It seemed simple in Star Wars, A New Hope. Obi-Wan Kenobi dies and moves into a different plane of existence. His corporeal body disappears. His spirit pops up in another dimension, and the spirit form hangs around to help Luke out of a jam.
Along comes Return of the Jedi, six years later, and a contradiction occurs. Luke stays by Yoda's deathbed until the end, at which point Yoda disappears. Yet, he's not seen nor heard from again until the final sequence of the film. After Yoda dies, it's Obi-Wan who comes out to talk to Luke, not Yoda.
Even more confusing is the death of Darth Vader. Turned once more to the light side of the Force, he dies as Anakin Skywalker rather than as Darth Vader. However, Luke has to lug his corpse off the Death Star as it falls apart around them. Then, on the Forest Moon of Endor, they hold a ceremony and burn the body. In the final sequence, his spirit is standing there with those of Obi-Wan and Yoda, all looking quite proud of young Luke. Huh? Anakin's body didn't disappear, like the others' had, but his spirit was still hanging around? Interesting.
This is never adequately explained. So we fast-forward 16 years to the release of The Phantom Menace. What happens? Qui-Gon Jinn is murdered during a ferocious battle with Darth Maul. He also does not disappear, and has his body ceremonially burned, as did Anakin. His spirit is not heard from or seen. Again, no explanation, though Lucas promises one is forthcoming in the next two prequels.
My husband discovered a partial theory while reading Dark Force Rising, the second book in the Thrawn trilogy, which takes place several years after Return of the Jedi. Luke is talking to R2-D2 about seeing Obi-Wan and the others after the Battle of Endor, and says, "My guess is that there's some way for a dying Jedi to--oh, I don't know;to somehow anchor himself to another Jedi who's close by."
That does make some sense, as Luke was present at the deaths of all three Jedi that he was able to see as spirits. However, his theory doesn't touch upon the disappearing, or lack thereof, of the bodies of some Jedi. One explanation I've heard for that part of it is that Jedi who were not prepared to die do not disappear.
Go To Page: 1 2
