Midichlorians used in Jedi Purge?

(Apologies if this has been discussed before, and a disclaimer to note that this is all speculation on my part, and not based on offical statements or rumor.)

I've been having a very interesting discussion on midichlorians in the Saga forum, and something occured to me. Do you think that after the Empire comes to power, Palpatine might dispatch agents to seek out children with a high midichlorian count and kill them? This way, no one would be able to use the Force against the Empire.

I've never like the idea of midichlorians, and I've often wondered why Lucas introduced it in the first place. But this could explain why. It would be very easy for the Empire: just conduct a sort of "midichlorian census," and kill any child who charted too high. Some of the very ablest they might bring back to be specially trained in the Sith arts.

This brings up an obvious question, however: how did Luke and Leia escape the Midichlorian Purge? But perhaps Obi Wan or Yoda or even Vader protected them somehow.

Thoughts?

 

There was probably no purge. Even if you have high midchlorian count, if no one is there to teach you about the Force, how will you know about it?

 

It is possible for an untrained force user to wield as much power as the greatest Jedi Master...at least that is the case with Kar Vastor in Shatterpoint, Mace comes right out and says it....But it's EU, so take it how you will

 

youngvader,

Well, this goes back to a conversation we had on the "Who Trained Sidious" thread. My point in that discussion was that using the Force is a spiritual path that had to be discovered by an individual at some point in the past, and which thus could be rediscovered by individuals later, who had no aid of a teacher.

Furthermore, Sidious and Vader will know, presumably, that Obi Wan and Yoda escaped the Jedi Purge. Therefore, any of those high-midichlorian-children could be a potential disciple of Obi Wan or Yoda. Indeed, one such child, Luke, does just that.

 

Yes but without a master, Luke did not even know what the Force was. I'm not saying your theory is false but how indeed could have Luke and Leia escaped it. Luke was on Tatooine, out of the control of the Empire but Leia was on Alderaan. She should have been found.

 

Please forgive me for saying so... but, I think the whole midichlorian thing was a lame idea that Lucas made up.

I personally don't think this will be included in ROTS. There are already way too many things that need explained and way too many mysteries to be unraveled in this final film. I think the midichlorians would just be another "rabbit trail" that would detract from the true story.

All that being said, I DO like the idea of there being a "purge". It is definately something that would be "Hiltleresque" and would put even more innocent blood on the Emperor's hands.

 

When I was younger I read some eu, and I seem to recall there being a machine that the empire used to detect those who were enabled w/ the force.

 

It would make sense for the Emperor to try and kill other Force sensitives, but the fact remains that Leia, who is high profile, is never killed (Luke's a bit out of the way). I think this is something for the EU to know and us to find out.

I doubt midichlorians will ever be mentioned again, as well as any kind of midi-purge. Like it was said above, that's just getting too complex for a movie that is already complex enough. Perhaps an EU writer will touch on it someday.

 

Bail could also always modify the outcome of Leia's tests that get sent to the Empire.

 

Yeah, there was that Force-sensing device in the Jedi Academy Trilogy. They found it in a heap of the Emperor's old stuff on Coruscant. It scanned a person, and a glowing blue image was produced if the person had Force-potential. They guessed that it was used for the Jedi-Purge.
That's not improbable, since they have devices in the movies that can scan blood for midi-chlorians.

There was also a way that Luke touched a part of someone's mind through the Force, and a Force-potential would have an involuntary Force-spasm that would knock Luke off his feet.

 

Please forgive me for saying so... but, I think the whole midichlorian thing was a lame idea that Lucas made up.

I think it served its purpose pretty well in TPM. GL needed a way to measure force sensitivity to show Anakin's potnential, and that's what it did. IMO, its better than anything the EU's come up with.

 

Interesting thought, Dionysus. It makes sense, too. That idea reminds me of the TEN COMMANDMENTS movie where Ramses has all the first born children killed in fear of the messenger from God being allowed to live. But I also think, as others have alluded to, that it is a deeper involvement that would be served best by EU, which I think is quite possible, IMO.

 

Even if you have high midchlorian count, if no one is there to teach you about the Force, how will you know about it?

But someone did figure out how to start using the Force at some point, or else they would be no Jedi tradition to teach. My money's still on the purge.

 

Yes, perhaps many of you are right when you say that there is just too much to cram into ROTS to include this as well. But it could be tossed off in a single line. In a conversation between Obi Wan and Yoda towards the end of the film, for example. "The Sith are planning to hunt down children with high midichlorian counts," or something similar.

Anyway, I'm not saying that a line like this will be included, but it wouldn't take much time or effort to include it. And it would go a long way towards explaining the purpose of midichlorians to people like me, who never quite saw their point.

(Agreed, they're a way of showing Anakin's potential in TPM, but it's a rather complicated way of showing it, and oddly materialistic. You could just as easily have had Qui Gon remark that he had never sensed such a strong Force presence in anyone, not even Yoda.)

 

I've thought about this also. It would be a good way to effectively use the midi-chlorians in the story. Extremely dramatic.

 

But someone did figure out how to start using the Force at some point, or else they would be no Jedi tradition to teach.

Absolutely. Let's not forget that Anakin was using the Force when he podraced, long before he met Qui-Gon. He didn't realise that's what he was using, but it was still there.

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I like this idea.

I don't think the midichlorian explanation was that bad, just the way it was introduced was the worst exposition of all time.

"Master Qui-Gon, I've been wondering: just what are midichlorians?"

I wonder if a Force-sensitive individual doesn't really attain a Force "presence" (a la Vader sensing Obi-Wan's distinct presence on the Death Star) until they have worked with the Force for a long time.

Young Anakin, Luke and Leia might all have unconsciously touched on the Force in their lives, but perhaps until a concerted effort is made to focus the Force, it is difficult to measure an individual's strength.

Qui-Gon had to actually take some of Anakin's blood to test for midichlorian count.

Luke was in the boonies and Leia was royalty/Senator material, so she would be protected.

 

I hope they turn up in ROTS, because it was a cool idea that I loved in TPM. Maybe it's how Anakin finds out he has children?

 

Had I been the Emperor I'd hunt down and kill the weakest, and I'd set elaborate schemes to flush out the next Sith Lord, since noone is immortal without cloned bodies in the freezer. He surtently wasn't planning to keep Vader for ever as an apprentice,too dangerous.To do that the midis would be the first and only choise.

 

well, an interesting parallel i have not seen anyone make......

it sure seems to me that by way of the comix and novels i have read - that Luca Licensing is bent on making sure we all know that a WHOLE HECK OF A LOT OF PEOPLE in the GFFA are very aware of the notion that the Jedi are "baby-snatchers"

it's hard NOT to notice this imho.

so... it would sure be a horrific PR move to hunt down these kids, and instead of taking them to a temple to be trained as gifted childre, to subject them to senseless slaughter!!!

perhaps this is what re-awakens the GFFA to the idea that the Jedi ain't so bad after all? etc. etc. etc.

 

Yeah, I definatly think they'll use that and that it's a good way to set it up so that the citiznes of the Republic will hate the Jedi Order and be glad when Palpatine wipes them out.