Being a Force Ghost...

[neotoma]

In light of the new info from Revenge of the Sith how in the name of little green fishies did Anakin learn that trick?

Given Yoda's little speech to Anakin (and appallingly bad advice), it seems that Old Republic Jedi were expected to truly become one with the Force, to the point of losing their individual identities just a raindrop becomes part of the ocean when it finally falls. Actually, it sounds like Lucas poached a short explanation of what Nirvana is, and then garbled it.

The ability to remain conscious, instead of blending into the totality of the Force, is a *new* trick for the Jedi. It's attained through *compassion*, and by the one Jedi in the prequels who is identified as a maverick -- Qui-Gon Jinn.

However, given that Yoda and Obi-Wan have spent the two decades between series 'communing' with Qui-Gon the Force Ghost, which explains their bodily transformations into the Force, how the heck did Anakin Skywalker the Lord Vader learn how to be a Force Ghost?

Are we supposed to believe that the fact he died as a consequence of saving his son was enough to catapult him into this next state? If that was so, why didn't other Jedi learn how to do it before him -- I'm sure that there was a lot of self-sacrifice during the Temple Massacre, with Knights and Masters trying to protect their apprentices and the younger children.

Or are we supposed to imagine that Obi-Wan went about whispering in Vader's ear once the old Jedi died? Or that Qui-Gon did, being too stubborn to give up on the Chosen One even though he went evil?

Comments

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

My initial thought after my first (and only, so far) viewing of RotS, was, "Ooo, yet another Lucas continuity error!"

Then, after that, I had had the vague-ish notion that becoming a Force Ghost post-death was what the Emperor had been alluding to about the Dark Side trick of becoming immortal. That he was mistaken about it being a 'Dark' skill and that Vader had gone on to research and ultimately master it. Unlike Obi-Wan, however, he was unable to just *poof* into the Force upon his immediate death (leaving no body). And yeah, perhaps Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were standing by to jump Anakin into the Ghost club.

Then, I just shook my head and said, "Whatever!" LOL sorry, I'm not any help on this!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

That's sort of how I make it work for myself. Or maybe he started seriously studying it after he saw Obi-Wan doing it and thought, "Hey, I want to do that."

Or perhaps he had a leg up, having no father and so being fathered by The Force?

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps he had a leg up, having no father and so being fathered by The
Force?

Oooo! Now that's an excellent idea! :-)

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

That's not a bad idea, come to think...

But I still like the idea of Qui-Gon whipsering in his ear. After all, he was screaming Anakin's name when we heard his voice in AotC. He was keeping an eye out for the boy.