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This might deserve a thread of its own but here goes: can anyone explain to me what the Force is right now? first it was a force field that sorrounds and binds all things together, which makes me wonder how Luke can shut himself out of something like that. How do you unbind yourself from the entire universe?

Then Snoke says darkness rises and light to meet it, as if it was some sort of Ying and Yang, which doesnt fit the rule of two. How can you have thousands of years of only 2 sith and thousands of Jedi? why did darkness not rise to meet the thousands of light side Jedi? and if its two sides of the same coin, how can there be a middle ground? explanation after explanation over the years makes me wonder what exactly the Force is right now. It is confusing and sometimes nonsensical.

 

Thank you. A very tall order, since it would take some time to get all my thoughts and questions together in a more coherent manner, but I think a very worthy subject. I think the definition of the Force has changed over the years, more so with TLJ and with the Rebels TV series and the Bindu and the grey area in the middle. I guess what Im saying is that so many different things have been said about the Force, Im not so sure when you look at it all together it makes any sense.

 

So I just went down a sleep deprived wookieepedia hole cause of some old comment someone made about the Nebulon B, calling it a Nebula and swear it was called it in his source books as a kid. Obviously he is wrong. However that got me interested in when that name was first used. The farthest back I could find was the Terminator from WEG "The Star Wars Sourcebook". The RPG guide had the Nebulon there but only as a picture, this was the first to use the name.

My question being: was there a usage of the name prior to this? and are there any articles or the like on how early EU writers and WEG writers came up with these names? It is an interesting topic but even finding who wrote the first use of the name is hard, let alone finding what inspired them. Honestly would love for them to do an official book documenting this stuff and talking with Pablo's old WEG buddies.

 

I had a thread once that was more a general overview of Star Wars themes and mythology and one of the topics was the nature of the Force. Unfortunately it got somewhat religious, which is not surprising considering the topic matter. However if you want I can create a thread on this topic for you.

 

I have a question: how did the First Order find out about Lor San Tekka having the map to Luke Skywalker and where Lor San Tekka was?

 

Do lightsabers cast a shadow? I mean the blades. Since the are just "light", not solid, they shouldn't, just like candle flames don't have shadows. But I don't remember if they paid attention to that detail in the movies.

 

A solid (or dense enough), opaque light source does cast a shadow if there's another light source around. In the movies, you may see the shadows because of the rods that were used as lightsaber blades.

But in theory, they should cast shadows anyway.

 

Oh, I didn't know that. Any real-life examples? All I can think of that compares is fire.

 

Maybe a tube lamp?

To clarify my previous post, it will cast a shadow if there's another brighter light source nearby. Fire (or in this case, a candle) is no exception. Try taking a picture with flash on and you may see a very faint shadow of the flame itself.

It casts a shadow because the light source is not strong enough to illuminate the brighter light that it is blocking.

 

I see. But a tube lamp is solid, it's made of opaque glass filled with some kind of gas (neon?). So that is sure to cast a shadow. With fire and candle flames, when the sun is out, I see not so much a shadow as blurred wavy lines like you would see close to the surface looking into the distance on a hot sunny day. And with fires isn't it the smoke rather than the actual flame which casts a shadow?
Oh, and how about blaster beams? Would they also cast shadows?

 

The beam of the lightsaber is opaque as well. If another stronger light source is around, that light won't pass through the beam, therefore a shadow will be formed.

 

OK, then where does that solid matter that makes it opaque come from? When a lightsaber is switched off there is absolutely nothing but air where it was, after a fraction of a second, not even smoke or signs of any chemical reaction. Does matter just appear out of thin air when switched on? Where does that matter come from? How about in vacuum?

 

From the same place sound in space does.

 

OK, good point.

 

I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but why did Hux say "The New Republic lies to the galaxy." in The Force Awakens? What does he think the New Republic lied about?

 

Presumably, about the evilness of the Empire that they replaced.

 

How did Krennic track down the Ersos - Is that documented anywhere...?

 

Before Star Wars was bought by Disney I felt like I had a coherent understanding of the Force, unifying and living. But now there's more information and I'm not sure I understand it any more. Can anyone here explain what the current Living Force and Unifying force are and how they interact?

 

The Force itself is split into two sides: the living Force and a greater, cosmic Force. The living Force makes you sensitive to other living things, makes you intuitive, and allows you to read other people's minds, et cetera. But the greater Force has to do with destiny. In working with the Force, you can find your destiny and you can choose to either follow it, or not." - George Lucas

There's also this:

The Unifying Force was believed as having neither the light nor the dark side. The dark and light sides are instead conceptualized in a metaphorical way, treating all beings equally. Followers of the Unifying Force always kept their eyes open for future possibilities. In the end, it resulted in them trying to fulfill a destiny rather than focusing on here and now, which was one of the main tenets of the Living Force philosophy.

Visions of the future were of particular significance to Unifying Force supporters. Yoda was one of the most adamant proponents of heeding visions of the future, though he did not adhere to many of the other views common with the Unifying Force. Many of these Jedi believed a similar philosophy focusing on the flow of time as a whole, ignoring primary use of the Living Force. Voices for the latter espoused a philosophy of "live for the moment" and heavily relied on their instincts. This viewpoint might have allowed the Jedi Order to stave off the conflict that gave rise to the Galactic Empire, as its members lost themselves in looking forward rather than analyzing the unfolding events before them. Yoda later espoused beliefs closer to the philosophy of the Living Force when training Luke Skywalker on Dagobah.

Ironically, Emperor Palpatine, known as Darth Sidious, also supported this belief in the Unifying Force. He agreed that there was only one Force: the only difference worthy of note was that the Sith saw the Force as a means to an end while the Jedi saw it as an end in itself.

- https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Unifying_Force

"The issue of the living force vs. the unifying force will not be discussed in Episode III with such direct labels, though there is some food for debate in there." -Pablo Hildago

 

Many thanks for that. That's really helpful. It seems like things are mostly still as I knew them from a few years ago.

Are Jedi wielding green lightsabers still associated with the Living Force and those with blue associated with the Unifying Force? I know the whole thing with lightsaber crystals is now different, coming from a Jedi's approach to the force and fuction in the order and not just a choice of colour. It's just that Yoda seems to think more about prophecy and the future of the order than any other Jedi and yet his saber is green, whereas Obi-wan seems to be very present in the moment (if less intuitive than his master Qui-gon) and yet his saber is blue.

 

I don't think that ever was the case. The closest thing to "color coded lightsabers" was The Jedi Path - and it said that the Jedi who specialise in diplomacy and conflict resolution - Consulars - tend to use green and Jedi who specialise more in battle and protection of the weak - Guardians - tend to use blue.

It should also be noted that the whole "living force philosophy vs unifying force philosophy" quote above, from Wookieepedia, draws heavily on Jedi Academy Training Manual, a roleplaying game sourcebook notorious for its inaccuracy.

For just one example, it refers to Mon Mothma as having been possessed by Exar Kun when nothing of the sort actually happened.

 

I think I originally read that here on the JC forums ages ago. It was a discussion that went back and forwards for a while in 2003. I can't use the direct quote system because the thread is too old and is locked, but here's a copy and paste...

 

A couple questions about communication:
1. Can they send transmissions while in hyperspace?
2. How do comlinks work? Like cell phones or walkie-talkies?