updated 3/31/16
From The Phantom Menace...
01:29:27,948 --> 01:29:32,249
Obi-wan: The boy will not pass the council's test, Master. He's too old.
01:29:32,353 --> 01:29:35,322
Qui-gon: Anakin will become a Jedi, I promise you.
01:29:35,423 --> 01:29:38,325
Obi-wan: Do not defy the council, Master, not again.
01:29:38,427 --> 01:29:41,157
Qui-gon: I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan.
01:29:43,065 --> 01:29:46,797
Obi-wan: If you would just follow the code, you would be on the council.
01:29:46,903 --> 01:29:50,031
Obi-wan: They will not go along with you this time.
01:29:50,140 --> 01:29:53,075
Qui-gon: You still have much to learn, my young apprentice.
In this exchange between Qui-gon and Obi-wan, we learn that Qui-gon is often at odds with the Jedi Council. I build off this and the great schism in the Star Wars fan-base relating to midi-chlorians to explain that midi-chlorians are a controversial topic even among the Jedi. Extending this into the past, there was once a great schism within the Jedi Order relating to midi-chlorians. A jedi discovered and studied midi-chlorians and their relation to The Force. The Jedi Council of this ancient time, found this research to be dangerous and antithetical to their philosophy. They forbade further research on midi-chlorians. The jedi that were studying the MCs defied the wishes of the council, were caught, and exiled from the order. These jedi would late become the Sith - named after the extinct race of the jedi researcher that discovered the midi-chlorians.
This gives us one explanation as to why Obi-wan and Yoda never mention midi-chlorians to Luke. They don't deny its existence but it's not something most Jedi like to think about or discuss. It is still antithetical to their philosophy.
This also allows us to view the events of prequel trilogy as a reflection of this history that I am proposing. Theme, variation, repeat.
Qui-gon's discovery and training of Anakin - Anakin's rise and fall as a Jedi - mirrors the ancient schism that occurred within the Jedi Order that gave rise to the Sith eons ago.
The prequel trilogy isn't just about the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. It is also about the fall of the Jedi.
Qui-gon is dangerously close or within a murky line that divides Jedi and Sith. Luckily, he died and Obi-wan finished his training under the direct tutelage of Yoda - assuming Obi-wan wasn't lying in Episod IV when he told Luke that Yoda was his (Obi-wan's) master. This might have prevented Anakin's turn to the dark-side. Unfortunately, Palpatine had too much of Anakin's ear.
However, after formulating these ideas about Qui-gon, it makes the knowledge of 'force-ghosting' very suspect to me. Was Palpatine speaking to Qui-gon in visions pretending to be an entity of the light-side of the force? Was it Palpatine pretending to be Qui-gon that lead Yoda to the same knowledge or was Qui-gon unknowingly Palpatine's puppet in life and beyond? Remember that Qui-gon's master was Count Dooku - before he turned to the dark-side. It's logical to think that Dooku possessed some unconventional thoughts for a Jedi - which led to his seduction by the dark-side. Furthermore, it's logical to think that some of Dooku's unconventional thinking would have been imprinted on Qui-gon.
If Sith power is based on knowledge of midi-chlorians (living critters) then their power might be limited to the power of "the living force". In order for Plagueis/Palpatine to realize his dream of cheating death, he would need to tap into the "cosmic force" (see Note below). Perhaps this was a door that could only be unlocked by someone of the light-side so Plagueis/Palpatine tricked Qui-gon and Yoda into unlocking this door. Once unlocked, the door remains unlocked forever. The Sith might also have access to this power at this point. Being the Sith they would take the power a step further. Not being content with existing as ethereal beings that cannot physically interact with the world, they would study how to possess a living being as a force-ghost.
NOTE: the Clone Wars series' final episodes detail Yoda's "walk-about" to obtain force-ghosting knowledge. in this episode, "force-spirits" tell Yoda of a "living force" and a "cosmic force".
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Star Wars Ramblings: Bridging the Midi-chlorian Divide
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
The Jedi studied The Force through meditation and contemplation. It was a mystical force that only a disciplined mind could wield and master. It was known that force-potential was often an inheritable trait passed on from mothers and fathers to their offspring. This prompted one Jedi, a former scientist, to seek scientific explanations for The Force. He discovered midi-chlorians and their relation to The Force. He postulated that at one time, the midi-chlorians were a virus that infected living cells. Eventually, mutations occurred and they became a part of living cells that were copied as each cell divided (like the mitochondria of our galaxy). The Jedi of the time viewed his findings with disdain. "Science is not the way to The Force", they said. Fearing that this particular jedi would unlock powerful secrets of The Force through midi-chlorian research instead of practiced and disciplined spiritual study, the council banned further study of the midi-chlorians. The science-jedi took offense to this and left the order with many other jedi following him.
This group would later go on to become the Sith. It's leader would one day take the name Darth Plagueis. It is said that he possessed such wisdom that he could influence the midi-chlorians to prevent those he cared for from dying. Well, who does a Sith care for? Himself. Plagueis mastered the ability to transfer his consciousness from one body to another. He lived for thousands of years this way, taking the names of his victims and sometimes using various new Sith names. When his apprentice, Palpatine learned that his master planned to one day possess his body, he attempted to kill Plagueis. He succeeded in killing Plagueis' body but Plagueis took possession of Palpatine as he delivered the final blow. Snokes is Palpatine is Plagueis.
While Plagueis had great knowledge of the midi-chlorians, he never managed to increase his own midi-chlorian count or the midi-chlorian count of other living beings. He eventually took a different tack and it payed off. He was able to use the midi-chlorians to cause parthenogenesis and, in the process, boost the number of midi-chlorians in the fetus. There are Sith legends that he first performed these experiments on animals - which created some rather nasty force-immune and force-wielding creatures. He eventually learned how to do this with humans - which proved very useful for creating new, powerful hosts for himself. Each time, he was able improve the midi-chlorian counts in the midi-chlorian conceived offspring.
If the Jedi had such contempt for midi-chlorians and using science to study The Force, why were they using it to test for force-potential during the time of the Prequel Trilogies? The Jedi originally existed as a cloistered order. As the Republic grew, the Jedi were called upon for aid more and more often. Eventually, the Jedi became very intertwined in the political workings of the Republic. The Republic continued to grow and so did the Jedi responsibilities within the Republic. Eventually, the Jedi were spread very thin and too busy to send Jedi out looking for new jedi recruits. They acquiesced and allowed the use of midi-chlorian testing to identify potential candidates. While they allowed midi-chlorian testing, study and discussion of the midi-chlorians were always discordant and controversial. Thus, midi-chlorians were still a rather taboo topic of conversation. By the time of the Clone Wars, the Jedi had already fallen from their pure, spiritual grace without even realizing it. Through Luke Skywalker, with Obi-wan and Yoda as his guides, the Jedi Order regained its integrity and its spiritual roots.
The Jedi studied The Force through meditation and contemplation. It was a mystical force that only a disciplined mind could wield and master. It was known that force-potential was often an inheritable trait passed on from mothers and fathers to their offspring. This prompted one Jedi, a former scientist, to seek scientific explanations for The Force. He discovered midi-chlorians and their relation to The Force. He postulated that at one time, the midi-chlorians were a virus that infected living cells. Eventually, mutations occurred and they became a part of living cells that were copied as each cell divided (like the mitochondria of our galaxy). The Jedi of the time viewed his findings with disdain. "Science is not the way to The Force", they said. Fearing that this particular jedi would unlock powerful secrets of The Force through midi-chlorian research instead of practiced and disciplined spiritual study, the council banned further study of the midi-chlorians. The science-jedi took offense to this and left the order with many other jedi following him.
This group would later go on to become the Sith. It's leader would one day take the name Darth Plagueis. It is said that he possessed such wisdom that he could influence the midi-chlorians to prevent those he cared for from dying. Well, who does a Sith care for? Himself. Plagueis mastered the ability to transfer his consciousness from one body to another. He lived for thousands of years this way, taking the names of his victims and sometimes using various new Sith names. When his apprentice, Palpatine learned that his master planned to one day possess his body, he attempted to kill Plagueis. He succeeded in killing Plagueis' body but Plagueis took possession of Palpatine as he delivered the final blow. Snokes is Palpatine is Plagueis.
While Plagueis had great knowledge of the midi-chlorians, he never managed to increase his own midi-chlorian count or the midi-chlorian count of other living beings. He eventually took a different tack and it payed off. He was able to use the midi-chlorians to cause parthenogenesis and, in the process, boost the number of midi-chlorians in the fetus. There are Sith legends that he first performed these experiments on animals - which created some rather nasty force-immune and force-wielding creatures. He eventually learned how to do this with humans - which proved very useful for creating new, powerful hosts for himself. Each time, he was able improve the midi-chlorian counts in the midi-chlorian conceived offspring.
If the Jedi had such contempt for midi-chlorians and using science to study The Force, why were they using it to test for force-potential during the time of the Prequel Trilogies? The Jedi originally existed as a cloistered order. As the Republic grew, the Jedi were called upon for aid more and more often. Eventually, the Jedi became very intertwined in the political workings of the Republic. The Republic continued to grow and so did the Jedi responsibilities within the Republic. Eventually, the Jedi were spread very thin and too busy to send Jedi out looking for new jedi recruits. They acquiesced and allowed the use of midi-chlorian testing to identify potential candidates. While they allowed midi-chlorian testing, study and discussion of the midi-chlorians were always discordant and controversial. Thus, midi-chlorians were still a rather taboo topic of conversation. By the time of the Clone Wars, the Jedi had already fallen from their pure, spiritual grace without even realizing it. Through Luke Skywalker, with Obi-wan and Yoda as his guides, the Jedi Order regained its integrity and its spiritual roots.
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