PT The Theory of How Powerful was Qui-Gon

When Qui-Gon had found Anakin, he got obsessive about him. Annie's story about being conceived without a father, and his high amount of midi-chlorians must have broken Qui-Gon's paradigms, and he would not be a Jedi anymore: he now had his own mission of protecting and training Anakin. His return to Naboo was indeed taken as a secondary mission.

During all the movie, the EDITION shows in a subtle way how Qui-Gon was ignoring ethics and friends. Moreover, he would have ignored his own protection if somehow it had interfered in Anakin's protection.

After trying to command Watto's mind, and using the Force to manipulate the dice (something that was against all the Jedi principles), he puts Anakin in a dangerous Pod Racing. Or not?

Qui-Gon had used the Force to help and protect Anakin all the way....



At 2:00 we see Qui-Gon focused and suddenly Anakin's Pod "luckly" works again.

At 3:27, soon after Anakin got "lucky" against the Tusken Raider's shots, the EDITION shows Qui-Gon as if he were more focused than just watching the racing.

At 10:35, the EDITION showed Qui-Gon's glancing, and the Pods "luckly" get separated, leaving Anakin free and safe to win.

Later, at Maul's duel, Qui-Gon would again be completely focused on helping and protecting Anakin..

[I couldn't find any partial video, so you must confirm by yourselves.]

Qui-Gon falls as soon as Anakin leaves the Hangar, as if Qui-Gon were feeling Anakin's distance increased, and this had distracted him during the fight.

While Qui-Gon and Maul were waiting the force field which blocked them, Qui-Gon kneels and starts to focus. He was searching for Anakin. Anakin was in big trouble, doing a forced landing inside the Federation Base, and EVERYTHING on the ship was overheated. Anakin was in very danger, and the force field would make Qui-Gon "get back" to the fight.

Maybe he got distracted, or he was feeling urgency to go back to Anakin, and finally Qui-Gon suffers a lethal attack!

Or maybe, Qui-Gon intentionally had let Maul strike him down (as old-Ben did) so he could focus again on Anakin. If so, he would have abandoned Obi-Wan alone to fight (as I said, Qui-Gon aimed only to protect Anakin, ignoring ethic or friendships).

While Obi-Wan fights against Maul, we know that Qui-Gon was still alive. What happens next? Anakin's ship gets to work again ("luckly"), like it happened to his Pod.

Qui-Gon defeats Maul, and will never get credit for that.

Now, Anakin is saved.... Qui-Gon can return to the fight.

Suddenly Obi-Wan is capable to perform a perfect move to strike Maul (why didn't Maul done anything?).

Finally we see this Qui-Gon's hand, while he was asking Obi-Wan to train Anakin, like he were using a mind trick. Yes, Obi-Wan didn't have a weak mind, but it's funny how Yoda could feel the "Qui-Gon's defiance" on him...

And YES, that is a LOT of power for a Jedi, right? But this Jedi seems to have learned by himself how to "go back" from the dead....

Well, it may be all nonsense... But I like this hidden uncredited powerful Qui-Gon character....

 

With the video from the pod race I think what we are seeing is a calm, stoic, and reserved Jedi, not a Jedi using the Force to help Anakin. While everyone else in the group is reacting emotionally to the different situations, Qui Gon remains composed just as a Jedi should.

Furthermore Anakin didn't need Qui Gon's help. There is plenty of dialogue before the race that shows Anakin himself uses the Force to race, as he is the only human that can do it.

From a storytelling aspect there are a couple things that come to mind. First, Anakins breakdown at the beginning of the race does a couple things, it adds tension to the race by putting Anakin behind right from the start. It also helps establish just how good a pilot and how strong Anakin was with the Force to come back from behind. These are important to establish with the audience, if Qui Gon helps Anakin win the race, well it lessens Anakins win and takes away from the story of Anakin being powerful with the Force even at a young age (which is what made him a great pilot).

I also don't think Qui Gon was prepared to leave the Jedi Order over Anakin either. If anything Quin Gon understood the importance of Anakin being trained within the order as he was the chosen one. Qui Gon was not shy about butting heads with the council, but it seemed it was a result of philosophies and nothing more really. Qui Gon knew the importance of the Jedi Order.

 

Interesting analysis. If it were all true, and Qui-Gon had been sensing Anakin thru the Force, this would be an interesting parallel to "I sense Lord Vader is in danger." That being said, while everything you've listed is plausible from a certain point of view, I don't think it was the case. Qui-Gon certainly had Anakin's best interest in mind and wanted him trained as a Jedi. He realized he could be the Chosen One, and he had an obligation to protect Anakin after winning his freedom. While Qui-Gon clearly does use the Force to benefit his goals in some instances, I don't think he controlled the pod race or the business with taking out the Trade Federation command ship. The idea is that Anakin on his own and at his age was strong enough to do those things by himself. That's largely why Qui-Gon believes he's the Chosen One. The primary mission after Tatooine was protecting the Queen. It just so happened that Anakin was with them too, which was also very important, but not the primary objective. Additionally, Qui-Gon instructed Obi-Wan to "focus on the here and now." I don't believe he would have gone against this when confronting Maul. So, while we eventually learn from TCW and ROTS that Qui-Gon is indeed powerful and very wise, I don't think he was powerful enough or had the objective of doing all the things you mention.

 

You guys are right...

This theory, as Among the Clouds has pointed, could be plausible but probably it was not what GL had intended....

Anyway, this calm, stoic Jedi was the one who knew about Padme/Amidala and the one who troll her whenever possible.
This kind of subtle knowledge makes Qui-Gon smarter/wiser than the others...

I am pretty sure Anakin unconsciously used the Force during the Pod racing and the Bravo squad but, again, the edition seems to always show Qui-Gon when some sort of miracle happens....
And I've mentioned Qui-Gon leaving the Jedi order the same way that Obi-Wan would do if he had to train the boy without the approval of the Council...

yeahhhhhhh.........

 

While people do have issues with the prequels, this is not the time nor place to be talking about them.

OP that is an interesting analysis, true or not it will be interesting to see more of Qui-Gon...maybe as a Force Ghost again in the future?

 

I wish they had showed Qui-Gon talking to Yoda...
The character deserved more, you know?

I see people always complaining about him being beaten by an apprentice, since he was a master...
Or how could Maul be cut in 2 by someone who was hanging unarmed..

This theory actually fills those white spaces..

 

They did have scenes in TCW of Qui Gon talking and communicating with Yoda. Teaching him how to connect with the netherrealm of the force to learn to become a force ghost. And in AOTC, when Yoda is sensing Anakin's pain during the Tusken slaughter, you can hear Qui Gon saying "no Anakin!" That scene shows that Yoda may have been in contact with Qui Gon for a while before mentioned in episode 3. I believe it to be anyway.