Force Ghosts??

So does every Jedi who has learned this ability have to go through the same trials and training that Yoda did with the Priestesses?

Not the same trials, no.

The trials that the Priestesses put Yoda through were done solely to make sure that he was worthy of learning how to preserve his essence after death, and effectively become immortal. Once Yoda successfully passed their trials, the Priestesses taught him the actual ability.

Yoda then taught Kenobi the ability, then it was passed to Luke, who passed it to Leia and Ben. Not sure who taught Anakin/Vader how to do it, but whatevs. /shrug

It's also worth mentioning that the Priestesses stated that Yoda: "Will teach one that will save the universe from a great imbalance. For this, the great gift will be his." That is the main reason they agreed to teach him in the first place.

Do you think that quote refers to Luke or Anakin?

Also I do wonder WHEN Anakin would have possibly learned that ability in canon??

Could be either of them, I guess. Technically, both were essential in bringing balance to the Force during RotJ(short-lived as that "balance" was.)

No clue when Vader would have learned the ability. Logically, it would've had to be sometime between him throwing Palpatine down the reactor shaft, and him 'dying' in Luke's arms... How in the f*ck he was able to master such an advanced Jedi ability in a matter of minutes is another story...

👆

I'm also curious why Qui-Gon was never allowed to retain his full body and identity after death?? Did the Priestesses just not deem him worthy or?? 😕

Originally posted by Eli Vanto
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I'm also curious why Qui-Gon was never allowed to retain his full body and identity after death?? Did the Priestesses just not deem him worthy or?? 😕

Qui-Gon has been summoned. He draws upon his memories of himself and takes shape, reassembling the form he last had in life. It seems to him that he feels flesh wrap around bones, hair and skin over flesh, robes over skin--and then, as naturally to him as though he had done so yesterday, he pulls down the hood of his Jedi cloak and looks upon his Padawan.

[...]

Obi-Wan nods, enough reassured to focus fully on Qui-Gon. "You're very nearly corporeal. I've never seen you appear like this."

"It is a matter of learning to both claim the physical world and detach one's self from it," Qui-Gon says. He had not struggled toward that goal at first. Only after Anakin's fall did he push himself to emerge fully. It was the work of very nearly a decade. This he did for Obi-Wan; at least his Padawan did not have to spend his years in the desert entirely alone. "A matter of finding center, of calming one's soul and giving one's self over completely to the Force. Some Jedi choose to transition between life and death in that way, though I could scarcely have imagined it when I was alive. Even after death, we continue to learn."

-From a Certain Point of View

That's really cool actually. I definitely like how the process of becoming a force ghost is described there. 😄

Makes it sound like they can almost become real people. 😕

I mean, not exactly 'real' in the 100% physical sense, but certainly real enough that they can directly interact with their physical surroundings.

In the scene above, for example, Qui-Gon's spirit became so corporeal that he could actually smell the things in his vicinity.

Then of course there's this:

...And you also have Yoda's spirit summoning lightning, and smacking Luke on the head with his staff.

I really just do not like that..

What don't you like?

That a force ghost can apparently have a lightsaber battle if they wanted to? 😛

It's stupid because now death doesn't mean anything for Jedi.

It also raises the question why the Jedi spirits didn't deal with Vader/Palpatine/Snoke/Kylo instead of making Luke and Rey do it.

There must be some sort of rule that spirits must abide by.

They can train/motivate the living, and help guide their courses, but they cannot directly interfere.

srug

Who knows? Not Disney, that's for sure.

Originally posted by Galan007
There must be some sort of rule that spirits must abide by.

They can train/motivate the living, and help guide their courses, but they cannot directly interfere.

srug

I mean isn't that directly interfering with holding the lightsaber out to give it to someone?

Should been like

"Oh you forgot your lightsaber? You need another lightsaber? TOO BAD YOUR **** IS GRASS NOW!"

Lol, yeah. I mean, technically a spirit just giving some friendly advice to a Jedi would constitute "direct interference"... From a certain point of view.

Seems like a spirit's ability to directly interfere stops just short of them picking up a damn lightsaber and striking down the Jedi's opponent for them.

Maybe they chose not to interfere? It's possible they were more concerned about the futures of the force users than the political future of the galaxy.

"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere."

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah, but...

maybe that's only true from a certain point of view?

I'm not okay with it, I hate it, I'm just trying to find a better justification than "they can't interfere directly."

I mean, if a spirit *could* directly interfere and actually help the Jedi fight their opponent or w/e, they certainly *would*(especially given what has been at stake in the past.)

Thanks to the ST, we now know that spirits can interact with the physical world on a level that none of us likely ever imagined(or wanted to see.) Logically speaking, it is entirely in the realm of possibility for them to: pick up a saber and have a full-scale duel with a Sith. OR TK throw ships at them. OR zap them with actual lightning.

So there must be some sort of cosmic 'rules' in place that they HAVE to abide by. One of which being that they cannot directly interfere to such an extent where they are actually fighting a Jedi's battles for them. Otherwise the immortal spirits of Yoda, Kenobi, Qui-Gon, Anakin, and Luke would have simply teamed up against Palpatine and destroyed him without Rey ever having to lift a finger. /shrug