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Qui-Gon showed Yoda the trick who then passed it on to Kenobi.

But how was Anakin able to come back as a ghost?

Am I missing something? If so when did he learn this technique?

You are missing that the PT has some logical inconsistencies with the OT.

perhaps he had help from ben and/or yoda.

Maybe Palpatine knew the trick also?

doubt it. that would dumb anyway.

Well he said his master Plagues knew the trick for immortality so who knows.

i dont see anything about immortality

Well if you can't die wouldn't you be considered immortal?

he said he could prevent others from dying. not bring them back from the dead, and especially not becoming immortal spirits able to communicate with the living.

It's not out of the question to assume that maybe he learned the trick. If Qui-Gon could it's possible a Sith Lord could as well.

His love for his son fully immersed him in the light side of the Force when he died, IIRC.

In the EU, Kenobi taught Skywalker the technique while he was passing between the realm of the living and the dead.

Originally posted by juggernaut74
It's not out of the question to assume that maybe he learned the trick. If Qui-Gon could it's possible a Sith Lord could as well.

it's a baseless assumption though. more so than assuming that palpatine survived his fall and escaped the death star. force users have a knack for surving long falls, after all. at least that theory would have that tiny bit of arguable ground. would be awful though. perhaps more awful than even ghost palpatine.

He had to have learned it pretty darn late because the OT makes it very clear that he has no idea what it is that Ben has done.

Calling this a PT inconsistency is very unfair though- it's an OT issue. It's absolutely consistent with the OT that Anakin has no idea about it in the Prequels.

In the end, he does it because it is stylistically right that he does. The Force is mysterious like that.

Anakin was able to pull it off because he saw Obi do it. Up to that point there aren't any recorded eye witnesses of such ability, maybe by looking at it he realized he could replicate it.

Well, the problem is that the PT started explaining it. And now it doesn't work.
It's the basic problem of the PT... it ruined a lot of the OT's mysticism and backstory.

In the end, he does it because it is stylistically right that he does. The Force is mysterious like that.

According to the ROTJ DVD commentary he was assisted in the end by Obi-Wan & Yoda.

That's Lucas for you: he needs to do a lot of off screen explaining to make things work they way he changed his mind.

Welp, I don't believe you should really need special training to become a Force ghost (plenty didn't in the EU), Yoda didn't even receive as much really, he just went on a spiritual journey that led him to accept himself "and let go".

I think if Vader has achieved some kind of spiritual zen he could have become a Force ghost by himself.

Well, why didn't anyone before QGJ achieve that then? I suppose there have been plenty of zen Jedi in the thousand generations they were guardians of peace and justice.

As I said, there are several Jedi Force ghosts in Legends, none are stated to have required special training.

what does that have to do with film canon

Exactly.

Well considering Canon doesn't give us any information on those thousands of years before the movies, it makes sense to refer to Legends when speculating.

Either way we can't claim that no Jedi became Force ghosts before Qui-Gon.

Originally posted by Beniboybling
it makes sense to refer to Legends when speculating.

no it just doesnt.

How about it's a mystery? Oh right that's only allowed for the OT. But when the PT leaves questions, it's clearly a plot hole.

Anyway Anakn was basically fathered by the Force. I'm sure that has something to do with how easily he became a Force Ghost. Perhaps with a little pull from Ben and Yoda's ghosts.

Originally posted by Beniboybling
Welp, I don't believe you should really need special training to become a Force ghost

If it was something known to be "normal" ( for lack of a better word ) among Jedi, then Vader as former Jedi should have known about it. As Ushgarak said: "the OT makes it very clear that he has no idea what it is that Ben has done."

Originally posted by queeq
That's Lucas for you: he needs to do a lot of off screen explaining to make things work they way he changed his mind.

But did he change his mind? Going by the Annotated Screenplays, it appears that he already had the idea of Yoda assisting Anakin to become a Force ghost in the OT era.

Yes, the idea... He had many ideas when making the OT. Like the fact that at the time of making ROTJ he was insistent that people like Yoda and Palpy weren't the kind of Force users that didn't need or use lightsabers... They were so powerful, they were far above the use of weapons or something. And look, there's the PT...

Ideas while making a movie are completely irrelevant. People change their minds while making a movie. But when it's not IN the movie, it's not there. We don't see Yoda assisting Anakin, so how Anakin manages no one knows...

It used to be some mystical conclusion to the OT. But with the QGJ thing in ROTS, it all became complicated.

Originally posted by Darth Thor
How about it's a mystery? Oh right that's only allowed for the OT. But when the PT leaves questions, it's clearly a plot hole.


No, it's a question. It's unexplained. Not is there a hint to an explanation. The PT tries to explain more things and does it often only half. So if you explain something, make sure it works.

Well no. Because it leaves a lot of mystery around Anakin's very conception and existence. The PT didn't even explain the Ghost thing. Just expanded on the fact that it wasn't something any Jedi could do. Anakin doing it without training (when it was clearly a mystery to Vader) is just another part of the Anakin mystery.

Because he's the Chosen One and he just brought balance to the force.

Originally posted by Darth Thor
Well no. Because it leaves a lot of mystery around Anakin's very conception and existence. The PT didn't even explain the Ghost thing. Just expanded on the fact that it wasn't something any Jedi could do. Anakin doing it without training (when it was clearly a mystery to Vader) is just another part of the Anakin mystery.

Well, it took a DEAD Jedi to learn that. And several years as well. So it's not just something any Jedi can do. In fact, Yoda tells OB1 that he will teach him how he can find a way to do it too. So it's clearly some mystery, some action one can take to achieve that status. What that is and why then Anakin suddenly can become a ghost after slaughtering people for twenty years straight is quite the mystery that does require some kind of explanation..

How was Anakin able to come back as a ghost?

He used the Konami code.

Ah... problem solved. Up up, down down, left right left right, B, A.

Boom instant ghost. It works! Now how do I get back to normal?

Originally posted by One Big Mob
Because he's the Chosen One and he just brought balance to the force.

I'm just going to go with this cop-out

Hehehe... sounds like wisdom.