A History Of The First Jedi To Become One With The Force
Force ghosts and beings becoming one with the Force seem synonymous with Star Wars at this point. That has not always been the case, however. The concept of becoming one with the Force is something the Jedi only learned about towards the end of the Jedi Council’s existence, and only a handful of Jedi have been able to achieve this. The first of which was Qui-Gon Jinn.
Qui-Gon Jinn was one of the few Jedi who were born on Coruscant. At a young age, he was recognized as being Force-sensitive by the Jedi Order, and he was brought to the temple to begin his training. Jinn was not an outgoing or overly confident student. While he did well in school, he was not an ace student by any means. Once, he even selected some studies because he thought they would be easy as opposed to being in his own interest.
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At the age of 12, he was assigned to be the Padawan of Jedi Master Dooku. Dooku was much more stern and straightforward than Qui-Gon was. However, the two got along well, and Dooku became a trusted mentor to Qui-Gon. Once, Qui-Gon even went to him to discuss his fears of failure and not being worthy to become a Jedi. Dooku was able to show Qui-Gon that his fear was actually of the future not being what Qui-Gon wanted and that it was his uncertainty causing fear. Instead of scolding him, like Qui-Gon thought he would, Dooku praised him for being able to admit his fear. This sparked a healthy relationship between them from then on.
Later, Jinn was introduced to a former Padawan of Dooku named Rael. Rael and Jinn quickly became friends. The two would often discuss many things, their shared Master being one of them, and they would even spar on occasion. One day while Qui-Gon was working on his studies, Rael took him to the Jedi Archives. There Qui-Gon was able to study the Jedi prophecies, which was a major point of interest to him. He found each one incredibly fascinating, and he spent much of the day reading each one. It was amazing to him as Dooku never allowed him to spend much time with the prophecies because Dooku didn’t believe the prophecies to actually be true. This is also likely where Jinn learned of the prophecy about the Chosen One, which was a prophecy he clung close to in the future.
Another moment that deeply affected Qui-Gon came when he and Dooku were sent to track the bounty hunter Shenda Mol. When they eventually tracked her back to her hideout, Mol was able to capture Jinn. Mol was about to kill Jinn, but before she could, Dooku killed her with Force Lightning. This deeply disturbed Qui-Gon for a long time. However, the other people he talked to about the situation seemed unbothered by Dooku’s actions. This still likely implanted the idea of bending or breaking the Jedi Code when absolutely necessary. Shortly after this event, Qui-Gon would also commence with the trials to become a Jedi Knight. Though his resolve was tested, he ultimately remained loyal to the Jedi Order and passed the trials.
As he got older and more skilled, Qui-Gon began to disagree more and more with the Jedi Code. It is possible that through his studies of the ancient Jedi Order and the prophecies he realized the Jedi had vastly strayed from their original purpose. He maintained that the Jedi should be peacekeepers first and foremost. Also, he believed that Jedi should not hide their emotions away completely, but rather they should not let their emotions take over and drive their actions or decisions. This led to many disagreements between Jinn and the Jedi Council. It prevented him from becoming a Jedi Master for a while, and many other Jedi saw him as a rogue Jedi who did as he pleased.
Eventually, Qui-Gon took on a Padawan himself named Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Gon and Kenobi got along extremely well, more than Qui-Gon and Dooku did. Jinn was able to sense Obi-Wan’s true feelings on things, which would frequently irritate Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan also grew more and more frustrated by Qui-Gon’s refusal to follow the Jedi Code. However, they went on numerous missions together, and they consistently had each other’s back. Qui-Gon was offered a position on the Jedi Council and the rank of Master during his and Obi-Wan’s time together, but Qui-Gon turned it down to keep instructing Obi-Wan.
Later in his life, he started to work on building a deeper connection to the Force. Eventually, he traveled to a planet that was said to be the “birthplace of life” and the “origin of midichlorians.” There he was deemed worthy by 5 Force priestesses to be instructed in the ways of the Living Force and the Cosmic Force. He learned that all beings helped to create the Living Force, and the Living Force, in turn, powered the Cosmic Force. When a being died, it would pass through the Living Force into the Cosmic Force. As the two Forces became more in tandem, a being could retain their conscience and manifest themselves after death, but Qui-Gon learned that only a being of complete selflessness would be able to achieve this. This was something told to him by a shaman of the Whills, which he took to heart.
In the future, he would grow more and more upset with the Jedi Order because they were becoming more akin to warriors than peacekeepers. He felt they were becoming too violent. On one occasion, he was sent into a war to aid one side. However, he learned that the opposing side had been framed for the reason the war started. He refused to help either side fight the other, which greatly displeased the Council. However, he had a vision in which he was surrounded and attacked by tendrilled creatures. He slashed and cut each of them with his lightsaber, but when he did, the tendrils disappeared. It was revealed that the creatures he had killed were actually fellow Jedi. He took this as a sign that he was right and should not immediately jump to violence as a tactic if there were other options.
It is well known that Qui-Gon met his doom while fighting Darth Maul. However, he did not die at that moment. Instead, he was able to transcend what any Jedi had been able to do before and become one with the Force. He also left an impressive legacy. He trained one of the greatest Jedi ever, and he discovered the Chosen One from the prophecies. Despite his actions being frowned upon by some Jedi, he earned a great deal of respect from the Jedi Order. Not to mention, he worked desperately to return to the true purpose of the Jedi. He wanted the Jedi to be peacekeepers that cared about the people of the galaxy and worked to protect all of them. He would give anything to see that reality, and it was that selflessness that allowed him to become one with the Force. If that wasn’t enough, he was also able to pass what he learned to both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda, who would also go on to become one with the Force. While his death was a tragedy, Qui-Gon Jinn had an extraordinary life and changed the future of the Jedi.
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Source(s): Wookieepedia