MRHA
07-18-2002, 07:06 PM
Hi everyone!
I work for a quite famous french StarWars website (so, sorry for my bad english in this introduction), I send a nice theory made by our visitors to JediNet last sunday and I see that they don't put it online, but I understand, because it's quite length...
What I want is to diffuse this theory through the net because i think it can interest many people, so I post it here.
Here the translation (french to english) of my whole article :
(and by the way, the end of my awfull english in this post *)
------------------
The Key to the Star Wars saga!
Prophecy, disappearing Jedi, blue ghosts, Dark Side, all of this is explained in this article!
The theory pesented here was born from the prolific minds of StarWars-Universe.com forum members. It’s a global synthesis of the Star Wars saga build around Anakin Skywalker’s powers by Halpheus, a SWU staff member, and by many other forum members like General Kenobi.
I advise people who don’t want to know what will happen in the next movie or risk spoiling what could possibly change our vision of the saga not to read what follows, which is still just a theory.
What follows is more than likely, considering the depth of thought, and could change your perception of the Star Wars saga forever. You have been warned! We’ll talk about the Force, the prophecy, Jedi who disappear and reappear after their death, all of this explained... Enough with introductions, let’s get to the heart of the matter.
1. The two Forces governing the Universe
The Prequels have incredibly widened the concept of the Force as we knew it in the Old Trilogy. More than an energy field binding all biological (ANH) and mineral (ESB) things in the Galaxy, since TPM the Force is divided into two components: the Living Force (LF) and the Unifying Force (UF). These two Forces are integrated differently by individuals according to their personality, their philosophy, and of course their midichlorian count.
This is how George Lucas defined the LF and the UF in the book "The Making of Episode I The Phantom Menace" (p.8-9):
« The Force itself breaks into two sides: the living Force and a greater, cosmic Force. The living Force makes you sensitive to other living things, makes you intuitive, and allows you to read other people’s minds, et cetera. But the greater Force has to do with destiny. In working with the Force, you can find your destiny and you can choose to either follow it, or not. »
According to what we learn in the prequels, we can thus define the LF as the sensible component, the consciousness of the individual, the "I", and the UF as the intelligible component, the collective consciousness, the "We". The Jedi Council illustrates perfectly this philosophy.
Taking the LF to extremes, we have what can be called a corruption of this Force: the Dark Side, where personal feelings come before the common good and where one uses close interaction (mind tricks - accepted by the Code when they’re not for personal goals -, Force choke, lightning, etc).
We can sum up the different concepts in this diagram:
/\
I->Pure Unifying Force (We)
I
I
I
I
I
I
I->Jedi Order
I
=>>Balance of the Forces: Anakin and Luke at the end of ROTJ
I
I->Qui Gon Jinn
I
I->Dooku
I
I->Darth Vader
I->Palpatine
I
I >Pure Living Force (I)
\/
The meaning of the famous prophecy becomes now evident: to balance the LF and the UF, to achieve the common good without forgetting one’s personality. This will be a particularity of the new Jedi order (the post-ROTJ era, not the book series) born with Anakin and Luke Skywalker. By not listening to Yoda in ESB, when he was advised to concentrate on the fight against the Empire and forget his suffering friends, Luke managed to reach a balance between the two Forces, and the notion of Chosen One connected to Anakin takes all its importance when he kills Palpatine and the Sith Order, the primary source of the unbalance.
One has to notice the irony of the situation: it is Yoda himself, with his conservative doctrine, who taught Dooku - and thus Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Anakin in turn - the very source of the unbalance pushed at its height during the Empire.
Now that we have explained the concept of the prophecy and the definition of the Force, we’ll use this to enlighten the remaining dark spots of the Star Wars saga.
2. The cremation of Qui-Gon Jinn in TPM
Before TPM was released, the common belief was that Jedi don’t die like everybody: they disappear and come back as blue ghosts afterwards. All of the Jedi of the Old Trilogy were seen dying that way, even Anakin: according to official declarations, Luke burned an empty armour at the end of ROTJ. Then came TPM and Qui-Gon’s non-disappearance and cremation. This coupled with the incineration of Vader’s armour in ROTJ leads to the conclusion that cremation was traditional in the Jedi Order, and that the disappearing/reappearing phenomenon was unknown before the time of ANH. Moreover, we don’t see any Jedi disappear on Geonosis.
3. Qui-Gon Jinn’s voice in AOTC
Just as Luke first hears Obi-Wan in ANH, then sees him in following episodes, Anakin first hears Qui-Gon Jinn’s voice during the Tusken massacre scene.
At the same moment, Yoda is meditating in his quarters of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, more precisely he’s probing the Dark Side. He also hears this voice and doesn’t believe his pointy ears, as is explained in the AOTC novelization p.276:
« It was Qui-Gon. Yoda knew it was Qui-Gon. But Qui-Gon was dead, had become one with the Force! One could not retain consciousness and sense of self in that state; one could not speak from beyond the grave. »
This confirms our previous conclusions. A few lines later, we can read:
« Anakin’s rush of agony manifesting in the Force had tapped into the spirit of the dead Jedi Master who had discovered him. »
We can now see a connection between the LF in its most extreme and even perverted form — the Dark side — and Anakin, the Chosen One, the materialization of the Force in flesh and blood.
4. Anakin’s confession to Padmé
This is what the future Vader tells to his love:
« I will even learn to stop people from dying! »
This element, added to the previous thoughts, shows a scenaristic connection between Anakin and the disappearing/reappearing-after-death phenomenon. At this point of the story, he’s the only one able to do such a thing. In fact, he has already done it with Qui-Gon without realizing.
One can wonder: « Why Qui-Gon? ». Because Anakin had a very particular relationship with his first teacher, an absolute trust, which is very rare in his life torn between the separation from his loving mother and the rigidity of the Jedi Order. The only persons who really believed in Anakin are Shmi, Qui-Gon and Padmé. Even Obi-Wan doesn’t have such a strong relationship with Anakin. He’s seen in indirect conflict with Anakin in TPM, when Qui-Gon decides to leave his Padawan to teach little Ani, and in constant doubt of his Padawan’s abilities in AOTC.
5. What could happen in Episode III and the Final Edition of the Old Trilogy
This is what George Lucas recently told to the magazine Starlog about Qui-Gon’s voice in AOTC:
« That’s a fan thing, isn’t it? It’s actually more than that. It’s a plot point. All I can really say is that you’ll find out [more] in the next film. If you thought really hard, you would probably be able to figure it out, but it really is a set-up for the next film. It’s connected with the whole ability to be brought into and become a part of the Force, but still be able to retain YOUR ability — which, up to this point, Anakin couldn’t do. »
So this power should be controllable, or at least Anakin could take a conscious part in it in the future. One important thing to remember when we talk about Anakin is that we’re not talking about a simple human, but a mystic being, a sort of god come down on earth. As Lucas says, at this point of the story, he doesn’t control his potential, his nature takes precedence over his conscious will, his personality. In Episode III, this will be reversed and he will dominate the will of the Force, which isn’t something exterior to his being like for the other Jedi, but a part of his essence. From then on, he will actually be able to bring back from the dead anyone he wants. It is perfectly possible he will voluntarily bring back Qui-Gon as a ghost in Episode III, and Padmé and/or Shmi at the end of the Final Edition of ROTJ that Lucas will correct after 2005. But even if this doesn’t happen, this theory stands anyway.
6. Obi-Wan’s words and his death
« If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. »
According to Lucas, this sentence is the key of the problem, and indeed it meets perfectly the present theory. After he said this, Obi-Wan looks at Luke from the corner of his eye, lifts his lightsabre, and Vader kills him. Obi-Wan then disappears, and Luke, distressed by his master’s death, hears his voice telling him to run away.
It is perfectly possible that Anakin’s power was naturally passed down to Luke. While Anakin is of divine essence, a god come down on earth, Luke appears as a demi-god, inheriting half of his father’s divine essence and thus taking part in the prophecy.
Obi-Wan’s little smile to Luke before his death is eloquent: the extreme trust that exists between them added to Luke’s emotional distress caused Obi-Wan’s rebirth, just as it happened for Anakin and Qui-Gon in AOTC. Obi-Wan knew he could count on Luke to bring him back from the dead (he will become aware of this phenomenon in Episode III or from Yoda’s words at the end of Episode II). The Jedi master has a passive role, he doesn’t disappear from his own will, but thanks to Luke’s unconscious.
As for the reason this should make him more powerful than we can ever imagine: it is probably thanks to this "half-death" that Luke managed to destroy the Death Star and continue his formation under Yoda and finally destroy the Empire.
After Obi-Wan disappeared, Vader trampled his cloak. It could be interpreted as a gesture of contempt, but more probably of surprise. He wants to check if he hasn’t seen things for two reasons: first because he has never seen any Jedi disappear like that — Qui-Gon had a "normal" death — and secondly because he thought he, the "son" of the Force, was the only one able to achieve this miracle.
Then Luke shouts the famous "Noooooo!", and Darth Vader goes to the door to see who is screaming, obviously someone close to Obi-Wan. Thinking back on Obi-Wan’s disappearance, maybe Vader realizes at that moment that this person could be his offspring, the only being capable of this miracle apart from him. Then the door closes on Vader. From a scenaristic point of view, one can even say that this shot is useless if this theory proves wrong.
7. The other two ghosts: Yoda and Anakin
In ROTJ, Yoda dies in front of Luke. It looks almost as if he was waiting for Luke to finally die, and just like Obi-Wan, Yoda disappears thanks to the son of the Chosen One.
As for Anakin, his disappearing and reappearing as a ghost can be linked either to Luke, or to himself, or both.
Here again we can see that the phenomenon is not induced by the disappearing Jedi, but by the Force residing in Luke and Anakin. On a larger scale, Anakin and Luke don’t need to invoke the Force, because they are the Force, whereas other Force-users need a connection with the targeted person and a precise intent to use the Force. This is why Vader feels Luke’s presence near Endor, while the Emperor does not.
8. The true nature of the Dark side
We explained at the beginning of this article that the Dark Side is a perversion of the sensible extreme of the Force: the LF. We know that the Force is essential to life, and vice versa. Therefore, the ultimate perversion of the Force is the breaking of the cycle of life. Anakin is at the origin of this breaking: while nature wants people to come to life and die, Anakin opposes this basic pattern of life, which explains how Yoda can hear Qui-Gon’s voice in AOTC while he was probing the Dark Side. In the same way, the rebirth phenomenon caused unconsciously by Luke and Anakin is connected to their emotional distress, i.e the LF.
This breaking of the pattern of life seems inspired by the theme of the Grail, the cup that received the blood of Christ and which is said to give eternal life to whoever drinks in it. Just as Luke achieved his quest in the Old Trilogy (in three aspects at least: the quest of the father, of his redemption and of his duality), Anakin is at the origin of this quest because of his divine nature.
9. A ghost can’t appear in the presence of the Dark Side
An element seems to contradict the present theory: Obi-Wan’s statement in ESB, when he says he won’t be able to come and help Luke on Bespin. In fact, this fits with the theory more than it contradicts it.
We’ve seen that the Dark Side is an extreme and perverted form of the LF, and that the ghostly reapparition of dead Jedi (in this particular case Obi-Wan) is also connected to this LF. Since the Dark side is a perversion of the LF, it simply smothers the existing LF. It is thus impossible for a Jedi to appear as a ghost in the presence of the Dark Side. This speculation is confirmed by a rough script of ROTJ where Vader seemed particularly surprised to see Obi-Wan’s ghost appear in front of him.
10. Conclusion
The theory presented here seems more than likely, in our opinion: nothing seems to contradict it, and many details from the movies and quotes from Lucas fit in.
If this theory proves correct, the very nature of the Star Wars saga, including the Old Trilogy, will be altered. Rewatching the movies with this theory in mind really modifies our perception of it.
Now, if anyone still dares to question the quality of the prequels’ scenario, let him speak out!
As a last word, remember that Rick McCallum himself, the producer of the prequel trilogy, has recently declared that even he didn’t know what was the significance of the disappearing Jedi, and that Lucas wouldn’t tell him a word of it before Episode III. If this theory proves right, you will be able to tell your grandchildren that you learned this first on SWU! :o)
I work for a quite famous french StarWars website (so, sorry for my bad english in this introduction), I send a nice theory made by our visitors to JediNet last sunday and I see that they don't put it online, but I understand, because it's quite length...
What I want is to diffuse this theory through the net because i think it can interest many people, so I post it here.
Here the translation (french to english) of my whole article :
(and by the way, the end of my awfull english in this post *)
------------------
The Key to the Star Wars saga!
Prophecy, disappearing Jedi, blue ghosts, Dark Side, all of this is explained in this article!
The theory pesented here was born from the prolific minds of StarWars-Universe.com forum members. It’s a global synthesis of the Star Wars saga build around Anakin Skywalker’s powers by Halpheus, a SWU staff member, and by many other forum members like General Kenobi.
I advise people who don’t want to know what will happen in the next movie or risk spoiling what could possibly change our vision of the saga not to read what follows, which is still just a theory.
What follows is more than likely, considering the depth of thought, and could change your perception of the Star Wars saga forever. You have been warned! We’ll talk about the Force, the prophecy, Jedi who disappear and reappear after their death, all of this explained... Enough with introductions, let’s get to the heart of the matter.
1. The two Forces governing the Universe
The Prequels have incredibly widened the concept of the Force as we knew it in the Old Trilogy. More than an energy field binding all biological (ANH) and mineral (ESB) things in the Galaxy, since TPM the Force is divided into two components: the Living Force (LF) and the Unifying Force (UF). These two Forces are integrated differently by individuals according to their personality, their philosophy, and of course their midichlorian count.
This is how George Lucas defined the LF and the UF in the book "The Making of Episode I The Phantom Menace" (p.8-9):
« The Force itself breaks into two sides: the living Force and a greater, cosmic Force. The living Force makes you sensitive to other living things, makes you intuitive, and allows you to read other people’s minds, et cetera. But the greater Force has to do with destiny. In working with the Force, you can find your destiny and you can choose to either follow it, or not. »
According to what we learn in the prequels, we can thus define the LF as the sensible component, the consciousness of the individual, the "I", and the UF as the intelligible component, the collective consciousness, the "We". The Jedi Council illustrates perfectly this philosophy.
Taking the LF to extremes, we have what can be called a corruption of this Force: the Dark Side, where personal feelings come before the common good and where one uses close interaction (mind tricks - accepted by the Code when they’re not for personal goals -, Force choke, lightning, etc).
We can sum up the different concepts in this diagram:
/\
I->Pure Unifying Force (We)
I
I
I
I
I
I
I->Jedi Order
I
=>>Balance of the Forces: Anakin and Luke at the end of ROTJ
I
I->Qui Gon Jinn
I
I->Dooku
I
I->Darth Vader
I->Palpatine
I
I >Pure Living Force (I)
\/
The meaning of the famous prophecy becomes now evident: to balance the LF and the UF, to achieve the common good without forgetting one’s personality. This will be a particularity of the new Jedi order (the post-ROTJ era, not the book series) born with Anakin and Luke Skywalker. By not listening to Yoda in ESB, when he was advised to concentrate on the fight against the Empire and forget his suffering friends, Luke managed to reach a balance between the two Forces, and the notion of Chosen One connected to Anakin takes all its importance when he kills Palpatine and the Sith Order, the primary source of the unbalance.
One has to notice the irony of the situation: it is Yoda himself, with his conservative doctrine, who taught Dooku - and thus Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Anakin in turn - the very source of the unbalance pushed at its height during the Empire.
Now that we have explained the concept of the prophecy and the definition of the Force, we’ll use this to enlighten the remaining dark spots of the Star Wars saga.
2. The cremation of Qui-Gon Jinn in TPM
Before TPM was released, the common belief was that Jedi don’t die like everybody: they disappear and come back as blue ghosts afterwards. All of the Jedi of the Old Trilogy were seen dying that way, even Anakin: according to official declarations, Luke burned an empty armour at the end of ROTJ. Then came TPM and Qui-Gon’s non-disappearance and cremation. This coupled with the incineration of Vader’s armour in ROTJ leads to the conclusion that cremation was traditional in the Jedi Order, and that the disappearing/reappearing phenomenon was unknown before the time of ANH. Moreover, we don’t see any Jedi disappear on Geonosis.
3. Qui-Gon Jinn’s voice in AOTC
Just as Luke first hears Obi-Wan in ANH, then sees him in following episodes, Anakin first hears Qui-Gon Jinn’s voice during the Tusken massacre scene.
At the same moment, Yoda is meditating in his quarters of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, more precisely he’s probing the Dark Side. He also hears this voice and doesn’t believe his pointy ears, as is explained in the AOTC novelization p.276:
« It was Qui-Gon. Yoda knew it was Qui-Gon. But Qui-Gon was dead, had become one with the Force! One could not retain consciousness and sense of self in that state; one could not speak from beyond the grave. »
This confirms our previous conclusions. A few lines later, we can read:
« Anakin’s rush of agony manifesting in the Force had tapped into the spirit of the dead Jedi Master who had discovered him. »
We can now see a connection between the LF in its most extreme and even perverted form — the Dark side — and Anakin, the Chosen One, the materialization of the Force in flesh and blood.
4. Anakin’s confession to Padmé
This is what the future Vader tells to his love:
« I will even learn to stop people from dying! »
This element, added to the previous thoughts, shows a scenaristic connection between Anakin and the disappearing/reappearing-after-death phenomenon. At this point of the story, he’s the only one able to do such a thing. In fact, he has already done it with Qui-Gon without realizing.
One can wonder: « Why Qui-Gon? ». Because Anakin had a very particular relationship with his first teacher, an absolute trust, which is very rare in his life torn between the separation from his loving mother and the rigidity of the Jedi Order. The only persons who really believed in Anakin are Shmi, Qui-Gon and Padmé. Even Obi-Wan doesn’t have such a strong relationship with Anakin. He’s seen in indirect conflict with Anakin in TPM, when Qui-Gon decides to leave his Padawan to teach little Ani, and in constant doubt of his Padawan’s abilities in AOTC.
5. What could happen in Episode III and the Final Edition of the Old Trilogy
This is what George Lucas recently told to the magazine Starlog about Qui-Gon’s voice in AOTC:
« That’s a fan thing, isn’t it? It’s actually more than that. It’s a plot point. All I can really say is that you’ll find out [more] in the next film. If you thought really hard, you would probably be able to figure it out, but it really is a set-up for the next film. It’s connected with the whole ability to be brought into and become a part of the Force, but still be able to retain YOUR ability — which, up to this point, Anakin couldn’t do. »
So this power should be controllable, or at least Anakin could take a conscious part in it in the future. One important thing to remember when we talk about Anakin is that we’re not talking about a simple human, but a mystic being, a sort of god come down on earth. As Lucas says, at this point of the story, he doesn’t control his potential, his nature takes precedence over his conscious will, his personality. In Episode III, this will be reversed and he will dominate the will of the Force, which isn’t something exterior to his being like for the other Jedi, but a part of his essence. From then on, he will actually be able to bring back from the dead anyone he wants. It is perfectly possible he will voluntarily bring back Qui-Gon as a ghost in Episode III, and Padmé and/or Shmi at the end of the Final Edition of ROTJ that Lucas will correct after 2005. But even if this doesn’t happen, this theory stands anyway.
6. Obi-Wan’s words and his death
« If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. »
According to Lucas, this sentence is the key of the problem, and indeed it meets perfectly the present theory. After he said this, Obi-Wan looks at Luke from the corner of his eye, lifts his lightsabre, and Vader kills him. Obi-Wan then disappears, and Luke, distressed by his master’s death, hears his voice telling him to run away.
It is perfectly possible that Anakin’s power was naturally passed down to Luke. While Anakin is of divine essence, a god come down on earth, Luke appears as a demi-god, inheriting half of his father’s divine essence and thus taking part in the prophecy.
Obi-Wan’s little smile to Luke before his death is eloquent: the extreme trust that exists between them added to Luke’s emotional distress caused Obi-Wan’s rebirth, just as it happened for Anakin and Qui-Gon in AOTC. Obi-Wan knew he could count on Luke to bring him back from the dead (he will become aware of this phenomenon in Episode III or from Yoda’s words at the end of Episode II). The Jedi master has a passive role, he doesn’t disappear from his own will, but thanks to Luke’s unconscious.
As for the reason this should make him more powerful than we can ever imagine: it is probably thanks to this "half-death" that Luke managed to destroy the Death Star and continue his formation under Yoda and finally destroy the Empire.
After Obi-Wan disappeared, Vader trampled his cloak. It could be interpreted as a gesture of contempt, but more probably of surprise. He wants to check if he hasn’t seen things for two reasons: first because he has never seen any Jedi disappear like that — Qui-Gon had a "normal" death — and secondly because he thought he, the "son" of the Force, was the only one able to achieve this miracle.
Then Luke shouts the famous "Noooooo!", and Darth Vader goes to the door to see who is screaming, obviously someone close to Obi-Wan. Thinking back on Obi-Wan’s disappearance, maybe Vader realizes at that moment that this person could be his offspring, the only being capable of this miracle apart from him. Then the door closes on Vader. From a scenaristic point of view, one can even say that this shot is useless if this theory proves wrong.
7. The other two ghosts: Yoda and Anakin
In ROTJ, Yoda dies in front of Luke. It looks almost as if he was waiting for Luke to finally die, and just like Obi-Wan, Yoda disappears thanks to the son of the Chosen One.
As for Anakin, his disappearing and reappearing as a ghost can be linked either to Luke, or to himself, or both.
Here again we can see that the phenomenon is not induced by the disappearing Jedi, but by the Force residing in Luke and Anakin. On a larger scale, Anakin and Luke don’t need to invoke the Force, because they are the Force, whereas other Force-users need a connection with the targeted person and a precise intent to use the Force. This is why Vader feels Luke’s presence near Endor, while the Emperor does not.
8. The true nature of the Dark side
We explained at the beginning of this article that the Dark Side is a perversion of the sensible extreme of the Force: the LF. We know that the Force is essential to life, and vice versa. Therefore, the ultimate perversion of the Force is the breaking of the cycle of life. Anakin is at the origin of this breaking: while nature wants people to come to life and die, Anakin opposes this basic pattern of life, which explains how Yoda can hear Qui-Gon’s voice in AOTC while he was probing the Dark Side. In the same way, the rebirth phenomenon caused unconsciously by Luke and Anakin is connected to their emotional distress, i.e the LF.
This breaking of the pattern of life seems inspired by the theme of the Grail, the cup that received the blood of Christ and which is said to give eternal life to whoever drinks in it. Just as Luke achieved his quest in the Old Trilogy (in three aspects at least: the quest of the father, of his redemption and of his duality), Anakin is at the origin of this quest because of his divine nature.
9. A ghost can’t appear in the presence of the Dark Side
An element seems to contradict the present theory: Obi-Wan’s statement in ESB, when he says he won’t be able to come and help Luke on Bespin. In fact, this fits with the theory more than it contradicts it.
We’ve seen that the Dark Side is an extreme and perverted form of the LF, and that the ghostly reapparition of dead Jedi (in this particular case Obi-Wan) is also connected to this LF. Since the Dark side is a perversion of the LF, it simply smothers the existing LF. It is thus impossible for a Jedi to appear as a ghost in the presence of the Dark Side. This speculation is confirmed by a rough script of ROTJ where Vader seemed particularly surprised to see Obi-Wan’s ghost appear in front of him.
10. Conclusion
The theory presented here seems more than likely, in our opinion: nothing seems to contradict it, and many details from the movies and quotes from Lucas fit in.
If this theory proves correct, the very nature of the Star Wars saga, including the Old Trilogy, will be altered. Rewatching the movies with this theory in mind really modifies our perception of it.
Now, if anyone still dares to question the quality of the prequels’ scenario, let him speak out!
As a last word, remember that Rick McCallum himself, the producer of the prequel trilogy, has recently declared that even he didn’t know what was the significance of the disappearing Jedi, and that Lucas wouldn’t tell him a word of it before Episode III. If this theory proves right, you will be able to tell your grandchildren that you learned this first on SWU! :o)