Return of the Masters?

By:  Mandalore the Wise, Contributor

As we count the days until the next installment of Star Wars, we scour the trailer for any additional information we missed the first 10 (or 20) times we watched it. There are “spoilers” all over the internet citing “reliable sources” or “sources close to the project”. Starting in September, we will be flooded with information under the “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens” publishing program. It seems we will finally have some canonical information to bridge the gap between ROTJ and TFA.

As we wait for the powers that be to guide us, I would like to offer an idea for you to ponder while you are stuck in traffic. Will we see any of the old masters return in the new canon? Since we can only speculate (at this point) what has happened over the decades between installments, Luke had to learn from somewhere. Let’s be honest with each other, at the end of ROTJ he still had a lot to learn. Good thing all those Force ghosts came to hang out at the Ewok celebration, yub nubbing with all the living.

Let us think about that for a minute. Up until this point, speaking in order the movies were released, the only other being shown as a Force ghost was Ben. At the end, when we see Yoda and Anakin, I just believed anyone Force sensitive could become one. Yoda was believable – a 900 year old Jedi Master who was..well…Yoda! So we have Ben and Yoda, I can hang with that. Oh but wait, there’s more. Anakin. So Darth Vader has a last minute change of heart and pitches the Emperor over the railing, redemption and Force ghosthood bestowed – but I digress.

Think about all of the current canon. Qui-Gon spoke to Yoda in the novelization of Revenge of the Sith.

"Eternal life…
The ultimate goal of the Sith, yet they can never achieve it; it comes only through the release of self, not the exaltation of self. It comes through compassion, not greed. Love is the answer to the darkness."

There is this amazing moment, which clearly didn't make it into the movie, where Yoda becomes Qui-Gon’s apprentice to learn the ways of keeping his consciousness in the Force after death. In the overall timeline, this is first touched on in the final arc of The Clone Wars on Netflix, when Yoda starts hearing voices. This is huge, especially if you think back to TPM when Qui-Gon went against the Jedi Council to train Anakin. Ok, so Qui-Gon teaches Yoda. Next we fast forward to the end of ROTS (movie) when Yoda chats with Obi-Wan and gives him his task while in solitude on Tatoonie, “How to commune with him, I will teach you.” You want to blow people’s minds in the super special edition of ROTJ? Throw in Qui-Gon at the end.

So clearly, there are those Jedi who have been able to maintain their consciousness in the Force after death. They were taught – unless you are Anakin, then apparently you just know how to do it. There always is the possibility it is something the Emperor knew how to do and passed on the knowledge. This is not clarified in the canon.

So, as we prepare for the future to be revealed, who would you like to see make an appearance as a Force ghost or even in a holocron? Or perhaps there will be another Jedi Master who went into hiding after Order 66 and comes back to help Luke rebuild the Jedi Order. Let us know what you think. As we have seen before in the Star Wars Universe, anything is possible.