killed before delivering the final blow. But it is possible that Vader was in a Bacta tank in Obi-Wan Kenobi due to his injuries in the fight against Cere.

Nearly killing Darth Vader is no small feat, and that means that Cere was a powerful Jedi Master that could do things that none of the other surviving Jedi could do at that time. But while she may have given Vader a tough fight, the Imperial enforcer was still too much for her as she lost her life. Nevertheless, the injuries she left on Vader may have been carried over to the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Cere Junda Nearly Killed Vader

All of the different events of the Star Wars canon storylines are connected to one another, and that’s why we often see canon appearances from notable characters in different Star Wars shows. Of course, while Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is a video game, it still is a part of the canon storyline of Star Wars. Whatever happens in the Star Wars Jedi video games will affect the continuity.

In Jedi: Survivor, we saw Cal Kestis embarking on his new quest to look for an ancient compass that could lead them to a planet that’s untouched and far away from the grasp of the Empire due to how difficult it is to get there. And it was important for him and his friends to get to that planet because it would serve as a safe haven for him and the other people hiding from the Empire’s wrath.

While doing so, he and his friends ran into trouble of the Imperial kind when Darth Vader and his army invaded the archives that Jedi Master Cere Junda built on a planet called Jedha.

Cal was off doing something just as important as protecting the Jedi archives. As such, it was up to Cere to try to slow down the Imperials looking to destroy the archives. That was when Darth Vader arrived to make things more interesting, as it was now up to Cere to try to stop the Sith enforcer from destroying the archives she had worked so hard to gather and protect.

The fight between Cere and Vader showcased how strong a true Jedi Master was. Junda gave Vader a tough fight even though we all know that the former Anakin Skywalker was almost unmatched by any Force user then. And while Vader may have taken the fight lightly during the earlier part, he discovered that he was in a serious situation when Cere gave her all in that duel.

Cere managed to cause some serious damage to Vader when she was able to bury him in a pile of burning rubble as she thought that she had killed the Sith Lord. Vader emerged from the rubble to resume the fight. In the end, Cere was able to push Vader’s back against a wall and tried to deliver the killing blow. However, the Sith Lord could still react quickly enough to evade Cere’s thrust and deliver a thrust of his own.

Master Junda died in that battle, as Cal Kestis couldn’t even say farewell to the person who acted as his mentor for five years. Meanwhile, Darth Vader survived the battle but was badly wounded as he limped away from Cere’s corpse. That means he saw one of the toughest fights he has ever seen in that duel against a true Jedi Master. And while he emerged victorious, it was clear that he nearly lost his life there.

Jedi: Survivor Could Have Taken Place Right Before Obi-Wan Kenobi

Of course, one of the things that we saw in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was that Darth Vader made his first appearance by emerging out of a Bacta tank. For those who don’t know, a Bacta tank serves as a way to speed up a person’s recovery. In most cases, it helps a person deal with permanent injuries, as was the case for Boba Fett, who was left severely injured after spending time in the belly of a Sarlacc.

When Vader first emerged from the Bacta tank, the consensus was that this was routine because we know he was injured by the duel with Obi-Wan back on Mustafar. But there could be something more to this scene.

We know that both Jedi: Survivor and Obi-Wan Kenobi take place on 9 BBY. We also know that Darth Vader is the common denominator between the two storylines, as he appeared in both Survivor and Kenobi. But the fact that Cere Junda almost killed him in Survivor gives us the impression that there’s a good chance that the video game events took place right before the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

After all, it would be impossible for Vader to be in two places at once, and that could mean that, even though they both took place on 9 BBY, either Jedi: Survivor or Obi-Wan Kenobi happened earlier. And the fact that we saw Vader emerging from a Bacta tank gives us the idea that it is possible that Obi-Wan Kenobi happened right after Jedi: Survivor because the Sith Lord might have been recuperating from the injuries that Cere Junda left in their battle.

As such, it is possible that Darth Vader was as angry as he was in Obi-Wan Kenobi because he was still livid over the fact that he almost lost his life to Cere Junda. It is also possible he wasn’t at his best in that fight against Obi-Wan because he was still nursing the wounds he suffered on Jedha.

Of course, the fact that Vader and the Imperials were already aware of the Hidden Path in Obi-Wan Kenobi suggests that he and the other Imperials learned about this in the attack on Jedha. And that is why there’s a good chance that the Kenobi series takes place directly after the conclusion of the fight between Cere Junda and Darth Vader in Jedi: Survivor.