So...how do Jedi Spirits work?

[Chainsaw]

I was just thinking about this, but how exactly does a Jedi, upon death, manifest themselves later as spirits? When Ben Kenobi is struck down by Vader, Luke hears him telling him to run, and then hears his during the Battle Of Yavin guiding him. Then, in the subsequent sequels, Ben manifests himself fully to advise Luke on the path he must take as a Jedi, and then, in Return, after the deaths of Yoda and Vader, Luke sees all of them together (ignoring the shit-ass idea to have Hayden Christensen be Anakin in the Special Editions, because I feel that Vader would have been his redeemed self, not his bratty padawan-killing self in the afterlife). The big question is, though, why is it these three are the only ones Luke sees? If it's a matter of being in touch with the Force, wouldn't he also see Qui-Gon, and Mace Windu, and every other Jedi who was in touch with the Force ever? We know it isn't Luke being crazy, because Yoda is able to speak with Obi-Wan as well. Is it only Jedi who are close to the living, because really, Ben only knew Luke for maybe a few days before he died, a week tops. How are they so close all of a sudden? I don't even remember any other dead Jedi communicating with anyone else during anything involving the prequels. I think the most we got, that I can remember, is that you hear Qui-Gon yell out "Anakin, NOOOOOOOOOO!" as he cuts down a bunch of Tusken Raiders who murdered his mother. Was there ever anything in the Clone Wars cartoon or the comic books that ever dealt with this?

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

think it's just the manifestation of midichlorians that does it, and the passing on of them

[Johnny B. Decent]

My assumption is that for a light-sider, things like Anakin hearing Qui-Gon during his slaughter, because of the bond they had. I guess someone like Luke could contact Mace if he really tried hard, but yeah, it seems to be more on you've met.

It does seem more relaxed for a dark-sider, or at least those who get the big, fancy tombs like Ajunta Pall or Marka Ragnos, but the tombs are epicenters for dark side energy.

[turkeysandwich]

I always wanted to know how spirit Obi Wan was able to sit down on a solid object on Dagobah.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I assume Yoda, Anakin, and Kenobi would be the only Jedi visible because they were the only ones Luke would know.

[A Platypus Rave]

The Prequels implied that Qui-Gon was the first person to figure out how to do it on the light side. I think it was a throw away line at the end of Sith, and it's what Obi-wan was practicing in the desert when not watching Luke.

I always assumed that you needed to know the person to see them... but even so Luke has no idea who Qui-gon Jinn is... so seeing him wouldn't mean anything to Luke.

Jun 8, 2015 20:51:53 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

It does seem more relaxed for a dark-sider, or at least those who get the big, fancy tombs like Ajunta Pall or Marka Ragnos, but the tombs are epicenters for dark side energy.

I believe that comes from Jedis become one with the force... Sith can't find peace in the death there spirits have nowhere to go but are drawn to areas with large amounts of dark side energy...

[Non Banjoble Tokens]

When I was little, I used to think Jedis were actually called Jet-Eyes. And light sabres were called life-savers.

[The Unconquered Sun]

also, (i can't remember the book but it was before the Yuuzhan Vong War) Obi Wan appeared to Luke one last time and told him that the longer a Force User has been dead the "further away" he is from the land of the living and that makes contacting the living harder. that was 9 years after the Battle of Yarvin. so it's reasonable that the others were "too far gone" to contact characters in the original trilogy.

[Hit Girl]

A reasonable explanation would have been to say that Jedi live in harmony with the Force, so when they die, they become part of it. Whereas Sith use the Force merely as a weapon in a parasitic-type way, so when they die, they don't become one with it. But I suppose Lucas had more pressing issues to address in the screenplays, such as blockades, trade disputes and taxation.

[nonrev]

I always thought that Obi-Wan turned himself into a ghost right before Vader cut him in half (you only see his robe get slashed). Yoda turns into a ghost right before he dies and Vader could have turned ghost right before the Death Star explodes.

I treated it as they know they are going to die so they use this ultimate technique that sacrifices their corporeal existence in order to allow them to "exist" just a little bit longer.

At the end of Sith, Yoda mentions that Qui-Gon figured out how to do this, so perhaps Yoda and Obi-Wan spent their time learning how to do it when the time came. Vader saw Obi-Wan do it and probably copied him when at his end.

Qui-Gon died too quickly and his body was burned, so he probably didn't get a chance to turn into a ghost before he died.

[pegasuswarrior]

It's just a Force manifestation. The jedi influence flowed through the paduwan so much that the visual we see is what the now jedi is seeing as a connection with the Force. (Same with aural moments.) It's not figment of imagination. It's just a "spiritual" moment that is the effect of being so in tune with the Force.

For instance, Obi Wan couldn't go haunt Boba Fett's kids or anything. It's just the product of a jedi unity and being attuned to the Force. I think it's significant too that Yoda, Anakin, and Obi Wan all can be considered masters/teachers of Luke. Plus, Yoda is just next level amazing, so manifestation is just part of his amazing Force perk. Anakin and Obi Wan--to me--are all just laterally connected to this ultimate Jedi master, so the trifecta Force manifestation was just a sign of how awesome all four are in tune with the Force and with each other.

[Deleted]

Jun 9, 2015 2:04:39 GMT -5 Non Banjoble Tokens said:

And light sabres were called life-savers.

That's pretty good, seeing as how all they do is make things die. Light side my ass. That is a brutal instrument.

As to Jedi spirits, who cares? They're like weird voodoo monks. Why shouldn't they just manifest with annoyingly cryptic shit to say?

How's it work? Well see, there's this spirit energy, and... Go to sleep.

[ICBM]

Jun 9, 2015 2:07:10 GMT -5 The Unconquered Sun said:

also, (i can't remember the book but it was before the Yuuzhan Vong War) Obi Wan appeared to Luke one last time and told him that the longer a Force User has been dead the "further away" he is from the land of the living and that makes contacting the living harder. that was 9 years after the Battle of Yarvin. so it's reasonable that the others were "too far gone" to contact characters in the original trilogy.

No I am sorry. But your well thought out logical explaination is invalid. Books re not cannon now in the Disney world correct?

[The Unconquered Sun]

Jun 9, 2015 22:53:39 GMT -5 ICBM said:

Jun 9, 2015 2:07:10 GMT -5 The Unconquered Sun said:

also, (i can't remember the book but it was before the Yuuzhan Vong War) Obi Wan appeared to Luke one last time and told him that the longer a Force User has been dead the "further away" he is from the land of the living and that makes contacting the living harder. that was 9 years after the Battle of Yarvin. so it's reasonable that the others were "too far gone" to contact characters in the original trilogy.

No I am sorry. But your well thought out logical explaination is invalid. Books re not cannon now in the Disney world correct?

hmm, depends. i'll let you know on December 16th. if the Force Awakens turns out to be a turkey, i'm sticking with the books as cannon.

[Drillbit Taylor]

Jun 9, 2015 22:53:39 GMT -5 ICBM said:

Jun 9, 2015 2:07:10 GMT -5 The Unconquered Sun said:

also, (i can't remember the book but it was before the Yuuzhan Vong War) Obi Wan appeared to Luke one last time and told him that the longer a Force User has been dead the "further away" he is from the land of the living and that makes contacting the living harder. that was 9 years after the Battle of Yarvin. so it's reasonable that the others were "too far gone" to contact characters in the original trilogy.

No I am sorry. But your well thought out logical explaination is invalid. Books re not cannon now in the Disney world correct?

To a degree. The new Tarkin book is cannon I think. But all previous ones you are right are not cannon.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

If the previous books are not cannon does that mean the Jedi Cubes don't exist

[Dr. T is an alien]

Jun 9, 2015 0:48:04 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

The Prequels implied that Qui-Gon was the first person to figure out how to do it on the light side. I think it was a throw away line at the end of Sith, and it's what Obi-wan was practicing in the desert when not watching Luke.

I always assumed that you needed to know the person to see them... but even so Luke has no idea who Qui-gon Jinn is... so seeing him wouldn't mean anything to Luke.

Jun 8, 2015 20:51:53 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

It does seem more relaxed for a dark-sider, or at least those who get the big, fancy tombs like Ajunta Pall or Marka Ragnos, but the tombs are epicenters for dark side energy.

I believe that comes from Jedis become one with the force... Sith can't find peace in the death there spirits have nowhere to go but are drawn to areas with large amounts of dark side energy...

You are more or less right. They dropped hints throughout the prequels that Qui-Gon took a different approach to how to access and use The Force. He figured out how to become one with the Force and essentially followed Anakin around, having invested quite a bit into his future.

As far as being able to see the ghosts, you have to be a strong Force user in order to be able to see them, and even then it appears that they have to make the effort to be visible to you in the first place. Think about it, soon as he dies Luke can clearly hear Kenobi, can first sort of see him on Hoth after he had practiced a little on his own, and could see him clear as day after getting trained by Yoda.

You might ask why Yoda and Kenobi never saw Qui-Gon's spirit since they clearly were strong in the Force all along, but I think that would be on Qui-Gon. Being a Force spirit is a new thing and I don't think he got the hang of it for some time. Clearly, he eventually was able to directly communicate with Yoda (and maybe Kenobi) in order to train them in the technique. That's convenient too, since they were far more practiced when it came time to die that they both managed to skip that pesky "painful death" part that Qui-Gon had to go through.

I do wonder if any cannon things (either the cartoons or cannon books) have addressed dark side focal points. The EU explanation (which has been tossed out) is that dark side points like the cave on Dagobah are caused by the death of a strong dark side user. There are four such sites mentioned in the EU that I recall (the cave - caused by the death of a dark side user killed in battle with Yoda, Mount Tantiss - caused by the death of Joruus C'boath at the hands of Mara Jade, the orbital site of the second Death Star - caused by the death of the Emperor, and the funeral pyre of Darth Vader). They even suggested that Yoda chose to hide on Dagobah because he knew that the presence of the cave would mask his own presence.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Jun 10, 2015 17:19:02 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

You might ask why Yoda and Kenobi never saw Qui-Gon's spirit since they clearly were strong in the Force all along, but I think that would be on Qui-Gon. Being a Force spirit is a new thing and I don't think he got the hang of it for some time.

I suppose that's the in-universe explanation for "we didn't want to pay Liam Neeson to reprise the role".

[Dr. T is an alien]

Jun 10, 2015 17:43:23 GMT -5 Mighty Attack Tribble said:

Jun 10, 2015 17:19:02 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

You might ask why Yoda and Kenobi never saw Qui-Gon's spirit since they clearly were strong in the Force all along, but I think that would be on Qui-Gon. Being a Force spirit is a new thing and I don't think he got the hang of it for some time.

I suppose that's the in-universe explanation for "we didn't want to pay Liam Neeson to reprise the role".

They paid him to do the voice over in AotC and then made it really hard to hear.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Jun 10, 2015 18:01:26 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

Jun 10, 2015 17:43:23 GMT -5 Mighty Attack Tribble said:

I suppose that's the in-universe explanation for "we didn't want to pay Liam Neeson to reprise the role".

They paid him to do the voice over in AotC and then made it really hard to hear.

Pretty sure the going rate for one line in a voice-over studio is a whole lot less than flying Neeson to Australia (or a green screen set at LucasFilm), putting him in costume, and actually filming something.

Though in actuality, it appears Neeson was simply unavailable during the filming of Episodes II and III, which is why we never got to see Qui-Gon's Force ghost.