Might be the wrong board to pose this question, but I'll try: What is the "current stance" on afterlife in Star Wars?


I've read such a mess of things that I don't even know what to believe anymore.

George Lucas was once asked if Anakin and Padme were reunited in the afterlife of the force. Lucas said "yes, he was reunited with Padme and his family". I'm assuming "his family" was his mother and half-brother?

OK, so I was fine with that for years. It basically sounded as if the "Force Netherworld" was where the souls of all beings went when they died and the "Force Ghosts" were people strong enough with the force to manifest in the mortal realm. In other words--everyone has an afterlife in the Netherworld but only Yoda, Obi-Wan and select Jedi can manifest OUTSIDE OF the netherworld. Fine, I was fine with that.

Then, as time went on (and this is even before the whole Disney acquisition) I start hearing fans all over the internet talking about the force afterlife and it was shockingly contradicting what Lucas had said. They were saying that, when a person dies, they lose their "conscious individuality" and are essentially no more. They become fodder for the Cosmic Force. No afterlife. No consciousness. NOTHING. In their view, only a select few Jedi learn how to "maintain their conscious individuality when they become one with the Cosmic Force". So, if we go by that explanation, it sounds as if almost NO ONE gets an afterlife in the Star Wars universe except for a select few Jedi who learn some "secret of the Whills". That sounds...bleak.

Not only does it sound bleak--it sounds unfair. What warped mind developed this concept of the afterlife for Star Wars? It doesn't fit Lucas' statement about Anakin being reunited with Padme and his mother at all. If you go by the new explanation, Padme, Shmi and Lars should have been "absorbed into the force" so what gives? Who came up with this idea and why is it such a blatant contradiction of what Lucas stated?

Is there more to it or is that about the gist of it?

Because, taking this into consideration, that would essentially mean that Luke and Leia get an afterlife devoid of their mother, Han and all their other loved ones. That sounds...appalling. Who came up with this idea?

I much prefer the good old days of Star Wars when things like this were left to the imagination.

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If you remember at the end of Revenge if the Sith, Yoda said to Obi-wan that his old master (Qui-Gon Jinn) has found a path to immortality and that training you will have. This implies that Qui Con was the first Jedi to have the Force afterlife, so to answer your question, I believe it’s only a select few Jedi that have this ability once they are trained.

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Because Qui-Gon was the first being, in the official Canon, to discover how to be “one with the force”. Meaning, he was the first being to become a “force ghost”. And that’s why Obi-Wan become one and so did Yoda. It is presumed that Qui-Gon, taught yoda as well as Obi-Wan to become a “force ghost”. And when you’re a force ghost, you live on. There is no other death. You are immortal through the force.

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Yoda-say-to-Obi-Wan-in-the-end-of-Revenge-of-the-Sith-that-his-old-master-Qui-Gon-Jinn-has-found-a-path-to-immortality

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Yeah, but I heard that Mace Windu was among the Jedi voices in this new movie. This goes against the Qui-Gon was the first canon, I'd say. Who taught him that? Yoda implied it was Qui-Gon who "Showed me the way".

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In a nutshell, the original Star Wars was more like a non-theist view of afterlife, while modern woke Disney has brought back the Christian view of afterlife, with spirits, and ghosts (only for jedis), and everybody living happy after death.

For some reason, it doesn't surprise me...

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I hate Disney Star Wars but I don't understand what you mean here. We've only seen Jedi force ghosts in any of the films thus far and there is no indication that the afterlife is "happy" in either the original six films or these three lousy Disney abortions.

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they do become one with the Force, that is how they are "reunited" with family. only the few who trained can maintain their individual identity

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Like I said, that's the worst afterlife I've ever heard of in fiction.

It means oblivion for 99.9% of the universe and a tiny piece getting an afterlife.

That means Luke and Leia get to spend eternity in the force afterlife without Han and their mother. Seems horribly bleak.

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yeah, but they can spend that time kissing each other!

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LOL!

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Of course, that brings up the question of how Padme was able to make a Force Ghost apoearance in the rejiggered RothJ, even though she's not a Jedi and has no known Force powers.

The Han in this movie wasnt a Force ghost, of course, he was a hallucination. I just don't know if the illusion came from Darth Emo's subconscious, or Leia.

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When did we see Padme as a Force Ghost?
🤔

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