In the 1977 space-opera movie Star Wars, the heroes are escaping from somewhere having rescued Princess Leia. Jedi master Obi Wan “Ben” Kenobi lags behind the others and is confronted by the movie’s evil antagonist Darth Vader. It appears that Kenobi decides to sacrifice himself, Captain Oates-style, in order that the other heroes are not delayed in their escape. Kenobi therefore lets Darth Vader “kill” him, although Kenobi seems to use one weird old Jedi trick whereby he vanishes when Darth Vader strikes him with his sword-like “lightsaber”.
It is a common movie trope that if the movie’s hero has a teacher/mentor, then the teacher/mentor will die, most likely killed by the movie’s antagonist, in order to drive the plot and allow the movie’s hero to become the master. From a story-writing perspective, Kenobi’s vanishing act means that the heroes can make their escape without ignominiously abandoning Kenobi’s body to the enemy.
So, my question is, in the in-movie universe, what did Kenobi do when he vanished? What happened to his body? Are there any benefits/disadvantages to a Jedi “dying” in this manner? Is this something all Jedi can do? Do other Jedi do this in other Star Wars movies? (I’ve only seen the original trilogy).
The Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (who was Kenobi’s master early in his career), through meditation or research or whatever study/practice advanced Jedi can do, discovered/invented a way to “survive” after dying, through the Force. But he hadn’t fully explored it, and when he died, his essence, or spirit, or soul, or mind, was able to “survive” his death, but his body lingered as it normally would. Qui-Gon Jinn’s spirit/essence/mind/whatever was able to communicate with the Jedi Master Yoda, and teach him about this method of surviving death. Yoda communicated this to Kenobi, and Kenobi also may have communed with the spirit of Jinn off-screen. In any case, Jinn’s method of surviving through the Force was “perfected” by Yoda and/or Kenobi, off screen, and this final method involved the physical body vanishing. Somehow, in the afterlife, their ghosts taught this ability to Anakin Skywalker’s (Darth Vader) “ghost” such that Anakin was also able to “survive” his death. Yoda and Kenobi’s “ghosts” also had the ability to appear, physically (at least to other Jedi, like Luke Skywalker)… and in the sequel trilogy, even to use the Force to interact with the living world.
There may be more to this in the Expanded Universe and other non-movie materials, but this is what I recall from the movies.
Doesn’t Yoda do the same thing? Vanish after he dies in RotJ?
That once led me to believe, based off the small sample size and seeing the OT movies alone, that it’s just this thing Jedi do when they die. But then that goes out the window in the prequel trilogy where we have a much greater sample size for dead/dying Jedi.
And the new trilogy further muddies the waters at the end of TLJ.
So, taking in all the films released to date and nothing else, maybe it’s a special thing certain Jedis do just before dying as if it requires an exceptional level of skill or preparation, almost like achieving enlightenment before death, and takes them to an alternate plane prior to (not after) bodily death. But that’s just speculation. There is no in-movie explanation that fully squares Jedi behavior at or just before death with what we see in the OT, and the further the films delve into just what exactly force-users can do, the more the universe seems to go flying off the rails. It was better when it was just mind control tricks, ESP, and telekinesis with some force-lighting thrown in for effect at the end.
ETA: I do recall the scene iiandyiiii mentions from the PT, in which Yoda tells Kenobi that QGJ learned this new trick, but I took it only to refer to communing with force ghosts, nothing to do with the vanishing act.
Well there it is! A line of dialogue. Which, as clunky as it seems, is more than what we get for an explanation in most cases of new/inconsistent force abilities.
Jedi Masters are like Lawful Good liches. Through meditation & other jedi stuff they eventually disincorporate and become what we think of as disembodied spirits. Unlike ghosts, however, the disincorporated jedi are fully aware of the material world and can interact with it using the same mental and telekinetic abilities common in lesser jedi. The Master you interact with is a mental trick, an illusion implanted in your weaker mind by the will of the master. Masters, being formless, are immune to normal physical attacks which, let’s be honest, plays a huge role in their being calm and collected under dangerous conditions. It also helps that they have no fear of death because they sloughed their bodies long ago. Can’t “kill” 'em.
So Obi Wan the old hermit, as Luke believed him to be, wasn’t actually there. His spirit, the will of a swarm of Midi-chlorians, was present. And we all know Anakin/Vader was overflowing with Midi-chlorians but sorely lacking the discipline and vision necessary to be a Jedi Master–his mind was considerably less than Obi Wan’s, even though his gross power was greater. He had no clue he was fighting an illusion. Classic sorcerer’s jape.
I believe that Liam Neeson was supposed to appear to Yoda as a ghost, but Neeson had a bad motorcycle accident and was not available. Something like that, so they had the lame explanation line instead.
It took a little bit to find the article that proposed this theory, but you have to remember that the only rule to being a force ghost is to die in front of Luke. All this stuff about the light and dark side is just misdirection. The disappearing body is just part of Luke’s power.
Yoda says Qui Gon returned to him but we never see that ghost, we only have Yoda’s word for it and Yoda is a less then reliable witness. If he were to say Dagobah was wet, I’d still step outside to make sure.
Facts:
The only ghosts we meet are those of Kenobi, Anakin, and Yoda.
All three maneuvered events so that Luke could see them die.
Jedi not seen to die by Luke do not appear as ghosts.
So, as I understand it, it was the Midi-chlorians in Kenobi’s body that Kenobi’s mind had found a way to connect with - through studying ancient knowledge - and, in that moment with Vader, the Midi-chlorians sublimated Kenobi’s own living cells - that they were living in a symbiotic relationship with - and so Kenobi basically vaporized into energy that then dissipated into the underlying pool of Force energy.
I initially thought it was about Hollywood stars fighting amongst themselves, like between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Not sure where I got that idea, but my 8-year self told the family I had no interest in seeing it in the summer of 1977. Fortunately everyone was able to convince me to go see it, telling me that I would love it (since I was also a fan at that young age of Star Trek re-runs and Space: 1999). They were right.
Also remember that what you look like as a force ghost is subject to change. Different viewers have reported the appearance of a ghost very differently, even when describing the same event. Much like relying on eyewitnesses to determine who shot first can be very unreliable.