Do Force Ghosts hang out with each other?

[Morrus]

General Star Wars question (not RoS specific) -- when Force Ghosts aren't appearing and offering sage advice to living people, what do they do? Are stye inert, or do they hang out together somewhere ethereal? Do Obi Wan and Yoda sit around having chats with Anakin and Luke? Or do they only exist when they appear to somebody?

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

If they only appeared when someone needed advice, it could be argued they are just figments of the imagination of the person seeing them. Especially since, in the 8 first movies (to avoid saying anything about RoS for those who haven't seen it), in my memory, Force Ghosts manifested only to people they were close to. Ben's voice in ANH would be tantamount to Luke saying "What Would Jedi Do?" at the final moment and disconnecting his targetting system. If they are a constant presence in the Force and just choose to appear, it's more... supernatural. If I remember correctly, in Revenge of the Sith, Qui-Gon pitches immortality to Yoda by saying he has discovered a technique to preserve consciousness after becoming one with the Force. I'd say that conciousness implies some kind of permanent existence, not just being stored somewhere until a living people need to ask them a question.

 

[Morrus]

Just for reference, these are Yoda's exact words to Obi-Wan in RotS:

"…on your solitude on Tatooine, training I have for you. An old friend as learned the path to immortality. One who has returned from the Netherworld of the Force. Your old master. How to commune with him I'll teach you.”

So there's an implication there that there is a "Netherworld of the Force" and that a Force Ghost is a technique for returning from it.

 

[MarkB]

Do they only offer advice, even? In The Last Jedi, Yoda is able to use Force Lightning to have a tangible effect on the world, so they could potentially be out there taking an active part in events, rather than merely advising.

 

[Morrus]

Do they only offer advice, even? In The Last Jedi, Yoda is able to use Force Lightning to have a tangible effect on the world, so they could potentially be out there taking an active part in events, rather than merely advising.

Yes, they aren’t intangible. Just see-through. Ben Kenobi sits on a log, Yoda blows up a tree, and the new film also has similar physical stuff.

 

[Hriston]

I think that Force ghosts only exist as Force ghosts when they appear in the physical world. But they are otherwise hanging out together “in the Force” because they are still “one with the Force”.

I.e., a Force ghost itself is merely a Force projection generated by the consciousness of the individual from the netherworld of the Force where it actually exists.

 

[Mercurius]

Yeah, I think Hriston has it basically right. Most of the time, the consciousness of the force ghost is "one with" the Force, and probably doesn't have a specific location. The force ghost would be that consciousness manifesting in the physical world, albeit intangibly.

 

[Morrus]

Which begs the question: when the force ghost is "at one with" the Force, and no manifesting, is it still conscious? Is Yoda hanging out chatting to Qui Gonn Jinn in Force Valhalla (or the Nether Regions, orn whatever Yoda called it)? Or are they basically asleep until they are awoken for a five minute chat with somebody living once every thirty years?

 

[ccs]

If they only appeared when someone needed advice, it could be argued they are just figments of the imagination of the person seeing them. Especially since, in the 8 first movies (to avoid saying anything about RoS for those who haven't seen it), in my memory, Force Ghosts manifested only to people they were close to.

Not quite true. Ben, Yoda, & Anikan are manifested in the tree line during the ewok celebration at the end of jedi.
They aren't seen by or interacting with any of the living though, so I doubt they were conjured by anyone but themselves.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I agree with CCS. Plus, Qui-Gon is supposed to have discovered a long-lost technique to use the Force this way. I'd say the technique is to keep consciousness and not a technique of "being summonable to give a piece of advice". It's not the technique used by Sheldon to speak with Professor Proton.

Spoil of RoS:

In RoS, I am pretty sure I recognized Mace Windu's voice among the Jedi who speak with Rey. She has never met him and, while we can see Luke and Leia speaking of Yoda and Obiwan to her, it would be strange that she would think of summoning the voice of Mace Windu for advice. And other voice I didn't identify, so I would think nobody cared enough to tell Rey about them... They must have chosen to speak at this time, using the technique "Manifest outside of the Netherworld of the Force". I imagine a gigantic, empty lobby with thousands Jedi Master standing around, until Qui-Gon arrived saying "hey, I've found a way out!"