Star Wars Rebels Explains How Force Ghosts Work

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars Rebels season 4 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Star Wars has always had crazy powers and thought-provoking philosophy as a part of its ethos, but these concepts are always pushed the farthest in Star Wars animation. The most recent addition to the pantheon of crazy things about the Force came from Star Wars Rebels where Ezra accesses a "World Between Worlds" where he's able to manipulate time, temporarily removing Ahsoka from the timeline just before a fateful blow during her duel with Darth Vader, only for her to enter the timeline again, making time travel an official part of Star Wars canon.

What these new episodes of Rebels revealed was not necessarily a brand new addition to Star Wars Force lore, but a deeper examination of ideas presented at various points in the franchise from seeing the future to the time dilation caused by a strong Force presence in places like Dagobah, or the Force Planet and Mortis in The Clone Wars.

While time bending craziness has been the biggest focus exiting those episodes, we also learned a lot of new things about he nature of Force ghosts, possibly even revealing some new details that shed light on the ending of The Last Jedi, potentially even giving a hint at what's to come with Luke in Episode IX.

This Page: Force Ghosts Are One Some of the Oldest Lore in Star Wars

Force Ghosts Are One Some of the Oldest Lore in Star Wars

They're often talked about as one of the more mysterious parts of the Force, but they're one of the oldest parts of established canon. Obi-Wan was even yelling at Luke through the Force before telekinesis was introduced in Empire Strikes Back. In fact, the only Force ability that's older is the Jedi mind trick. Even so, exactly how or why certain Jedi have been able to manifest themselves after death and others weren't was left a mystery for a few years.

In the original trilogy, we see Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin all become Force ghosts, so most people believed it was simply what happened when a Jedi died, which was understandable since it happened 100% the time at that point. It wasn't until the prequels when the Jedi are burning Qui-Gon at a funeral as if it's a normal practice that eyebrows started to raise. Not only did Qui-Gon not disappear, but the Jedi had a ritualistic way of handling a dead Jedi body and don't seem too concerned about the fact that he didn't evaporate, suggesting this was the norm.

We don't see a Qui-Gon force ghost - or any Force ghost - in the prequels, but we do hear Qui-Gon's voice call out to Anakin when he's murdering Tusken Raiders to avenge his mother. That moment didn't get any immediate explanation but the original screenplay for Revenge of the Sith specified that he learned to manifest after death from a Shaman of the Whills. This would come back into play, although a little differently, in The Clone Wars when Yoda is led by Qui-Gon's voice to the Force planet at the center of the galaxy to learn the same ability from the Force Priestesses.

What did make it into Revenge of the Sith, is Yoda telling Obi-Wan that he learned these abilities, suggesting that both Jedi Masters spend their time in isolation practicing this new talent. It's a great explanation of why this is something new for Jedi, but doesn't explain why Anakin Skywalker was able to do the same when he only returned to the light side at the last moment before his death, yet he still appeared fully formed next to Obi-Wan and Yoda at the end of Return of the Jedi.

Thanks to Rebels, We Know More About Force Ghosts Than Ever

While The Clone Wars did a lot of heavy lifting in explaining how a Jedi or other Force user could become a Force ghost, it didn't shed much light on what those ghosts actually are outside of the typical vague terms like "retain consciousness" and "cosmic Force." We've known Force ghosts could communicate with the living, and Obi-Wan, despite being transparent, was shown to interact with the foliage of Dagobah. Later on, in The Last Jedi, we even see Yoda jab at Luke with his cane and destroy the Tree Library on Ahch-To. There's clearly more to them than ghastly apparitions.

In Star Wars Rebels 'A World Between Worlds', Ahsoka gives the most concise explanation for Force ghosts yet when talking about Kanan, saying that even though he had joined the Cosmic Force, his will was still at work, even if it wasn't fully connected to his consciousness. In this case, it was executed through the Loth Wolf "Dume," who even bore the same symbol on his forehead as Kanan wore on his shoulder.

It may not be a full-blown Force ghost, but it gives us a much more fundamental understanding of how a Force ghost works at its most basic level, with a Force Wielder's ability to manifest their will after death, with more adept users being able to also retain a part of their identity with their will. Kanan had no training but had surrendered himself in a selfless act, allowing his will to join with the will of the Force to be carried out through a Loth Wolf, even if it wasn't his consciousness actually intentionally executing on that will. Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan, and Yoda all learned this ability to varying degrees so they could actually return to the mortal world with their identity still intact, instead of being entirely absorbed into the larger whole.

It also might finally offer the most tangible explanation for how Anakin Skywalker was able to manifest without the years of training, suggesting his force of will was simply so strong that he retained his identity and could appear almost immediately It certainly explains why he looks young (in the canon Blu-Ray version, sorry haters). And that makes sense. After all, Anakin was an exceptionally powerful, and willful, Jedi and the Chosen One. If anyone could do that, it's him.

What Does This Tell Us About Luke's Force Ghost in Episode IX?

This sheds a light on a lot of questions fans have had for years, but also gives some hints about some newer questions. Particularly if and how Luke will return in Episode IX. Since he disappeared into the Force at the end of The Last Jedi, we know he has the ability to become a Force ghost, but with this new information, and some of what we saw in The Last Jedi, there's the possibility it could be even more, and Rian Johnson even said as much.

Many have expressed some confusion as to why Yoda's Force ghost looks so different in The Last Jedi when other callbacks like Leia's hologram were recreated with an impeccable attention to detail. There are moments where he almost looks like an actual tangible Yoda, not just the transparent ghastly blue figure. He also, as already mentioned, knocks Luke with his cane and calls lightning down on the Tree Library. In the 3 decades since we've last seen him, has he developed this ability even further, learning to express a force of will strong enough to actually physically make a return to the galaxy?

This is all loose speculation at this point since there are still so many mysteries with The Last Jedi, but if Yoda could interact with Luke and his environment in the way he did, could he also participate in a lightsaber duel or interact with the galaxy on that level? The same question goes for Luke. His Force projection at the end of the movie is a skill unlike any we've ever seen, but on a fundamental, or even philosophical level, it was an expression of his will across the galaxy. Now that he's joined the Cosmic Force, does this understanding allow him to manifest himself at a more advanced level, maybe even as much as Yoda was shown to, despite having just recently passed?

There's also now a question as to whether his body actually physically gave out, or if the act of projection actually caused him to outright join the cosmic Force without his physical body even dying. These are all questions that will have to wait for Episode IX, and it's possible they'll never be answered fully, but based on what we saw in The Last Jedi and what we know after Rebels' recent reveals, Luke could still have a significant role alongside Rey beyond being a ghostly guide during the closing events of the Skywalker saga.

NEXT: Star Wars Rebels: Every Voice Heard In The World Between Worlds