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Hereditary Force ability and Jedi code

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by DarthSyphus, May 26, 2005.

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  1. DarthSkeptical

    DarthSkeptical Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Aug 19, 2001
    Problem with that theory is that it fails to explain how Yoda can be so small, but so powerful.
     
  2. DarthSkeptical

    DarthSkeptical Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Aug 19, 2001
    To bring us back to the topic and away from the pesky midi-chlorians, though, if Force sensitivity is hereditary--which really the underlying logic of the Saga demands--why don't Obi-Wan and Yoda try to procreate at some point? Yoda, perhaps, is such an unusual creature that he needs one of his own kind to mate with. And presumably, Vader would have his planet staked out from the onset of the Empire. Indeed, one can imagine a whole tragic storyline in which the Empire destroys Yoda's homeworld--maybe even that Dagobah WAS his homeworld, but all that's left after the devistation is what we see in ESB.

    But Obi-Wan is a different matter. Surely he would have had the time and occasion to pursue some kind of physical contact in his exile on Tatooine. Granted, it goes against his training, somewhat, to pursue actual attachment, but if Force sensitivity is hereditary, you'd think Qui-Gon might've eventually convinced him that a little backup for Luke might not be such a bad idea.

    Eh, I'm really into the speculative wastes here. There are good enough reasons for them to be portrayed as "in contemplative exile"--but I can't help thinking it makes some kinda sense for at least one of them to have tried to reproduce at some point. At some point in that 20 years they must've been given cause to wonder if they might somehow start repopulating the Jedi ranks.
     
  3. DarthSyphus

    DarthSyphus Jedi Youngling star 1

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    May 26, 2005
    Every living cell has midi-chlorians, so the total midi-chlorian count of an organism is equal to its number of cells times the number of midi-chlorians per cell. Since Yoda is small-bodied (small number of cells) and has a high midichlorian count, and since Anakin is a small boy when he is tested (again, small number of cells), it follows that a high midi-chlorian count refers to the number midi-chlorians per cell, and not to the total number of midi-chlorians in the entire body.
     
  4. jdijade

    jdijade Jedi Youngling star 2

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    May 23, 2005
    <<if Force sensitivity is hereditary--which really the underlying logic of the Saga demands--why don't Obi-Wan and Yoda try to procreate at some point? >>

    Who's to say they didn't? Obi-Wan, at least. Heck, he could even succeed at procreating, but much like a blue-eyed parent doesn't guarantee a blue-eyed child, maybe he couldn't produce a force sensitive heir. Anakin was practically a giant walking midi-chlorian, so his chances were higher.

    Ok, so it's a far reach, but I agree that Obi-Wan didn't necessarily spend ALL his twenty years just being a "crazy old hermit."

    There is another thing to consider, though. Sure, Ben could have opted to try and repopulate the Jedi, but he'd be doing so just to put his own child in harm's way. I can't imagine many parents deliberately wanting to have a child for the purpose of sending them off to battle the greatest evil in all the galaxy. Quite a conundrum.
     
  5. DarthSkeptical

    DarthSkeptical Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Aug 19, 2001
    Well, the scripts make it somewhat vague whether we're talking about a count or a concentration. One assumes that it's a concentration, because the method of measurement is to take a blood sample. Now it's possible that the readout Obi-Wan is looking at does some extrapolative math and gives a number of 20,000+ which is an approximate count. Hence, in that scene, they never use the word concentration, only count.

    Later, in front of the Jedi Council, Jinn uses the word concentration. Now, this could still allow for the earlier conversation to stand, uncorrected. A small person, like young Ani, could have both a high count and a high concentration. But it could just as easily be that they were, like many medical professionals, somewhat sloppily using the term "count" for something that was actually a measurement of concentration.

    Why is all this important? Well, concentrations would be ambiguously affected by limb loss, thus Lucas' statements that Obi-Wan reduces the power of Vader by cutting off huge chunks of his body makes no sense. (Indeed, the concentration of midis would go up as you lost body parts, and small beings are naturally advantaged in such a measurement over their larger counterparts). However, if the measurement is really in terms of counts then, with no other information about how this life form works, one can extrapolate that once those that life in amputated parts of the body are severed, they're lost to the host forever. And, of course, Lucas' claim sounds a bit more "reasonable".

    There's much about midis that are deliberately obscure or anti-scientific. But the question of what kind of measurement Qui-Gon was really taking in Episode I really does matter, because it informs the final duel in Episode III, and has implications for Yoda's size/power ratio.
     
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