Editorial: The Mysticism of the Force Reawakens!

force-ghost-yodaIn a world where mankind seems to constantly find new ways to divide itself among a bevvy of issues, there is something incredibly comforting in “an energy field created by all living things, it surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.” Much like Star Wars itself, the Force is a very unifying theme. I’ve found great solitude and escape from the problems of the real world in many of the elements of the galaxy far, far away. Star Wars wouldn’t be the same without each moving part, whether it be the exciting space battles, strange and exciting alien races, the battle of good vs. evil or the Force itself. However, none of these aspects gets me more excited than the mysteries surrounding the Force. If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen TFA yet, SPOILERS ahead … 

 

In the OT, this “magic” provided a sense of wonder and spirituality. Then along came the PT (just to be sure, while I enjoyed the OT more, I’m NOT a “PT-hater”). Lucas seemingly felt compelled to highlight Anakin Skywalker’s immense connection with this life-giving energy field by showcasing this strength in a demystifying way.

For me, the presence of midi-chlorians representing an individual’s connection to the Force, didn’t ruin anything. Still, it took away some of the mystical nature of this power. I’m not sure exactly why Lucas decided to introduce the idea of midi-chlorians. Perhaps he wanted to find a way to bridge a gap between the spiritual and scientific nature of the universe. It could have been an easy way to showcase that Anakin was the being with the highest recorded level of Force-sensitivity, lending credence to the fact that he was the Chosen One.

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The second idea seems a bit odd, considering the fact that we have precedent in the OT for another, more simple way of detecting this level of ability. During the trench run on the Death Star, Vader simply feels Luke’s strength in the Force. Couldn’t Qui-Gon simply have said that he’s never sensed a being with such an unbelievably powerful connection to the Force?

The idea of midi-chlorians were explored even deeper in The Clone Wars animated series. During Yoda’s training in becoming a Force ghost, the little Jedi Master traveled to a Force Planet, which apparently is where the Force microbes come from. I found this arc very interesting, yet I know that there are many who felt this was a further demystifying element to the saga.

It was no secret that JJ Abrams and co. were going to try and keep the PT references to a minimum in the ST. Not surprisingly we had zero mentions of midi-chlorians (though there was talk of balance in regards to the Force). Instead we got a lot of vague, yet intriguing moments with the magical nature of the Force.

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One of the vaguest parts of The Force Awakens is actually the title itself. The idea that the Force is once again responding to the cancerous threat of the darkside, by awakening powerfully inside Rey is one theory. Both Snoke and Kylo Ren have felt some kind of “awakening” and it’s certainly a thought-provoking part of the story. Is the “awakening” connected to Rey, Luke or the Jedi possibly returning as a whole?

We also got the “Force-back” vision when Rey touched Anakin’s/Luke’s lightsaber for the first time, inducing an enigmatic Force vision. Maz Kanata senses the Force “calling” to Rey specifically through the lightsaber of two of most powerful Force-sensitive beings in history. Whether Maz herself is actually Force-sensitive came across as a little vague. Though she confirms that she isn’t a Jedi, she mentions that she knows of the Force. While watching the film in Russian, I noticed that this moment was translated as Я чувствую Силу (I feel the Force). She definitely has some ability to look into people’s hearts via her eyes. It was kind of cool that they left this without a spoon-fed explanation, perhaps leaving this topic to be explored later on.

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Kylo Ren mentions to Snoke just how powerful Rey is, though not being aware of this herself. Note that here Kylo didn’t mention busting out a midi-chlorian test on her in a Maury Povich-type moment, confirming that she was born of the Force. “When it comes to Rey … the Force is the father!”

Some other mystical moments include Rey’s apparent dreams of Luke’s location, implying that the lightsaber moment wasn’t her first Force vision. There’s also Rey’s ability to use Jedi Mind tricks almost at ease, seemingly without any training. Finally, we have her complete surrender to the Force, enabling her to defeat an injured Kylo Ren.

I really liked how we had the potential introduction of other ways of viewing/using the Force via Maz’s Oracle-like powers and the “Knights of Ren”, whatever they end up being. I said potential as it’s uncertain as to the true nature of both Maz’s powers, in addition to the Force-sensitive standing of the Knights. However, I felt both were hinted at. One of my favorite aspects of the EU was the idea that the Jedi and Sith orders were just one of a myriad of philosophies regarding the Force.

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Among these groups were the Fallanassi, who connected with the Force by way of the White Current. They didn’t believe in using the Force in a physical way, but through more of a mental approach, with concealment and illusion being primarily used. There were also the Aing-Tii monks who didn’t view the Force through a lens of Light and Dark, but more as an abundance of colors and shades.

The Clone Wars also introduced a few other Force-sensitve groups. The Nightsister’s used their Magicks to manipulate the Force. The Force Priestesses on the Force Planet viewed the Force differently than either the Jedi or Sith and there were the Bardottan Dagoyan Masters, who were attuned to the Force as well. The Others on Mortis claimed they were neither Jedi nor Sith and of course we still have the mystery of the Whills, which are canonized via The Force Awakens novel. I for one, hope that this trend continues on in the ST. It will also be interesting if this theme is also examined further in Rebels. Perhaps Ahsoka Tano went on a Force finding sojourn (much like Jacen Solo did in the EU) after leaving the Jedi Order and received some other type of training from another Force-using order. She is clearly even more powerful than she was before and she has those unique and gorgeous samurai-style white lightsabers.

How did you feel about the representation of the Force in TFA? Are you a fan of the other Force orders? Do midi-chlorians bother you or are you indifferent? How much explanation of the Force and its ways do you consider to be too much? Sound off in the comments below and may the Force be with you, regardless of how you view it.

 

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80 thoughts on “Editorial: The Mysticism of the Force Reawakens!

  • December 29, 2015 at 9:33 pm
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    Personally I think the catalyst for the force awakening was when Rey flew the Falcon on Jakku. Subconsciously she tapped into the force to masterly manoeuvre the Falcon and outwit her pursuers. Hence the scene afterwards of Finn and Rey exchanging disbeliefs of what just happened. Snoke, and Kylo Ren both being sensitive picked up on Rey dipping into the force.

    Following on, I think Kylo Ren did not kill Rey in the climatic duel, not only because he was seriously wounded, but because he was the following the orders of Snoke to bring Rey alive to him.

    • December 29, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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      that scene would have been gold if kylo ren brought rey to snoke…kind of like the throne room scene

      • December 29, 2015 at 10:17 pm
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        Some scene of that nature is bound to happen in the forthcoming instalments.

        • December 30, 2015 at 7:21 am
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          i know

      • December 30, 2015 at 8:54 am
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        Yeah, it would be awesome, but I think Ep. 7 is too early for such a scene.

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:36 pm
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      I forgot about that!

    • December 30, 2015 at 4:12 pm
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      Good point about Ren’s orders from Snoke. Some fans have difficulty accepting Rey’s apparent victory in her fight with Ren. To me, there are a number of good reasons why the result of this encounter is entirely plausible – this is another.

  • December 29, 2015 at 9:48 pm
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    Rey can, without any training, do a Force mind trick (how does she even know what that is? Who told her you can use the Force to influence the minds of others?) and use the Force to move a lightsaber–something that Luke could barely do in ESB, after three years (!) or presumed training by himself.

    How is that possible? The first idea that comes to mind is that the Force is now balanced, now that Anakin has fulfilled to Prophecy and destroyed the Sith. In AOTC we learn that the darkness is diminishing the Jedi’s ability to use the Force, so any Jedi’s Force powers should now be far greater with a balanced Force–greater than anything we’ve seen so far anyway.

    Sounds plausible? Sure, except that we’re informed early on that “without the Jedi there can be no balance” (or something like that–please correct me if I’m misremembering) which implies that the Force is somehow *not* in balance (Why not? Whatever happened?), so that can’t be it.

    So, whence these inconsistencies? The second idea that comes to mind is that the writers didn’t have a clue, and just wrote whatever crap that came to mind without any thought about whether or not it would be coherent with what came before.

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:07 pm
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      How about more is coming to give us insight in the next episode, they knew darn well people would be asking these questions.

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:08 pm
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      Didn’t I read somewhere that her force-sensitivity had been ‘blanked’ before she was placed on Jakku in hiding? and that her ‘blanked’ force powers come to the surface when being mind-probed by Kylo?

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:12 pm
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      Training is only to channel what already exists.

      • December 29, 2015 at 10:36 pm
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        And to deal with the choices one is seemingly never prepared to make.

        At least, that’s what I gleam from Luke leaving Yoda, and when at peace, Luke sees the way to defeat the Emperor – to reject him and the dark side, inspiring his father to do the same. Rey is similar – she decides to believe, to ‘let it in’ and she becomes more powerful than she could possibly have imagined.

        • December 29, 2015 at 10:57 pm
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          Exactly. Luke refused to be distracted by fear, or driven by anger when he confronter Vader and the Emperor. Rey has obviously been around force sensitive users when she was young. She has witnessed their powers, and may or may not received some training.

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:19 pm
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      She learned it in the novel when Kylo tried to get into her mind and she surprisingly went into his.

      • December 29, 2015 at 10:47 pm
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        Care to elaborate more on what the novel exactly says about this situation?

        • December 29, 2015 at 11:13 pm
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          Kylo went into some kind of barreer over which he couldn’t go as if Rey’s past have been hidden from her and at that moment Rey gets into his mlnd and that’s why she knows his fears to deceive and not be as strong as Vader in the movie.

          • December 30, 2015 at 7:21 am
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            the force awakens pretty much made a new interesting way for learning the force…but it could easily open a can of worms in the EU.

  • December 29, 2015 at 10:39 pm
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    Midichlorians and the Chosen One can be explained in ways that don’t necessarily offend older fans, but yes, they are kind of bothersome. They do cause SOME fans to lean towards science fiction references rather than the fantasy that the Force was in 1977 and 1980.

    I love the fact that we’re past midichlorians because I interpret SW as asking us to believe in something greater – whatever that is. The way Yoda and Kenobi explain the Force was so inherently universal that it allows all audience members to make their own references and inferences – which is why SW appealed to more than just the sci-fi/fantasy crowd. I think that when it complicated the Force a bit, explicitly in dialogue from the PT, it becomes less universal and less appealing to general audiences.

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:58 pm
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      I have no problem whatsoever with Midichlorians, the Chosen One or the Jedi Code, and I’ve been here since ’77. Being offended by this has got nothing to do with age and everything to do with some people having certain ideas about all this stuff that were completely different to what Lucas had in mind.

      The problem was some people were all but convinced that faith in the Force was all it took to master and use it. This, in addition to some other people actually believing that Midichlorians were the Force, which is beyond ridiculous, frankly.

      Either way, even after the PT, it’s clear to me that mastery of the Force still requires self-confidence, believing in yourself and the Force, and training hard to harness its power to reach the level of a master Force-user.

      The only difference is that not everyone in the GFFA is Force-sensitive, which is no big deal. After all, not everyone has a genius level IQ in real life either. And just like the Force, it takes much more than having great intelligence in order to know how to put it to the best possible use.

      • December 30, 2015 at 12:24 am
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        “This, in addition to some other people actually believing that Midichlorians were the Force, which is beyond ridiculous, frankly.”

        That’s why the introduction of midichlorians were problematic. I could care less what Lucas said it meant, and more about what was communicated on screen, and on-screen, it got a bit muddied.

        • December 30, 2015 at 12:30 am
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          I can see how this could’ve been confusing to kids, but I was already in my late 20s when I watched TPM. When Qui-Gon explained this to Anakin, I immediately understood that Midichlorians were just like a transmitter to communicate to the Force (not so different to the way Belloq described the Ark of the Covenant to Indy, actually). It was crystal clear to me, hence the reason why I’ve never had a problem with the whole thing.

          • December 30, 2015 at 11:04 pm
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            Well, we know what happened to Belloq lmao

            Gosh that was great! Not sure you can even do that in a movie today lol, that was PG (before PG-13 I think). It’d be rated R now because of that scene.

          • December 31, 2015 at 1:22 am
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            Lol, yeah. Raiders is definitely the best adventure flick ever made, IMO. But that scene was pretty disturbing indeed…left me sleepless for a night or two at the time, lol.

        • December 30, 2015 at 7:19 am
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          agree…compare the clone wars way of introducing us to midichlorians…one felt like empire and the other felt like…phantom menace(boring as shit science lesson)

  • December 29, 2015 at 10:42 pm
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    Darth Zloi, kudos on this editorial! The Force has always been a fascinating aspect of the Star Wars films, and it seems as though we’re going to learn more about it in the sequel trilogy.

    Is the Force conscious? Or CAN it potentially be conscious? That’s the most obvious implication of the title The Force Awakens, though time will tell if it’s an accurate take on the matter. Up to now, it always seemed that the Force was energy without volition – that it needed living beings to perceive and manipulate it in order for it to grow. And yet, in the Star Wars universe, people and things are very often exactly where they need to be, exactly when they need to be there in order to affect dramatic galactic change. As Ben Kenobi said, “In my experience, there’s no such thing as ‘luck’.”

    Now granted, it’s just barely possible that J.J. and company overplayed their hand in giving Rey so much natural control over the Force as a novice. But if that’s deliberate, then I think we may be looking at one of two possibilities.

    1.) Rey received some training as a very small child and while she now remembers none of it consciously, she can still do the basic maneuvers (telekinesis, mind control, etc.) This could explain why she was hidden on Jakku.

    2.) The Force actually DOES have volition, and it is activating these abilities within Rey, likely based on her being part of the Skywalker bloodline.

    Of course, it may be that neither of these are correct. But I think TFA has certainly given us some things to theorize about.

    • December 29, 2015 at 10:51 pm
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      Number 2. If the Force felt it had to create Anakin Skywalker, like many have theorized, then why not bring a fresh faced scavenger to Luke Skywalker himself asking him to return and restore balance once again?

      • December 30, 2015 at 8:49 am
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        Yeah, guys … I like the way you’re thinking. I definitely think that this was intentional and party of the mystery heading into the next couple of films. With the Storygroup there and JJ being such a dedicated fan, I can’t see them not introducing these moments that would obviously involve people questioning a lot of things accidentally. The people in charge wouldn’t just marginalize Force training. The fact that both Snoke and Kylo felt the “Awakening” from afar only highlights how important it is. Much like Obi-Wan feeling the destruction of Alderaan. Leia feeling Han’s death is a matter of proximity and her connection, in addition to a natural strength in empathy through the Force.

    • December 30, 2015 at 7:16 pm
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      I vote 1, cause 2 leads to Deus Ex Machina, whereas 1 gives a “logical” solution. Yoda who trained Jedi for 800 years should probably know if the Force was conscious in any way.

      • December 30, 2015 at 11:03 pm
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        Well the other piece of evidence in favor of No. 2 is Qui-Gon stating that the midichlorians conceived Anakin (creepy, lol, which explains a lot about Anakin…lmao) which kind of, sort of, may indicate that the Force acted with volition.

        Again, I don’t like the whole Chosen One thing and midichlorians – that’s what the Matrix was for in 1999, did it way better (but then also got overcomplicated).

  • December 29, 2015 at 10:49 pm
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    I’ve got the feeling that I’m going to get banned for saying this, but: I LOVE MIDI-CHLORIANS! XD
    If you much rather like the force being presented magically and mysterious, (comparable to if you’r believing in religious explanations of how the world works) you are definitely allowed to do so! And if you enjoy everything to be scientifically explainable, George Lucas has made that possible for you too!
    I think that the force is whatever you want it to be! 😉
    In my case I can enjoy both the scientifically and mysterious aspect of it.

    • December 30, 2015 at 8:42 am
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      Lol, no one gets banned for sharing their opinion … with the exception of a racist or offensive (attacking other commenters). We love having discussion about these things, featuring different ideas and views. Could you imagine how boring the world would be, let alone this site if every single person was just like “Yes, I agree.” “Good, I agree that you agree.” Thanks for coming by and keep those opinions coming!

    • December 30, 2015 at 3:38 pm
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      I don’t “enjoy” the midichlorian as they served absolutely no purpose in the story, but I don’t dislike them either. For me thinking they remove something about the spirituality of the force is nonsense. We already had a biological link to the force before: it was the fact that the force interacted with and through people. The midichlorians are just a zoom-in of that principle, explaining the biological link in greater detail. Because these little beings are micro-organism sensible to the force doesn’t mean the force is not a spiritual “force” itself affected by our emotions and making us “luminous beings”. There is no contradictions here and I fail to see where everyone sees one.

  • December 29, 2015 at 10:57 pm
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    I like the representation of the Force in TFA, as the classic/eternal fight of light and darkness, what surrounds us, and what we have inside.
    Seems this will be a more spiritual trilogy with the Force, i hope so.
    Don,t bother midichlorians in PT but i prefear to keep the mysticism like OT and TFA.

  • December 29, 2015 at 11:00 pm
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    I just liked the idea of midi-chlorians as long as it gave an explanation of how the force works. The explorations in the clone wars allowed to give the whole concept a deep and mistical look anyhow. The Force stays misterious with Midi-chlorians’s existence.

  • December 29, 2015 at 11:26 pm
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    I never liked midi-chlorians. They don’t explain what the Force is or how it works, just how it interacts with people. But I don’t remember anyone ever asking that question to begin with. It allowed for a specific value to be assigned to someone’s ‘forciness’, but that never had a payoff. If the Jedi had a class system or ranking based on it then that would be something at least.
    It also wasn’t established if you can gain or lose midi-chlorians. How do you become stronger or weaker with the Force if your count never changes? If you’re born with a set amount, then does that mean you can only reach that level of strength no matter how hard you train? It makes a simple idea unnecessarily complicated without any real benefit.

    One of the unique takes I’ve always liked though was that this ‘scientific idea’ worked to better illustrate how the Jedi order had lost touch with the spiritual side of the Force. Thinking of it as a commodity (a calculable/definable thing) was symptomatic of their disconnect from it and how they’d grown arrogant and blind to the Force as a whole (including the dark side).

  • December 30, 2015 at 2:29 am
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    Really disliked the Maz scenes honestly, The film’s pace was going pretty well till then and then it just sort of slows to a crawl there and didn’t add much to the overall story. It felt very rushed watching it like they were just killing time.

    • December 30, 2015 at 7:14 am
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      you have no taste in movies

  • December 30, 2015 at 5:28 am
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    Well, I don´t hate the PT, even I like them. But I prefer also the OT.
    I go further, I believe they are not the same galaxy.
    Yes, the names, some characters, the lightsabers… all that, but I think they are not the same galaxy. And the force, its myths, are related with my opinion.

    Of course they didnt need midi-chlorians. That was totally unuseful. Well, we know now that Anakin won more medals in the olimpycs than anyone else, he was the best, the very best, best pilot, best lightsaber fighter, but for what.

    I liked the way they showed the force in the OT. A mistery gift, even bad known by the people who have it, who feel it, ordinary people, humble, living ordinary lives in weird places, like a farm, like a cave, like a rain forest planet, a scavenger or a silver spoon son of a princess now general, or in an imperial destroyer, but using that gift secretly. Lord Vader was not believed by the officers in the destroyer staff meetings. The force is shown as secret, barely known and misterious. Han Solo doesn´t believed in it.

    All that in PT is totally different, that is the reason I believe is another galaxy. I would prefer a force more like in the OT, hidden, secret, humble. Not a Jedi Temple, not a Jedi Council, may be more like freemasons, groups of people believing in it but may be not all of them force sensitive, or may be force individuals connected by their minds, like in OT. But not a Force Institucionalized, famous jedis like a police, with a library, padawans, the biggest building in Corouscant…

    I just think the PT and the OT were not the same galaxy. I prefer the way of the force as it is on OT and TFA.

    • December 30, 2015 at 10:59 pm
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      I just with that the Jedi’s downfall was themed as a result of their dogma – not understanding ‘love’ which ultimately redeems Anakin and destroys the Emperor – and would have given Palpatine even more to play with in conversations with Anakin (still done pretty well).

      I think Hayden Christiansen’s best delivered line was to Padme in the refugee ship: “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, essential to a Jedi’s life. You can say, we’re encouraged to love.”

      It was an intelligent and rebellious Anakin in that line that showed that the Jedi were a bit weird and not a club I’d enjoy being a part of either. But….then it becomes creepy when he mentions that he dreams about Padme…..aaaaand moment destroyed. Damnit.

      • December 31, 2015 at 5:06 am
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        You have described catholic church!

        I am agree with you, when you see the movies you ask “why a single guy play that way with a whole Jedi Order…”, because it is just Palpatine who mess up all.

        My problem is that I cannot believe it as real, I don´t see the same Yoda or the same Obi Wan in both trilogies.

  • December 30, 2015 at 6:58 am
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    Exactly! Abrams reintroduced mystery into the the once mysterious force. By the end of the prequel trilogy we learned (IMO) too much about the force & saw it used too often. Force lighting became a thing Sith do, not a huge surprise. I mean, Yoda or Ben really should have mentioned it to Luke at some point. Anyway, nice article.

  • December 30, 2015 at 7:09 am
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    This is one of the things that i loved most about TFA, The force is mysterious and mystical again, that’s why i laugh when i see people questioning the movie because don’t answer all the questions, or why Rey can do this or that or why she beat Kylo Ren in the end, like they’re RPG characters with levels and experience points

  • December 30, 2015 at 8:22 am
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    I like the representation of the Force in TFA, as the classic/eternal fight of light and darkness, what surrounds us, what we have inside.
    Seems this will be a more spiritual trilogy with the Force, Well, hope so.
    Don’t bother midichlorians in PT but i prefear to keep the mysticism like OT and TFA.

  • December 30, 2015 at 12:48 pm
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    I believe that this is the main important subject that need to make sense at the end of the new trilogy. The whole prophecy, balance of the force has to reach a spectacular place of fulfillment at the end of epi9. For me the altar of Mortis has been really impacting and some what has been said there should be connected to the end of the trilogy in my opinion….

  • December 30, 2015 at 2:44 pm
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    Clone Wars episodes were the most revealing regarding the nature of the force, but most movie goers don’t see them. So TFA ‘s idea of force user existing aside from Jedi and Sith would be hard to comprehend for ordinary fan.

    • December 30, 2015 at 10:05 pm
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      You have a good point, but still … I don’t think it would take much exposition to explain that. Perhaps Luke could do so, explaining a Force sojourn he’d gone on.

  • December 30, 2015 at 2:47 pm
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    i like how midi-chlorians were shown over all from ep 1 to 7 it shows how knowledge is lost when the group in charge of that knowledge dies viewed through that you can see why no one knows about midi-chlorians after ep 3

    • December 30, 2015 at 6:14 pm
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      I agree 100%. Although I believe that Luke must know much more about the old Jedi Order by now. He’s had a long time to do research (in TFA Han says he went looking for the first Jedi Temple, for instance), he’s got his dad, Yoda and Obi-Wan’s spirits for guidance, and R2 didn’t have his memory wiped by Bail Organa. That’s lots of sources right there for him to put some of the puzzle’s pieces together, IMO.

      • December 30, 2015 at 8:16 pm
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        Yeah I was thinking about R2 – I didn’t like they didn’t explain the convenience of him reactivating at the end.

        Perhaps Luke upgraded him with a midichlorian-residue detection system to activate when a possible Jedi is present – other than Leia, I guess.

        • December 30, 2015 at 8:27 pm
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          Yeah, this also felt like a Deus ex machina moment to me.

          I read an interview right here with Abrams, where he said that BB-8 is responsible for R2’s reactivation, by telling him something like “Hey, bud, I’ve got part of the map leading to Luke. You wouldn’t happen to have the other part, would you?”.

          Still, I don’t speak droid, lol. I think it would’ve been good to have 3PO spell this out to the audience. IMO, it would’ve made R2’s reactivation feel much less contrived. You have a protocol droid fluent in over 6 million forms of communication, and you don’t use golden rod for this?

          At any rate, I’m just speculating here, but I’m sure R2 must’ve shown Luke some PT era holograms to help him in his efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order before shutting down.

        • December 30, 2015 at 8:33 pm
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          What I didn’t get is why they couldn’t just plug R2 in and see if the map data was there. He’s just a computer after all, right? Why did they need him to come out of “low power state” for that? The information had to be given consensually for some reason? Droid rights or something? Didn’t make much sense.

          • December 30, 2015 at 10:53 pm
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            haha – they probably saw a hologram of R2 melting Super Battle Droids and didn’t want to mess with him. (God I hated that).

  • December 30, 2015 at 3:22 pm
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    I like your comment @thomasmangione:disqus. The force was controlled by the Jedi (at least the part we saw in ep 1 to 3). What happenned in the OT and in the ST is almost like an experiment (of the force). Makes sense it goes in several directions.

  • December 30, 2015 at 3:33 pm
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    Nice reflections. The Force Awakens has my favourite Force moment in Star Wars so far – the moment when Rey opens to the Force and seizes the Skywalker sabre (beautifully combined with William’s leitmotif). Some fans have had difficulty with Rey’s ‘easy’ victory here. I’d dispute that it was easy. Initial rage aside, Rey is struggling and in retreat until she opens to the Force. I don’t find it at all problematic that she proceeds to kick Kylo’s butt, sans training, after she does, ultimately, surrender and open to the Force. I see this as the Force working through her. Here are my musings on this scene, in regard to Rey’s victory and the Force at play here: We do get from the prequels the idea that the Force has a will of it’s own – it is not just a directionless energy waiting to be controlled – it can guide events, and those who are sensitive to it, toward a larger destiny. The thought occurs to me, that in some ways, perhaps, an untrained individual might be more able to let the Force flow (perhaps less able to control it). I think of Luke’s first discussion with Ben about the Force (partially) controlling actions. It seems to me that (wounded Kylo aside) Rey’s victory is very much down to the Force entirely controlling her actions at this point. It is not skill that makes her potent here but the ability to surrender to the Force, which she does out of necessity. Rey’s state of mind – her untrained and un-indoctrinated state, aligned neither to Dark Side or Light, entirely – is, perhaps, another factor in the extraordinary power unleashed. It is interesting that the main prequel-based Force idea in The Force Awakens is that of the balance of the Force. Rey’s conflict with Ren puts me in mind of another favourite moment, in ROTJ, when Luke suddenly turns on Vader and fights – because his sister is threatened. To me, in this moment, Light and Dark Side were united in Luke. His anger and hatred of everything Vader represented (as a threat to the sister he loved) combined with that protective love itself meant that the Force could act through him in a wholly unified way, Dark and Light Side united. It is precisely because Rey has not been trained or indoctrinated into Light Side or Dark Side philosophies – and, crucially, is not conflicted, either – that she gains the upper hand – not of her own power, but through the Force. The power of Jedi and Sith has waned, and the Force is more in balance in the universe and as it acts through Rey. It’s also interesting that Snoke has not fully trained Kylo – who is conflicted – and weakened, I think, by that conflict. Kylo Ren feels both Dark and Light Sides but cannot unify them. Snoke knows that he is conflicted, as Ren acknowledges in his meditation with Vader. His allegiance has yet to be tested. It makes sense that Snoke would hold back from training him fully – and augmenting his power – until the test is passed and his allegiance proven. Further, it is not implausible that the Force, either as a unified entity, or in it’s Dark Side aspect may be using this encounter to instruct Kylo Ren, as well as Rey – as a precursor to some yet hidden destiny, to be revealed in the culmination of the ST. But that, of course, will depend on the direction the story group and writers take it. Very much looking forward to seeing how this all plays out – and where it takes my Force-mad musings!

    • December 30, 2015 at 6:21 pm
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      Beginner’s luck.

      That was what led Rey to victory over Kylo, who obviously isn’t a “finished product” yet, and who was all but drained (physically and emotionally both) by the time he dueled with the girl.

      I’m pretty sure Rey will go through some kind of growing pains in Ep. 8, and she’ll find out that it’s not as easy as it seemed at first, just like Anakin and Luke before her.

      • December 30, 2015 at 9:52 pm
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        Yes! I shall follow her career with great interest! As Kylo Ren has now to complete his training with Snoke there’s a parallel aspect to their stories to be played out in Episode VIII, too. The rumours of a Force-ghost Vader in dual aspect, Light and Dark, are intriguing. Whether that pans out or not I hope they fully pursue the mythic theme of balance to resolution in VIII and IX. Personally, I would like to see balance achieved through the union of Dark and Light within the individual, as well as in the Force.

        • December 30, 2015 at 10:22 pm
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          IIRC, Lucas said that only those on the light side can become One with the Force and appear as ghosts. This seems to be the result of being selfless, which makes sense to me, since Lucas’ main ideas in this sense were based on Buddhism, and that’s basically what reaching Nirvana is all about according to Buddhists.

          I don’t think we’ll see a Darth Vader-like Anakin apparition b/c of this, but he could always appear as his light side self to Luke and/or Rey. Either him, Yoda, Obi-Wan or all three, which would be pretty cool, IMO.

          As for Kylo, I’m almost sure that he’ll be obsessed with Rey, hating her with all of his heart for what she did to him, looking for vengeance almost with a single mind. It’ll be interesting to see how this will play out, especially since Snoke is very interested in Rey now. I agree that their stories should mirror each other and this should be exciting to watch.

          • December 30, 2015 at 10:51 pm
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            Yeah. I remember the Lucas quotes – and the written but unused scene with Yoda and Qui-Gon in the ROTS screenplay. I think that, while a Dark Side Force ghost wouldn’t fit with Lucas’ conception, the idea of a shade, a shadow, a remnant of Dark Side energy which is, if you like, the cast off or denied Dark side, having a continuing, though perhaps not eternal existence, might fit. In a way, the Sith could be seen as the manifest expression of the Jedi’s own denied and unacknowledged Dark Side. It’s an interesting idea mythologically and spiritually: the Meeting with the Shadow is in accord with stages of Cambell’s Hero Journey. There’s the incident in The Clone Wars, of Yoda meeting his own Dark Side aspect – something like this would be satisfying to me, if the story goes that way. The thing I keep thinking of, in regard to the balance of the Force, the Dark and the Light, is the wonderful, mythologically satisfying ending to the Dark Crystal. This is all conjecture and wishful thinking, though, pending what happens in the future movies.

          • December 31, 2015 at 1:20 am
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            That’s right! Yoda was supposed to speak with Qui-Gon’s spirit, right before Obi-Wan arrived from Mustafar in RotS. Thanks for reminding me of this, lol. I had completely forgotten. It would’ve been good to see this, IMO, to clarify how the whole One with the Force thing works.

            I think the Shadow was Luke’s vision of Vader in the cave, Anakin’s dreams about his mother & Padmé, and even a few of Rey’s visions in Maz’s castle. I can see Vader making an appearance like this, again, yeah. That’s a good idea, definitely.

          • December 31, 2015 at 8:25 am
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            And if we are going by canon – was Darth Bane a vision of Yoda’s or a ‘Force Ghost’? I’m not close to it yet on my re-watching (chronologically) of the Clone Wars.

          • December 31, 2015 at 5:11 pm
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            Well, I’ve never watched TCW animated show, so I really couldn’t comment on that.

            I’ve always been led to believe that dark side ghosts maybe can’t take physical shape (the same as Jedi who didn’t become One with the Force), but their spirits haunt certain places, like the cave in Dagobah in TESB. It would be nice to have an explanation about why the place was strong with the dark side, IMO.

          • January 1, 2016 at 7:38 am
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            No, it wasn’t a ghost, but rather a vision. It was a trial he had to go through to learn more about the Force, so a lot of what he saw wasn’t real.

          • January 1, 2016 at 7:53 am
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            Ah, that’s the answer I was looking for.

  • December 30, 2015 at 5:23 pm
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    The Force awoke and went back to sleep after seeing the poor story that 7 was. It says to wake it again when a better story shows up.

  • December 30, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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    They do not bother me at all. Everyone has them, some more than others. To me that’s no different than someone saying that someone is STRONG with the force. Clearly some are more connected to the force than others. I do love that there are other force users out there, part of me still hopes that they explore that in the new films and don’t go back to using Siths, at least not any time soon.

    • December 31, 2015 at 8:53 pm
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      Indeed the whole Midichlorian controversy seems to be much ado about … well, not actually nothing, but surely very little. The idea goes back to the seventies and was not a new concept, yet we had all this griping and moaning about how this “took the mystery out of the Force”. But Qui-Gon doesn’t say that the midichlorians ARE the Force, they are just in-cell organelles (or whatever) that potentially let people COMMUNICATE with the Force. The Force as such is just as mysterious as it always was.

      The narrative function of the idea is that there is a physical blood-test you can do to determine a person’s Force potential, so that Qui-Gon can verify that there is something very special about Anakin. But some people apparently were so in love with the idea of “the Force” as something completely esoteric that they didn’t want anything even remotely scientific and measurable anywhere near it.

  • December 30, 2015 at 8:26 pm
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    If the facts detailed in Chris Taylor’s book are legit, then Lucas had ‘midis’ on the mind since his earliest drafts for the original Star Wars screenplay. So it wasn’t a new idea for the prequels. It was something he’d always wanted in there.

    However, they were dropped along with a bunch of other superfluous technobabbly nonsense for one simple reason: it didn’t matter to the STORY. There’s an invisible energy field that some people can sense and use. HOW they do that is just pedantic window dressing. Because it isn’t necessary to rationalize the fantastical elements of a fantasy movie. The audience either suspends its disbelief or it doesn’t. Throwing multisyllabic junk science terms at them doesn’t accomplish anything beyond confusing and possibly alienating them.

    “How do people channel the Force?”
    Uh, because of the midichlorians.
    “OK, but how do these midichlorians channel the Force then?”
    Um . . . uh, because of the zazzodigigoobers.
    “O . . . K. And how are THEY doing it?
    Err . . . well . . . uh . . . lacto . . . mela . . . quazi . . . lings?

    However far down this hole you go, at some point you’re going to reach the position of “Look, pal, it works because it does. Now shut up and enjoy the show!” So why not just start there? You don’t need a pseudo-scientific explanation for something that defies explanation. It’s pointless and only raises more ridiculous questions that can’t be reasonably answered. In many ways ‘midis’ are epitomic of the prequels in general – a bunch of interesting ideas all cobbled together haphazardly whether they service the plot or not.

    • December 30, 2015 at 8:53 pm
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      Basically. A ton of Lucas’ ideas had to be simplified for SW to be accessible to general audiences. Like when the light and dark side had distinct and awkward names, lol

      • December 30, 2015 at 9:08 pm
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        I’m sensing a lot Bogan in you 🙂

        • December 30, 2015 at 10:47 pm
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          lol, ugh that would have been weird

        • December 31, 2015 at 7:28 am
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          Lol, that sounds very Australian 🙂

      • December 31, 2015 at 4:48 am
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        good name for a all powerful dark sider whose immersion in the dark side is greater than sidious…lord Bogan

    • December 30, 2015 at 10:25 pm
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      As an idea, I don’t mind the midis! Actually, I quite like the idea and what it can say spiritually and mythologically about the union of so-called flesh and spirit. But does it need to be in a movie? Does it help the story? Does the idea prove fruitive and is it resolved satisfactorily? A big no, I think, in response to all those questions. The expositional scenes with young Anakin, Qui-Gon and the council exposition discussing midis just bogs things down. Lucas has come up with some wonderful wacky ideas out of pure ‘whimsy’. Sometimes he needed reining in, as every artist does sometimes – to the benefit of their work. But, without him, the danger will be that we lose some of the wacky, wonderful notions that the individual mind might come up with but a cooperate story group might dismiss. I don’t want to hear anything about midis in the ST. But I do want to see the ‘balance of the Force’ plot resolved in an epic way!

  • December 31, 2015 at 9:05 am
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    Nice article, totally agree with much needed mysticism to the force. Some mythos don’t need explaination, they can be left to the individuals interpretation. It’s what makes it universally loved, because everyone can relate it to their own experiences or beliefs.

    It’s funny, listening to George’s commentary on A New Hope, he explains so many brilliant filmmaking motifs and rules he made Original Trilogy with, so many ideologies that he himself blatantly broke when making Prequels. He speaks about how he hates it when movies dwell on how something works, when they should be focussing on character.

  • December 31, 2015 at 11:24 pm
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    At least the prequels tried to clarify stuff about the force instead of confusing us about what the heck is going on like TFA.

  • January 1, 2016 at 4:20 am
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    I’m more interested in why it’s now called the “light” side of the force instead of just “the force” or the “good” side? I get that “dark” and “light” are opposites, but it just sounds wrong to me.

    • January 1, 2016 at 10:58 am
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      I think “the light” sounds much better than “the lightside”.

  • January 2, 2016 at 4:37 am
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    I’m guessing the mysticism of the Force will probed much further in episode 8, much like it was in ESB

  • January 4, 2016 at 4:37 pm
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    I think the midi chlorians are important for the force story. You have to have something that connects the force with the people. It also makes sense that they don’t talk about them in the OT since the jedi order is gone and the 2 siths didn’t want another threat to their reign.

  • January 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm
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    I really don’t understand people’s issues with the midichlorians. They are a tool to explain how the Jedi can detect younglings who have the ability.

    As the author points out, Vader only senses Luke’s connection to the Force at the trench run. He doesn’t sense Luke on the Falcon, although he senses Obi-Wan’s, and he doesn’t sense Leia while he’s torturing her.

    So the OT already establishes that usage of the Force makes one visible to other Force users. Unless babies are using Force pull to get their pacifiers, they wouldn’t be a way for the Jedi order to find them out. As one of the most important expansions of the Star Wars universe in the PT was the Jedi order, Lucas had to come up with a way to detect someone’s Force capabilities even if they are not actively using it.

    If anything, I really like a theory I saw on reddit, which suggested that the Jedi order is basically a eugenics program. They take Force-sensitive kids and brainwash them to never have kids of their own. The Jedi order is actively working against the genetic component propagating through the population. So the Force, kinda like a biological being that is incapable of expanding its existence, reacts by creating a Force birth of an individual that wipes out the Jedi order. Anakin is the mutation that kills the predator. 😉

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