What is the secret to immortality?

What did Qui-Gon learn that made him return from the netherworld of the Force?
How does a Jedi gain immortality?
Is it love?
Is it inner peace?
Is it just some sort of neat trick?
Is it something else entirely?





Who knows?
/LM

 

It's sponge taffy.

 

Great question. The trouble would be actually answering it. All of your possibilities could be argued for or against. For example, love. It could be argued that all Jedi that became Force ghosts had a love within them. Qui-Gon had love for Anakin and Obi-Wan to keep him "alive" in the Force. Ben, Yoda and, ultimately, Anakin had Luke. This love went beyond what Jedi preached, which I interpret to be a generalized kind of love, ie love for all.

Inner peace could also be concievably argued for. All of them had a moment of inner peace before death. Qui-Gon took a brief meditation before his last clash with Maul, which could have been a moment where he understood his death was at hand and he was looking for his inner peace. Both Yoda and Obi-Wan had clear moments of peace before death, Ben actually stopped fighting and let himself be killed, while Yoda prepared for death as peacefully as he would have prepared for bed. Anakin had a major moment of peace, looking into his son's eyes for the first time and knowing he would be allright.

Of course, it could also have been a neat trick, sold in Jedi novelty shops...

 

Given that Qui-Gon was the only Jedi out of the three (Ben, Yoda) to not vanish into thin air upon death, would it not give reason to suggest that whatever he discovered in regards to immortality he did AFTER his death?

Though this doesn't explain Anakin's reapparance at the end of ROTJ admittedly.

Lousy plot holes.

 

I believe Qui-Gon had already discovered immortality to some extent. He knew about it somehow. Sideous new of "cheating death" somehow, and we should not forget that Sideous trained Dooku as a sith, but Dooku trained Qui-Gon. These apprenticeships could have overlapped. There has got to be some link between Plagueis'/Sideous' idea of cheating death and what Qui-Gon knew how to do. Qui-Gon had not figured it out fully however, and could not send his body along with his spirit to "the netherworld of the force."

I also think it is a possibility that you must willingly give up your body to have it become one with the force. Obi-Wan planned his death. So did Yoda. Qui-Gon did not. He was caught off guard. ...he did meditate some however when he was waiting behind the forcefield.

I don't think it's a plot hole. I think Anakin figured it out as Vader. ...when Anakin was dying, he was finally at peace. He made Luke take his mask off. He might have been able to survive but I think he wanted to die. He was ready and willing. I suppose he appeared as his younger self because he felt like that was his true self. ...Not a burned up old man. I bet his body dissapeared too. It does not show it, but Luke could have just been burning the costume.

I think the secret to immortality is a FULL commitment and understanding of death, and a 100% willingness to die for a cause. Qui-Gon felt there was such a need for him to retain his identity because there was such a sense of urgency to save the Jedi order. He absolutely knew that Anakin was the chosen one, but even though he may not have admitted it, I think he also sensed that terrible things were going to happen. His will to live on and his belief in the prophecy was just so strong.

 

Well, I'm sure whatever is was requires some exposition with religious overtones to which many at LFL told George to "not go there".

 

It's possible that Anakin, with assistance from Yoda and Obi-Wan, was able to reappear because of his extreme presence in the Force. His spirit may have been strong enough to manifest itself as a ghost without having to bring his physical body into the spiritual realm.
?which leads me to the conclusion that immortality, on some level, has to do with strength in spirit.
So, what is strength in spirit? Perhaps Anakin?s unconditional love for his son gave his spirit the strength it needed to become immortal. I would say that the movie does indicate this.
What Lucas is telling us might be that unconditional love, which is the selfless kind of love that most parents feel for their children, is the most powerful kind of love there is. It gives you inner strength beyond measure and makes you live forever in the hearts of those that you love.





Love - it's powerful
/LM

 

I really like this idea. He was the chosen one after all.

I had another thought. Perhaps the "spirit form" is their spirits influencing the Midi-chloreans in their surroundings to actually become visible. If this is the case, they would be able to assume any shape or form they wanted, thus explaining how Anakin appeared as his younger self.

 

I'm pretty sure that's what Lucas said. I think it was on the DVD commentary.

 

The secret to immortality is......*drum roll*............










.....rebirth!! The only problem is you can't remember your previous life. Sorry guys.

 

Letting go.

 

BABIES!

 

Selflessness, Jinn said it himself in the script/novel.

 

Letting go of babies!!!

 

LOL. But neither Qui Gon, Obi Wan, nor Yoda had any babies.

 

Well, Qui-Gon was a master of the living Force, as opposed to the unifying Force which was largely focused on by the majority of Jedi, making Qui-Gon a rebel. It wasn't until the fall of the Jedi Order, and the Reform of the Jedi that Luke brought that led many more Jedi to focus on both the living and unifying Force, and thus gaining the chance to become immortal.

 

They simply let go of the babies pre-emptively.

 

Since Qui-Gon's body did not disappear does that mean he only turned into a "force voice" and not force ghost. I believe in the novel, Yoda can only hear Jinn's voice.

 

He did only turn into a voice, and it's probably connected to the fact that his body didn't disappear as the concept artists wanted to include his ghost in Episode 3 but Lucas told them he's not that advanced.

 

Do you have the source for this quote from Lucas? Honestly, that sounds kind of fishy.

A couple of points:

1) For those saying that Anakin could return as a ghost because he was stronger with the force (as the Chosen One), that point is probably nullified in Lucas' numerous statements (including on the ROTJ DVD) that Anakin's force sensitivity was dramatically reduced when he lost all his ligaments, as his midichlorian count was reduced.

2) Regarding the question, Wookiepedia gives this explanation (pretty good, I think), at their page for Qui-Gon Jinn: The skill was achieved through extreme compassion, a rejection of selfishness and personal attachment to the point that the physical self fades away, but the consciousness remains as one with the Force.

(I don't know how many of you have read Jack London's novel 'The Star Rover', but it explains consciousness like this: "For look you. This finger of mine, so quick with sensation, so subtle to feel, so delicate in its multifarious dexterities, so firm and strong to crook and bend or stiffen by means of cunning leverage - this finger is not I. Cut it off. I live. The body is mutilated. I am not mutilated. The spirit that is I, is whole.")

(This idea of illustrating consciousness by getting rid of the body is also explained well in Alex Garland's novel 'Coma' and the movie What Dreams May Come.)

 

Hmmm, truly the great question.

It seems, according to Star Wars, simply the "ability" to let go.

By ability, I mean that to let go of life and accept one's self into the Force, one must learn enough of Life's lessons to where they know the physical world is not the end, but rather another plateau one must transcend before achieving true enlightenment.

It's an old lesson in many an Earthen teaching.

 

I don't have the source on me, but it's one of the Insider "Ask the Master" columns. I'm looking through them and so far the evidence similar to it that I've found is

"Sometime during his travels, Qui-Gon Jinn came across a unique Force ability said to be practiced by a mysterious Force adept called a Shaman of the Whills. This school of knowledge, developed far outside of the Jedi study of the Force, had the power to preserve conciousness and identity beyond death...Qui-Gon's knowledge of this ability was incomplete and largely theoretical, but upon his death, he attempted it and partially succeeded. His body did not sublimate into nothingness, as many fans were surprised to see in Episode 1." from the Ask the Master segment in Star Wars Insider issue 83. Issue 89 also makes similar claims that Obi-Wan was better at becoming a Force Ghost.

It's defintitely achieved through selflessness though as that's straight from the novel.

 

Whoever tried to suggest that Qui-Gon's not disappearing is evidence of his becoming a Force ghost was obviously unfamiliar with the following movies: Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Because both of the characters who became Force ghosts in those did disappear.

In fact, the Jedi tradition of burning their own (Jedi pyres, right?) assumes that they never disappear, and therefore Qui-Gon's death was totally normal.

I think these are just narrative glitches and there's no real explanation other than, "Hey, we goofed."

 

THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH, page 40:

(Lucas, upon spotting the ghost of Qui-Gon on a concept painting by Tiemens "We never see the ghost of Qui-Gon; he's not that accomplished. He's able to retain his personality, but he's not able to become a corporeal ghost."





Qui-Gon - he's not that accomplished
/LM

 

Most Jedi don't disappear, and that's why it was surprising to fans, as all the Jedi deaths we'd seen up to that point, had. Pablo was saying that because he didn't disappear it was evidence that he didn't do it as completely as Yoda and Ben did.