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Luke Skywalker's ability to commune with deceased Jedi in the Original Star Wars Trilogy is perhaps something that needs a little exploration. It's something we just don't question in the original Trilogy since there's so much else that goes unexplained and because we originally have no context with which to question it. From Episodes IV to VI it just seemed like all part and parcel of the Jedi experience. It is only in The Revenge of the Sith however that we learn this is not the case. Yoda explains to Obi-Wan that the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn has discovered the secret of communing with the living, and that Yoda has training for Obi-Wan to learn how to converse with him.

This establishes that both Yoda and Obi-Wan can come back and make contact with Luke from beyond the grave because they have both learnt the secret. How Anakin comes across this secret after his death on the second Death Star remains a mystery. However, the secret of controlling death in this way is highly significant. What initially led Anakin on a path to the Dark Side had been just such a quest to have power over life and death and prevent people from dying. Only in this moment of redemption is he given the power of bringing the dead back into the realm of the living in ethereal form.

The Emperor lies to Anakin that only the Sith can teach him how to prolong life. In fact, it is Yoda who achieves this after a fashion by discovering a way to commune with the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn. When Anakin appears in spirit form he too has been given this gift of sticking around after death.

Not only does the Emperor tease Anakin with the possibility of cheating death in the Revenge of the Sith, he also tempts him with the power of creating life. Anakin himself has been born partly out of the midichlorians, and the irony is that he perhaps also already possesses this ability. See for instance my article on him breathing sentient life into C-3PO here: The Significance of C-3PO in the Star Wars Movies.

This creates a very neat beginning and end from Episodes I through to VI, with Anakin creating life from nothing at the beginning and cheating death at the end in his spirit incarnation in The Return of the Jedi after Palpatine has been killed. In this interpretation he achieves all the things the Emperor promises him but only at times when he is free from Palpatine's influence and from the influence of the Dark Side.

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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