Skip to main content

star wars - Does the Force wane as you age?


In this answer, @Valorum said



...not to mention the sheer strain that comes from continually using the Force at an advanced age.



To my feeble mind, this doesn't make sense. Approaching 900 years old, Yoda is still as strong as any whippersnapper in terms of Force power and usage. Despite his old age, Obi Wan shouldn't have any problems with using his Force powers.


This got me to thinking, does the Force begin to leave you as you age? Is it a flow of Force power that goes down based on (I hate to say this) a decrease in midichlorian count as you approach your expiration date?




Answer



While there isn't a definitive answer in the current canon, there are a couple of things to consider.


As @Valorum stated in the comment above:



After lifting the X-Wing, Master Yoda seems to be exhausted and breathing heavily. It's not that he can't use the Force, it's that it takes a toll.



However, it's unclear as to whether this is due to his age, or some other factor. For a species that lives to be almost 900, I'd find it unlikely that he'd be able to battle a Sith Lord and then 20 years later, not be able to lift an X-Wing due to his age of all things.


I'd suggest rather that he was out of practice using physically demanding Force powers, possibly preferring to spend his time meditating instead of lifting things.


Furthermore, there are no shortage of elderly Jedi/Sith


Here are some (note, these are just Jedi that show up in canon, but some of the ages are non-canon — the exact age is unknown):




  • Darth Sidious was born 84 BBY and Died 4 ABY, making him 88 years old during the final battle in Return of the Jedi (a battle which he almost won mind you). Other sources disagree, putting him at 86 though, but this still doesn't take away from the fact he's old.

  • Evan Piell was apparently pretty old, though his exact age was not known.

  • Ki-Adi-Mundi was going strong at 73 (old for his species)

  • Dooku was 83.

  • Tera Sinube

  • Jocasta Nu

  • Yaddle

  • Oppo Rancis, although it's hard to say if he was all that old for his species.



I'm sure there are even more examples in the expanded universe/legends.


Despite how powerful they are, Jedi/Sith aren't immortal. I'd suggest that as Jedi age, they tend to spend less time practicing and honing their physical strengths, which would be inherently limited by the strength of their body, and more time on their mental strengths. Keep in mind that Yoda and Obi-wan were hermits on isolated world, had they been battling the Empire on a day to day basis, I'm sure they would be better at physical tasks, instead, they were both immensely wise.


So in short, Probably Not. There are plenty of examples of Jedi elderly in body but sharp in the Force.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

languages - Do we ever see written English in the Star Wars films?

In Empire Strikes Back , we see a transcription of what R2's beeps and bloops mean, but it's not English (sorry for the low quality, it's from the 2004 DVDs): I'd assume it's what Basic looks like when written, but is there some point in the the Star Wars films we see written English instead? (This sort of spun off from a discussion in How do people understand astromech droids? .) Answer At one point there was English but it has been phased out in subsequent versions of the films. Chris Gould at DVD Active did a comparison of all versions of each of the Star Wars films, and in his comparison of Episode 4 , there are a couple of screenshots showing how the power gauge for the Death Star tractor beam was changed. I imagine there are probably more to be found in his other comparisons but I haven't got around to reading those yet.
Post a Comment
Read more

Was the "pure soul" of Harry's what had really hurt Voldemort?

In the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort possesses Harry, and it hurts. Greatly. I think that Dumbledore explained that it was because Voldemort's rotten soul was incapable of assimilating Harry's pure soul, that Voldemort didn't understand the love and friendship etc that Harry has in his heart. But, I think it was a lie. Remember that in Deathly Hallows, while looking for information regarding Horcruxes, it is discovered that it is in fact possible to merge a soul fragment back, but that the process was extremely painful. Now then, if Voldemort tried to possess Harry, and Harry had a fragment of Voldemort's soul, I think that it could have been the true cause of Voldemort's pain: the fact of having his soul so close of another fragment. I think that Dumbledore knew that fact, but had to lie to Harry because it was inappropriate to let him know that he had one of Voldemort's soul fragments at the moment. Is that right? Or was it truly the pure soul of Harry's...
Post a Comment
Read more