How Did Anakin Become a Force Ghost in Return of the Jedi? (The Anakin-Force Priestess Theory)

having been redeemed back into the light and saved this son Luke from certain death at the hands of the Emperor Anakin Skywalker was able to join obi-wan and Yoda as a force ghost following his death aboard the second-best star because we know that within the current Canon qui-gon Yoda and obi-wan were able to learn how to become a force ghost do the teachings learned either directly or indirectly from the force priestesses a question that has persisted since the end of the Clone Wars TV series is how did Anakin learn the secret to manifesting his consciousness as a force ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi within the current Canon is it possible that Anakin too learned the secret from the force priestesses and if so how could he have possibly come to learn about their existence on the wellspring of life in the center of the galaxy in this video expose I will describe the evidence that exists within season six of the Clone Wars that demonstrates the Anakin learn the secret to becoming a force ghost before his fall to the dark side to become Darth Vader I will also explain the events that would push Anakin to understand that it was possible to manifest one's consciousness after death as a force ghost and the events that would help him discover the location of the force priestesses on the wellspring of life first it should be mentioned that the official starwars.com data bank entry for anakin skywalker includes a brief and vague description in relation to anakin becoming a force ghost after his death in Return of the Jedi the entry states when Anakin died his selfless sacrifice allowed his spirit to be preserved in the force by his former mentors obi-wan and Yoda I find this explanation unconvincing for a number of reasons as is any explanation that alludes to the fact that Anakin became a force ghost merely because he was powerful in the force these are unconvincing because the process for how to become a force ghost has been established in season six of the Clone Wars wherein specific knowledge of the process must be garnered and obtained qui-gon did not preserve obi-wan spear in the force nor did obi-wan preserve Yoda spirit rather they were able to manifest themselves as a force ghost because they learned the knowledge to do so from the force priestesses either directly from them or indirectly through a mentor such as with obi-wan and qui-gon therefore in relation to Anakin becoming a force ghost after his death there needs to be a connection when he learned the ability from the force priestesses just as his former mentors had done fortunately I believe that it has been demonstrated through season six of the Clone Wars that Anakin did understand that he must seek out this knowledge and eventually found his way to the wellspring of life to learn the secret from the force priestesses himself in order to understand how it's possible that Anakin learned how to become a force ghost prior to his fall to the dark side we must first look at Anakin's interaction with the force ghost of Jedi Master qui-gon in the season 3 episode of the Clone Wars the ghost of mortis in the episode due to the fact that mortis was a conduit of the force qui-gon was able to manifest himself fully as a force ghost and appear before Anakin when qui-gon first appeared before Anakin on mortis telling him that he was as strong in the force as he'd imagined Anakin's reaction was very telling although he certainly exhibited an initial shock he in no way doubted that he was speaking to the same master qui-gon who found him upon Tatooine in fact Anakin doesn't even need an explanation for how it's possible for qui-gon to have appeared before him instead he immediately sought help from the fallen master seeking guidance on whether he should lead mortis or kill the creature of the dark side there the Sun when qui-gon gave no specifics as to what Anakin should do only to go to a place nearby that was strong in the dark side of the force and then disappeared and it can called out for qui-gon to stay again never questioning for a moment that the appearance of qui-gon was just his imagination or a trick being played on him it's clear that he genuinely believed that he was speaking to qui-gon which was also evidenced by the fact that he listened to his it completely and traveled to the well of the dark side nearby just as qui-gon had instructed as we'll see this initial interaction with the force ghost of qui-gon had a significant impact upon Anakin's understanding that it is possible to manifest one's consciousness after that and certainly planted a seed in recognizing that the knowledge could be obtained this is particularly true when we consider Obi Wan's interaction with the force ghost of qui-gon upon mortis which occurred in the season 3 episode of the Clone Wars overlords unlike Anakin when qui-gon first appeared before obi-wan and questioned whether he did as he asked and trained the boy obi-wan became extremely defensive and actually drew and ignited his lightsaber although the former master and apprentice did have a discussion regarding mortis and the danger Anakin maybe in this interaction stands in stark contrast to that engaged in by Anakin and qui-gon as once qui-gon disappeared obi-wan was left confused and perplexed unlike Anakin it's clear obi-wan never really trusted what had occurred and was not convinced that it was truly quite on now manifested as a force ghost who appeared before him these two interactions with qui-gon that were seen in the mortis arc of the Clone Wars are a significant importance to Anakin obtaining the knowledge to becoming a force ghost before his fall to the dark side what happened to Anakin on mortis would come to have a profound effect upon him later in the season 6 episode voices wherein Yoda has his first interactions with qui-gon and eventually learns the secret to becoming a force ghost himself while the episode centrally focuses on Yoda's journey to learning the secret from the force priestesses I believe that it's just as important to the overall journey that Anakin would also take to learning the secret in the same manner as well in the Clone Wars Episode voices Yoda heard the voice of qui-gon while meditating on the question of why Dooku and the Sith would be behind the creation of the Clone Army and having them fight with the Jedi and on the side of the Republic a truth that was only just learned by Yoda and the Jedi High Council having heard the voice but still believing it to be impossible that it could be qui-gon Yoda continued to meditate but this time before the ancient force-sensitive tree that grew at the heart of the Jedi Temple as Yoda was meditating there and it can came in contact with the Jedi Grandmaster but just prior to stumbling upon Yoda importantly Anakin heard the voice of qui gonn himself calling out the name of Yoda Anakin clearly heard cweigand voice as he turned around to try to find the source of it having found Yoda meditating and after confirming that he was okay Yoda told Anakin that he encountered something that was difficult and that's Anakin if it's true that he spoke with Master qui-gon on mortis and it can then give what I believe is a crucially important explanation of his opinion relating to his interaction with qui-gon he told Yoda that yes both he and obi-wan spoke with qui-gon but since the former Jedi Master died upon Naboo he and obi-wan thought that it was an illusion or a mind trick formed out of their memories however amazingly Anakin then states at least that's what obi-wan believes clearly suggesting that this explanation is not convincing and not truly what he believed just what obi-wan came to conclude about the events that occurred on mortis this is a great follow up to what was actually seen in season 3 and it can confidently believe that he was actually speaking with qui-gon while obi-wan was defensive and confused about the entire interaction when Anakin questioned Yoda wacky ass and Yoda stated that perhaps it was nothing and it can recounted the tenants of Jedi philosophy which told them that everything they knew about the force demonstrates that it's impossible for an individual to retain their identity after importantly Yoda then countered by saying that was true in relation to everything they know about the force but what about the aspects of the force that they didn't know or understand when Yoda then excused himself to go speak with the High Council on the matter although Anakin looked almost shocked to hear what Yoda was suggesting it's clear that he started to rethink the entire interaction with qui-gon after speaking with Yoda Anakin was clearly starting to put the pieces together that he actually may have in fact truly spoken with Master qui-gon and it wasn't merely a mind trick formed out of his memories as obi-wan suggested which he was certainly already skeptical of but more importantly Anakin now understood that it wasn't just himself but also Yoda who was forming the opinion that qui-gon could communicate with them despite his death this conversation with Yoda had a lasting impact on Anakin after Yoda failed to obtain answers from the High Council in regard to the voices he'd been hearing and having undergone a deprivation ritual to induce meditation and helped him go deeper into the force Yoda emerged from the deprivation tank and explained to the Jedi present including obi-wan platoon ki-adi-mundi and Anakin that he had spoken with the dead who've been logged on this caused the Jedi around Yoda except for Anakin to look at each other in a way suggesting confusion and worry with Yoda having returned to the temple medical day the Jedi Master is present when Yoda explained he spoke to the dead inform mace windu of what Yoda said again expressing worry and doubt ki-adi-mundi was particularly worried stating strongly and as fact that speaking to those who died is not possible amazingly its anakin who interjects and in repeating Yoda almost verbatim tells ki-adi-mundi that communicating to the dead through the force wasn't possible only so far as they knew and which their understanding of the force would allow them this clearly shows where Anakin is on the question from his own experiences with qui-gon on mortis and having had his previous discussion with Yoda he was certainly coming to the conclusion that it was possible to communicate with the dead through the force nonetheless despite Anakin's wisdom on the topic the Jedi Masters remained unconvinced and feared that Yoda was under attack by the Sith and had temple guards placed in the medical Bay to ensure that Yoda couldn't leave one more example from the season 6 episode voices needs to be discussed having been barred from leaving the medical day by the High Council to ensure that Yoda was an attack to any greater extent and to give them more time to discover the true source of Yoda's problems Yoda turned to the only person he could trust in the situation to help him escape from the Jedi Temple and travel to Dagobah as per the instructions of qui-gon which was Anakin Anakin although realizing the High Council would not accept it assisted Yoda's escape from the temple and importantly even instructed r2 to assist Yoda on whatever journey he was embarking upon this was an excellent scene as it did a great job of establishing the bond that Yoda and Anakin shared in regard to their communicating with qui-gon as well as establishing that Yoda could really only trust Anakin in this situation and not the High Council but more importantly this scene establishes that Anakin had a completely different point of view of Yoda situation than the rest of the High Council Anakin would not have helped you to escape if he truly believed he was under attack from the sith rather the scene establishes perfectly the Anakin has put the pieces together that Yoda is referring to qui-gon when he spoke of speaking to the dead and Yoda is attempting to discover the true meaning behind these realities therefore we know that even before his fall to the dark side Anakin has come to accept first that he communicated with qui-gon on mortis and that this wasn't merely a creation of his imagination or a mind trick as obi-wan believed second through his conversation with Yoda the tenants of Jedi philosophy are limited in their understanding of the force and despite the fact that Jedi teachings state that it's impossible for a person to retain their identity after death he's rejected this absolute and knows what he experienced himself and that Yoda is coming to understand the same limits in the Jedi understanding of the force and finally Yoda has gone so far as to secretly escape Khorasan in order to uncover the truth of how he's communicating with the dead through the force and in particular communicating with qui-gon it's clear that before he became Darth Vader and Yoda journey to the wellspring of life he had more knowledge in regard to the ability to manifest one's consciousness after death than any other Jedi in the history of the order outside of qui-gon of course who actually learned the secret how could Anakin have not sought out the knowledge of how to become a force ghost when he had this understanding particularly as someone whose express goal is to prevent those he loved from dying I believe like qui-gon and Yoda before him that Anakin discovered the wellspring of life for himself it's crucial to remember that r2 was with Yoda through his entire journey to discovering the force priestesses and it wouldn't be a far reach to suggest that Anakin who was starting to piece everything together himself would discover the location of the priestesses through the knowledge of r2 Yoda discovered the location of the priestesses merely by using the Force as his guide so outside of r2 that's another possibility for how Anakin could journey to the wellspring of life regardless Anakin had too much knowledge to not attempt to look for it and try to discover the secret for himself although we could discuss exactly why Anakin would be allowed to know the secret once discovering the priestesses I believe that the easiest answer is that he was granted the knowledge of becoming a force ghost simply because he was the chosen one this may seem like too simple of a reason but Yoda was granted the knowledge by the priestesses merely on the basis that he would train the one who would save the universe from a great imbalance that is Luke I don't think it would be a stretch to suggest that the priestesses with grey Anakin with the knowledge of becoming a force goes for actually being the chosen one and bringing balance to the force therefore given everything that Anakin knew in relation to manifesting one's consciousness after death before his fall to becoming baiter I believe that Anakin discovered the ability to becoming a force ghost from the force priestesses before joining Sidious in the same way that qui-gon Yoda and obi-wan had thereby allowing him to manifest himself as a force ghost upon his death in Return of the Jedi we love making these videos so why not subscribe for more fun Star Wars theories and discussions also if you enjoyed the video think about giving a like or leaving a comment if not for me for I wish we could just ask the god Emperor

Channel: Star Wars Reading Club

Views: 537,965

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Keywords: star wars, anakin skywalker, star wars anakin, anakin skywalker force ghost, anakin force ghost, anakin force ghost return of the jedi, force ghost, force ghost anakin, how did anakin become a force ghost, how anakin became a force ghost, force ghost return of the jedi, return of the jedi, force priestesses, force priestesses star wars, force ghost explained, Star Wars Reading Club

Id: HYmPR8jsfLs

Length: 16min 11sec (971 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 07 2017