George Lucas FINALLY Explains MIDICHLORIANS - (NOW IT MAKES SENSE)

[@lightborn9071]

I always saw them as a kind of transmitter. The more you have, the easier it is for you to communicate with the force, but the force itself is always there and accessible.

[@tmac731]

Yea that’s what’s I always thought. It wasn’t that confusing

[@seanhewitt603]

A signal repeater...to increase sensitivity.

[@papalaz4444244]

And they thrive in a strong Force user so they have a high midichlorian count. It was never difficult to understand, unless you wanted to hate George Lucas

[@imnotkiddingg]

@@tmac731 people in the 90s were really REALLY stupid

[@Chinachik]

@@kryptoskillet1131 It's not so much being 'mad' at Rey. It's about her lack of character development...which is what makes a character more interesting and relatable. Personally, as a woman, I'd like to see female characters not have power handed to them just because they're girls, but to see them develop, mature, and increase in strength to overcome their obstacles. I would like to see characters like Rey become role models for young people just like Luke Skywalker was and still is. Luke became what he did because despite his family name and others' expectations of him, he had physical and emotional struggles to overcome in order to eventually be the great Jedi Master. In TFA they just made Rey powerful for no reason at all, then finally had to make her Palpatine's granddaughter in TRoS in order to dig themselves out of the massive plothole they'd dug themselves into.

[@JediMasterEzio]

The first time I heard "midichlorians", and saw Qui-Gonn drawing blood, I automatically assumed it was similar to mitochondria. Microorganisms inside our cells that allow people in the SW universe to access the Force. The more you have, the stronger your natural connection is. But, if you have access to it, you practise and strengthen your connection. Talent without practise will only get you so far...

[@grant_13-7]

Yes this is exactly it. Its just people who are logical/actually paid attention in basic biology, understood the first time they watched that it was some type of cell in your body that if you have more, your connection to the force has a larger potential. Gotta disagree with theory here and say the explanation wasn’t needed lol, george just made the wrong assumption that most people could connect the very large dots😂

[@JediMasterEzio]

@@grant_13-7 , I think it was needed too. This explains why certain children are taken and others aren't. Like you said, basic biology, in a sense. Everything with organic cells will contain midichlorians. Without them, one cannot live. Some beings have more than others, which grants them a far greater degree of access to the Force. It's not a spiritual magic, which is most people were led to believe. The "spiritual" part (and I use that term loosely) doesn't come into play until you learn how to harness the Force and use it.

[@grant_13-7]

@@JediMasterEzio well the spiritual part would be just your connection to the cosmic force (strengthened through focus training and meditation etc.) and the biological part would be the actual medichlorian cells, which facilitate that connection. I mean i assumed when gin first took ani’s blood sample, that thats how they determined whether the kid was capable of seeing out training or not.🤷🏼‍♂️

[@mevensen]

Same here, the parallels between mitochondria and midichlorians was painfully obvious, even with the hereditary facets.

[@dragondrakage2402]

The only thing that doesn't really make sense is how they're able to tell how much a person has. Like is that 20k per cell or... if it's total, then how r they able to tell how much someone has

[@aceace767]

Honestly the midichlorians never confused me I understood the concept of it.

[@bjrnthebootybandit]

same

[@imnotkiddingg]

people in the 90s were really really stupid

[@shivelyfilms]

Same

[@jimdraven2432]

Agreed, I still occasionally wonder why it's treated with such anger.

[@ryancarter6876]

Yes and I always loved it.

[@mikevanroy9356]

Midi-clorians were never confusing. Fans didn't like the idea because it removed part of the mysticism of how the Force worked. It made it more scientific, less spiritual. The only thing about Ep1 that was confusing was why Qui-Gon didn't disappear when he died because that's what we had seen Jedi do in Ep 4-6.

[@GarytongueBetz-vl1fu]

Newsflash, the force was never a mystery.

[@Rimmsolin]

But everyone *could* be a Jedi if they were spiritual or lucky enough. We didn’t need a mechanism or explanation beyond that. It’s like knowing how the magic trick is done.

[@DIREWOLFx75]

"Midi-clorians were never confusing. Fans didn't like the idea because it removed part of the mysticism of how the Force worked. It made it more scientific, less spiritual." No, it was because it made the setting completely nonsensical. But i guess you don't see the obvious problems with making it a directly biological matter. Yes, it makes the force a scientific matter. And when it is science, that means it can be replicated. Which means creating artificial "midis" would just be a matter of bioengineering. It also makes the jedi order a death cult. With jedi not supposed to get involved romantically, this means majority of jedi do not have children. And combined with the order going around taking children with force potential away, this means they are intentionally and KNOWINGLY destroying the future levels of force sensitives among the population.

[@lordcommandernox9197]

@@DIREWOLFx75 What's non-sensical about mitochondria? It is basically what these are since Lucas borrowed ideas from Parasite Eve for the prequels. And you're projecting concepts unto a well-defined universe that is only similar to ours, because you thought Jedi were some religion and not a result of a natural force within the Universe that can be harnessed and neesd to be ept in check. The Jedi are like Nukes and need to be non-proliferating, you're just a sour puss who now has the Star Warts Franchise he deserves, now everybody's a Jedi, and you can complain all day about how crap the story is. You're one of the prequels dudes that made Lucas sell his story to Disney anyway. What's non-sensical is wanting the jedi to be analogous to some bs religion because then you'd have to introduce a deity and the Jedi would still only be a death cult in service of a possible parasite and not an actual divinity, but religious people do be simple

[@mallninja9805]

@@DIREWOLFx75 The -force- akshully is strong with this one 🤡

[@katiemcleod]

I always knew this. I found Qui Gon's explanation entirely adequate. I'm not even sure HOW his dialogue made sense to me, ("They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the force"), but it did. I understood midichlorians to be like conduits that funnel the force into your body. The more you have, the more force energy can flow into you. And with focus and training you could learn to feel, harness, and manipulate that force energy.

[@Chuck_EL]

He's what every Jedi should inspire to be

[@mnomadvfx]

The problem with it is that it basically breaks a paradigm established by Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. He basically tells Luke that "size matters not", referring to both his stature and the size of the X Wing that he lifts out of the swamp with relative ease despite his great age. But then it's well known that Lucas always had spoiled milk face over ESB being widely regarded by fans as the best film of all SW, despite the near complete lack of his involvement in the major film making positions. He always did strike me as a bit of a child that way - perhaps why Anakin comes across as such a ridiculous man baby in Ep 2/3, it's basically Lucas writing his inner voice on screen 😂

[@whitewolf3051]

Midichlorians, the mitochondria of Star Wars, what’s so hard about it?

[@Geralt_harvey3784]

@@mnomadvfx Dumb opinion: Anakin is a ridiculous man baby. Anakin: Born as a slave, grow's up without a father, looses his mother, his father figure dies, gets raised by a strict and judgmental new father figure/mentor, forced to obey the strict control of the Jedi Order and its flawed system, his mother is tortured and killed, he slaughters an entire people out of rage and vengeance, looses his arm, gets manipulated by the emperor, tricked into committing genocide and killing all those who trained him, tricked into believing he killed his wife. Yeah... a man baby 🙄.

[@shabnamrafique7730]

"they continually speak to us, telling us the will of the force..." if anyone said this in front of a psychiatrist they'd be carted off to a mental institution for "hearing things".

[@turtrooper8310]

This is basically how I’ve always interpreted them anyways. It’s also somewhat obvious given the similarity between “midichlorian” and “mitochondria”. I never knew for a fact, but I’ve always supposed they were some sort of celular organelle. They’re not the force itself, but instead a conduit for a being to interact with the force.

[@tomasinacovell4293]

Lucas says whatever he thinks will serve him the best on any day, he's just let so much junk like that slip into the story because it's the easy way out for people that won't understand philosophy. And you know why that is.

[@Antifag1977]

Ditto.. I also connected those two not just by name but by function.

[@aniquinstark4347]

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

[@Sarappreciates]

I kinda thought this is why Palpatine created Anakin since midichlorians seem to be difficult to clone. Palpatine seemed a little too into getting hold of a "Young Skywalker" when it came to Anakin, Luke, and even Rey. I think he wanted a new body to possess since his was really wrecked. He woulda needed a vessel with high midichlorians. Palpatine cheated death by possessing Rey, imo.

[@littleredpony6868]

I had always envisioned midichlorian being similar to mitochondria

[@martychisnall]

This is basically how I interpreted it anyway It’s not the force, it’s an indicator for how strong in the force someone is.

[@refugeehugsforfree4151]

I thought that's how everyone thought? People thought they were the force themselves? Lol idk how but ok then

[@grant_13-7]

@@refugeehugsforfree4151yeah idk how people made that mistake. Like did they imagine medichlorians flying through the air when they force push or like a lasso when they pull. Just a giant extendo arm of medichlorians when vader chokes people😂

[@refugeehugsforfree4151]

@@grant_13-7 Sounds kinda gross lol, Even as a kid I never thought they were flying through the air haha.

[@lilscootagang]

@@grant_13-7no bs, if that’s the route he decided to take i wouldn’t have been mad. that sounds cool as fuck, like a venom arm coming out of vader and chokes the person while he’s standing like 10 feet away. would’ve made everything much more horrifying 😂

[@PLUTOXGOAT]

Yes, that's exactly what it is and what It always was when Phantom Menace came out. But alot of Fans took a hissy fit cause they thought it contradicted Yodas explanation in ESB when it quite clearly didn't. Qui Gon explained what connects us to the force, Yoda explained what the force is in itself It never contradicted Yoda, it was a great extension on Yodas explanation

[@windur]

I wish George would talk more about Star Wars lore. Appreciate the video!

[@UrialTheDarkOne]

Having GL talk about Star Wars Lore would be a fairly short talk. So far as GL has ever been concerned Star Wars canon and lore starts and stops with the movies and to a lesser extent the tv shows.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

@@UrialTheDarkOne It doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have a lot of depth with what he created. That’s still bare minimum a 6 movie saga

[@Fenris30]

Shame he doesn't give Talks like GRRM.

[@roscoedungeegillem3850]

Really?

[@ngonaame9410]

The mitochondria parallel seemed obvious to me when the film came out. I liked the introduction of the midichlorians and I'd been watching star wars since the 80s. It made perfect sense, I wasn't aware it needed explanation. Quigon did a pretty good summary of it to young Anakin, which was obviously George's way of providing exposition to the audience.

[@Monkey_Boy9602]

When learning of them in "Episode I", Luke's line in "Episode VI" ("The Force is strong in my family.") finally made sense! I could never understand how this angered and confused so many OT fans when it expanded on an idea introduced in The OT.

[@rebekah.2187]

I never understood what was so difficult to understand or get upset about. From what Qui-Gon said in Ep.1, the midicholorians sounded like microbiotic cells that helped a person connect to the Force, which explains why some are more naturally Force sensitive than others. People threw a fit over the midicholorians, screaming about all the years of training being necessary, while completely ignoring that Vader, who had no idea who the Red 5 pilot was, said, "The Force is strong with this one." Well, how could that be when Luke had so little training at that point? He wasn't strong because of his training, but his midicholorian count.

[@bobjohnson1633]

So, you could just pull blood from people, spin out the midichlodians, and inject the force into people. Sith would just have blood slaves on tap and keep Jedi in labs.

[@jakewheeler6014]

@@bobjohnson1633 Imbueing the force in others is very very difficult near impossible.

[@cassieo]

@@bobjohnson1633did you think those amberized Jedi in the Fortress Inquisitorious were just decorations? They were there for midichlorian harvesting for the cloning experiments that Palpatine was doing. It’s why they were after Grogu-they determined the midichlorians were better when taken from live subjects.

[@rebekah.2187]

@@bobjohnson1633 If the Sith didn't have those slaves, then perhaps simply transferring midicholorians doesn't make one Force-sensitive and there is more to the Force than that. Qui-Gon spoke of a symbiotic relationship with these cells. So, just having them may not be enough. Remember Ahsoka told Din that it would be better to let Grogu's abilities fade. So, clearly the person has a choice to ignore their Force sensitivity and maybe when they do that those cells die. The opposite would be that the person is receptive to their Force-sensitivity and the cells feed off that and grow stronger. I'm just guessing here, but it's obvious to me that there is more to being Force-sensitive than just having a certain midicholorian count.

[@hueypautonoman]

I think it was probably a small group of people throwing fits over it. They're just the loudest.

[@jaceyking5015]

Midichlorians always made sense to me. I figured it just helped to explain why there were so few Jedi, everyone has the Force within them, but not everyone can tap into it. But with the help of the Midichlorian "transmitters" the Jedi were able to use the force. The Jedi were just in limited numbers because the necessary amount of midichlorians was uncommon. It also helped explain why "the force was strong" in the Skywalker family, making it kind of a genetic thing.

[@whythatspreposterous]

On the idea of enhancing the genetic aspect... If this is so, then would it not have made sense for the Jedi to start 'families' amongst themselves?

[@skyrimguy217]

@whythatspreposterous the concil would never allow that, it would be risky to create so many connections that could lead to the darkside.

[@whythatspreposterous]

@@skyrimguy217 Surely depends on how it was done. It could be like a sperm donor thing. Surely easier than going out and trying to 'recruit' younglings.

[@dawoifee]

@@whythatspreposterous Even with Donations Emotions might be involved with the Kids comming from it. Some even might abuse it to get more of their own offsprings into the order and make it a dynastical thing. There are plenty of RL examples of spiritual or military orders wich tryied to avoid dynasties in themselves and often got ruined this way. Like the Teutonic Order secularized and became an inhereted Title. The ottoman Janissary were not allowed to have Family and kids but later in their time did and got their bastard children into the organisation. This reduced effectiveness and increased corruption a quite a bit. And don't forget the Borgias in the Papacy.

[@Ower8x]

@@skyrimguy217 In the expanded universe - for example SW:TOR mmo there are jedi families but the council keeps a close eye on the interactions to monitor for attachments ... and in the clone wars lore not sure if its EU or cannon one of the councilors was allowed to have a family for reasons.

[@jackreacher4488]

My head canon was that midiclorians were never part of what gave a Force user their powers, but harmless microorganisms that were attracted to them. The more you had, the more attractive you were to them, meaning more powerful.

[@bobjohnson1633]

Well, that would make sense, but they decided to make them the only reason you could control the force. It's fully injectable.

[@kamron_thurmond]

That's how I always took it.

[@MrOpacor]

Same here. And it does not even contradict George's explanation.

[@TheGippner]

That's how I understood it, too. I was also 9 when Episode 1 came out. I was stoked. I saw Star Wars when I was 4 and was always a fan. Now that I have multiple science and mathematics degrees, the science fiction behind this concept isn't so science fiction anymore. It's essentially where we're at in quantum physics.

[@Camelotsmoon]

I like that head cannon better tbh, that makes them just a footnote. I don't like how George used them because it creates a physical cap on how powerful someone is. It's like "Yeah, he's just better because he was born with more midichlorians... What can I do, I'll just never match him.". Just kinda lame.

[@originaldarkwater]

This was always my understanding of midichlorians, as well, but I gained that understanding from reading interviews at the time and, as you said, I wish that Lucas had had Anakin ask Qui-Gon what they were so that they could have been explained enough that fans hadn't misunderstood. It's kind of like becoming a marathon runner. Just about anyone can train to do it, but the people who are going to win the Olympics and set world records are going to be the ones with a long, lean build. But having that build doesn't automatically mean you are going to win marathons, it just means you are in a better position to train for it than someone who doesn't. After seeing the sequels, it's pretty clear to me that anyone in charge at Lucasfilm also misunderstood midichlorians and that's why they thought that's all Rey needed to suddenly wield the Force.

[@RyuuTenno]

one of my friends and i talked about it for quite a while (off and on over the years) and we came to the conclusion that it was basically a "focus" for the force. Much like in the Harry Potter world, everyone who has magic can use it, but they're often using wands, as a way to guide/control the magic more easily, but it doesn't stop people from doing it wandlessly. And I figured a similar thing was the case here.

[@cortjezter]

So many people seem to write George off as one of those looney pop/sci-fi movie directors, but even a moment's glance beneath that public facade, he is incredibly intellectual about storytelling and filmmaking in ways very few others can demonstrate.

[@ChristophBrinkmann]

Maybe that's because he clearly needed someone to rein in his dumber ideas and clearly didn't have such a person.

[@mike197714]

I’m working on FFG Star Wars AoR,F&D and EOTE TTRPG. I’m doing some “home brewing of the rules”. Makes the game lot funnier. So I’m getting some good ideas.

[@ardendragoon]

​@@ChristophBrinkmannhe was bad at dialog.

[@lordnul1708]

​@@ChristophBrinkmannhe's openly admitted that he's bad at writing dialogue. The OT had older actors that were more willing to improvise or adapt a given line so it felt more natural, while in the Prequels he had younger actors with a much more "to the letter" mentality.

[@TheL4W]

@@lordnul1708 I think the biggest problem of the prequel trilogy was that he was surrounded by too many "Yes" sayers instead of having people around that would discuss his ideas. You CAN hire writers if you are bad at writing dialogue, but when everybody tells you that you are the best, you might not see the need to do so.

[@shovical]

wow this explanation actually makes a ton of sense. it’s basically how i thought they worked, but the clarification did help a lot.

[@StarWarsTheory]

❤

[@christopherknorr2895]

Midichlorians are essentially just the mechanic by which the force is hereditary or species-dependant. They don't explain where the force comes from, what it wants, why it exists, or any of the other big mysterious questions. People who thought that midichlorians ruined the force are too mechanistic/materialistic and weren't seeing the big picture. But you're right that it could have been explained a little better in the films

[@user-jt6rh8xy6n]

The Bigger picture being?

[@christopherknorr2895]

@@user-jt6rh8xy6n The remaining mystery

[@anthonygarcia8749]

George was always going to intend to expand on it further in the same way the force was expanded on esb via Yoda. But of course you have people moronically losing their minds. It's also literally because of the nonsensical npc audience mentality of "it "complicates" something I think I already know and am familiar with, therefore bAd" so he didn't do it smh. But even then, it still makes sense in the films, I think people just get confused when George explains it in the context of cells in tandem with the force and whatnot.

[@anthonygarcia8749]

It's not species dependant, that's irrelevant because other and any species also have the potential to be jedi as well in sw universe.

[@anthonygarcia8749]

People also make the mistake that the biological and technical components are different and separable from the spiritual and philosophical. They're not, they're intertwined in oriental and buddhist practices/philosophies which Lucas' fictional cosmology is based upon.

[@OzmaLogical]

This sounds exactly how I always understood midi-chlorians...and it still feels like it strips the mystery away from the Force. TPM made it so you can test "Force-positive" and turned something magical into something clinical.

[@ComeAlongKay]

Yeah I kind of like that idea of it being this actual thing. Also science vs magic can merge it can be both in a way. I don’t feel like it needs to be one or the other and that magic can also become so vague and mystical and whimsical it starts to have no effect. I feel like Harry Potter does that just tons of whimsy and mystery and it nearly feels like oh wave a wand it’s fixed or whatever vs having this practical level of stuff you can glom on to.

[@BrSS1]

I was 7 years old when TPM was released and I immediately understood that this is what midichlorians were. Not in such a detailed way, but that the amount you would have had an impact on how strong you could be with the force. Think it was very clear and that it makes sense. Never understood the “hate” about them.

[@BookofGates]

Anakin Skywalker and Ulic Qel Droma was the origional story, Anakin Skywalker spoke to his spirit of Rhen Var during the Clone Wars and warned him about the lure of the dark side. Maybe Sidious was busy manipulating his own midichlorians which is partly they never sensed him. When he absorbed his own dark energy it actually effected his own midichlorians and his connection to the darkside, making Sidious immensely more powerful at his peak and the novel explains in detail.

[@tomch6799]

I always saw it as the science point of view of the force. Like we say science is modern day magic. We have the mysticism of the force and how it binds everything together but we also have a scientific angle that might explain how that works out. To me it never took away anything from the OT

[@doomsdayrabbit4398]

It all depends on your point of view. For those of us who only first saw the OT as kids in VHS and were at George's target age for the release of the prequels, it wasn't something in conflict. For the cynical Gen Xers who were that age for the OT, their first thought was that we should see Anakin chopping off heads left and right from the word go, despite the fact that it was repeatedly stated in the OT that Anakin was a good person up until he was seduced by the Dark Side. They abandoned their inner children when their shitty boomer parents kept calling them losers and abandoned them to raise themselves as latchkey kids while they gambled on the stock market and voted to lower their taxes.

[@galacticfirefly6060]

There could be a Living Force in our real world universe, but we scientifically call it Dark Matter for Instance. WHile the Force doesn't neccessarily keep the Galaxy stable or in check, it simply keeps life in check. so maybe Dark Matter is a bad example for this.

[@doomsdayrabbit4398]

@@galacticfirefly6060 Nah, dark matter is just a bunch of WIMPs, the dead pixels of the universe.

[@galacticfirefly6060]

@@doomsdayrabbit4398 Oh okay

[@raydrexler5868]

But why try to “science” Star Wars? It’s fantasy. He never tried to explain any other magical aspects of the story and it was fine. We all just accepted things like light sabers(so hot that they can burn through steel but not the hand that holds them, able to block light with light, etc) , noise in space, going outside on an asteroid without freezing, turning an x-wing like an airplane, blowing up a planet without blowing themselves up (I guess they didn’t have Issac Newton) and a bunch of other stuff other than the force and the powers that it gives

[@gonhunter3994]

It ALWAYS made sense. They always were just receptors of the Force

[@MrCollinHH]

Yeah Ive never understood what the confusion was. It's very clearly explained, but people used to love to shit on the prequels so they didn't ever pay attention to the explanation.

[@gaget5455]

@@MrCollinHHthey never payed attention because they didn’t care about the lore or the story. They just wanted a remake of the OT in order to feel nostalgic. It’s obvious, but they’re in denial.

[@boyzinthewood1]

Totally agree 👍

[@Karl-88]

100%

[@oEXTRA]

Yup was just going to comment this. Even as a kid in high school I understood that George essentially meant something like this. Also maybe it was easier for me to accept because nostalgia didn't rule my thoughts back then, and the idea of power levels wasn't new since Dragonball Z was a thing then lol.

[@taylornicty1170]

I like the idea of the Sith trying to give them selfs artificial midichlorians but artificial midichlorians not being as strong as natural ones

[@christopherneufelt8971]

Both Sith and Jedi have the same midichlorians but different worldviews. However, the bankers in your neighborhood have this idea and they called it Transhumanism. They are intend to use nanoparticles to trigger the mitochondrians to have access to muscle as well as increased neurotransmitance. It is of course for your own good (TM).

[@AaronMinerRunicfire]

@@christopherneufelt8971, you really need to lay off on the Parasite Eve, man. Literally none of what you said makes any sense.

[@TheBeastCH]

Would mean they just pump in more and more and more, until they physically can't fit in any more.

[@aheadofthecurve2352]

@@christopherneufelt8971 Lol, what do you think happened to Steve Rogers? They injected him with gold nanoparticles which "surrounded his cells with a system of healing and regeneration" then blasted him with vita rays in a hyperbolic chamber as explained when Steve was attempting to get drunk in The First Avenger. Sounds like the bankers are looking to enhance you (with your permission) and the masses refuse? Seems like you ought to be saying thank you.

[@tomhossain2099]

@@christopherneufelt8971that’s not tranhumanism, it’s just tech bro nonsense. Transhumanism is bionics, your grandmas hip replacement, gene therapy for genetic blindness, that sort of thing. Not something you must do, but something you can do if you want. Tech bros are just stupid.

[@rosaflores6020]

First time i heard about mitochondria as a teenager the starwars episodes i watched as a kid just clicked in.. it's deep and explains power so even kids can grasp it. This is the reason i loved everything about SW

[@paulelverstone8677]

I've always liked the idea of the midichlorians and how you developed or symbiosed with them. I think of Chirrut Imwe particularly from Rogue One. Here was a person, with no formal training and yet was somehow connected to the force, albeit out of blind faith more than anything. But because he was blind (and they often say that your other senses are heightened when you lose one of them) he had developed his own small pathway into his midichlorians, that gave him some benefit. All IMHO, of course...

[@PlagueOfGripes]

Also important to note that people have tried to inject them into themselves and it just doesn't work. It's not so much the more you have the stronger you are; it's the more you have the more it indicates your connection. Also important to point out that in legends, and in canon to some degree, if someone is cloned while they're still alive, both experience a kind of madness because it's as though they're trying to be two people at once. There's obviously some important force related connection to individuals that's relative to their body, yet when you try to move pieces of them into other people, the force's tether on them never stops being linked to the mind of the donor. It's like the force sees your biology like a name tag, or a deed where it builds its midochlorians. I guess that's the will of the force in action. It's not going to be fooled by what you're doing. Otherwise Tenebrous and Plagueis wouldn't have been fooling with maxichlorians.

[@bobjohnson1633]

Well, that's all nonsense. You would be able to inject them and breed and engineer organisms just to give you midichlodian boosters. Incidentally, the plot requires that you can't because it's a stupid idea.

[@Ahglock]

Which is also how the 1e/2e D&D clone spell worked.

[@403punk3]

I was 14 when Episode 1 came out and I personally loved the idea. It gave Star Wars (to me) even more depth and mystery

[@frankiewestmoreland2965]

Thank you so much for making this - I really get it now. Your solar panel analogy was how I needed to hear it. It’s like having talent to sing, or physical aptitude to be a basket player - those things help, but they require further refinement through training to become a professional singer, basketball player, or a Jedi. Thank you Star Wars Theory!!

[@TheRealMonkeyrogue]

I always felt things like Han's Gambler's Luck and Bigg's ability to just keep coming back as force-directed. They have a solid connection to the force, whether they see it that way or not, but they lack enough to be "Force Sensitive". I just never liked "explaining" the unexplainable. It bugs me when they remove the mystery of The Force.

[@kilochampion787]

I always say midichlorians as just a scientific description on the force. Still believed to be a spiritual entity, but with scientific explanation for better understanding.

[@ariesstorm9577]

Pretty much how we use scientific methods to prove the existence of spirits or the supernatural in the real world. Neither is trying to disprove the other, but work in conjunction with one another so that we can better understand it. The original trilogy introduced the mythological and spiritual side of the Force, while the prequels expanded upon the Force by introducing a more grounded and scientific approach to the Force.

[@kilochampion787]

@@ariesstorm9577 exactly

[@yourfeedYT]

So sad that George built all of this interesting lore just for Disney to ignore everything…

[@LukiKruki]

midichlorians are mentioned 2 times in The Mandalorian in relations to genetics, so it's kept the same.

[@adrianb714]

The only reason they ignored it cause of the butthurt OT fans

[@k--music]

They didn’t ignore midichlorians

[@xSoulhunterDKx]

@@adrianb714 They didnt though. It was mentioned already in Mandalorian as M-count to keep it a bit more simple, but it is there

[@adrianb714]

@@xSoulhunterDKx doesn't make it no better

[@lowkeylunatic]

I understood it the very first time while watching EP.1 in the theatre. I immediately thought of mitochondria after he mentioned midichlorians. Never had a problem with the explanation and was confused by the fan backlash against it.

[@iwannaseenow1]

As a biology major, I approve of this explanation, lol. It's sooo much better than what I thought. I thought they were actual sentient microorganisms.

[@miketaylor00]

I'm not a biology major and I knew the connection he was making by bastardizing the word mitochondria. Lucas does that all the time with words. I thought it was a little on the nose actually. If a biology major didn't make the connection I guess I understand why average people didn't. I didn't think I was special or smart for making the connection. It seemed so obvious that I thought everyone who went through high school biology class would realize what he was saying.

[@Sandlund93]

I guess you really suck at metaphors then. They weren't literally speaking when they were "telling" the will of the Force.

[@jingles009]

Very few actually was "confused" about them. Most was upset because it took the mystery out of the force. We tend to forget we're only a guest in this Galaxy so anything happens, doesn't matter if we like it or not, it simply is.

[@TheTrueMorse64]

The last time I was this early Anakin was a Jedi Master… oh wait!

[@joshuagorski9452]

🔥🔥🔥 Burn 🔥 🔥🔥 😂😂😂 LOL 😂😂😂

[@rabies5179]

Cancer

[@SirStanleytheStumbler]

"How can they do this?" "It's unfair"

[@wperfect]

Outrageous

[@SirStanleytheStumbler]

@ToiletMan360 "it's unheard of in the history of the Jedi"

[@Azure-Star]

I do prefer Midi-Chlorians existing, yes. It explains talent over hard work very well.

[@bobjohnson1633]

No, it doesn't have anything to do with talent. Being tall isn't a talent. Having a skin color isn't a talent.

[@Azure-Star]

@@bobjohnson1633 I'm saying that having more Midi-Chlorians is a birthright advantage which gives you access to more raw talent than someone with less. Anakin and Obi-Wan are perfect examples of this. Anakin didn't need to work nearly as hard to get to where he was, but Obi-Wan had to work extremely hard to even come close to Anakin. And yet, his experience won out multiple times. Like Rex said.

[@LogicBlaster]

Awesome video, Theory! I always enjoy it when you talk about George Lucas and his vision for Star Wars, and the fact that he specifically mentioned how certain episodes of Clone Wars are connected to the overall story. Fascinating stuff!

[@Stickfigure414]

This explanation helps so much! NOW I can actually appreciate midichlorians. Thanks for making this video!

[@leoshade9497]

Wow, this confirms my thoughts on midichlorians. I've always thought of them as a kind of conduit between the living being and the force. I really need to get these books.

[@Schied]

This is exactly how I always envisioned them to work/function within the Star Wars universe based on the brief discussion from Episode 1. I always thought it rather strange that people in the community were so up in arms over this lol. I'm glad that those who were confused or had the wrong idea about this can watch your video come to better understand!

[@quietspark8703]

This is what I assumed when I first saw Episode I and was always confused why people didn't like what clearly made sense the entire time. Midiclorians are the powerhouse of the force.

[@TheSamazoid]

Midochlorians for me have always been this thing in my mind where I can perfectly perceive their meaning in context but fail to describe its definition.

[@thedarkknight9805]

I'm really marveling at the thought of watto learning to use the force Rocky style, under master Yoda at the Jedi Temple, and he finally moves a cleanex!😂 "Eyy I did it"

[@mysteryneophyte]

This has always been my understanding, and how I have more or less explained it to others who misunderstood the concept. I don’t think I’ve ever come across any other video on the topic, so I thank you’ve really accomplished something By making this , it was really needed. Good job I say.

[@SecretsHIS]

100% love the addition of midichlorians in SW. Adding this small detail adds broad layers of detail that do wonders for world building. (Imo the biggest strength of theprequels).

[@bobjohnson1633]

It's genetic force that you can get from blood transfusions. It's stupid.

[@gabm999]

Was VERY cringe hearing the lame minded star wars nerds harshly criticize this idea, most of all. Sci Fi addicts with no imagination, no high abstract thought,

[@TheBlackRose3]

I was also indifferent to them, and I always interpreted having a lot of them as a side effect of being force sensitive, rather than being the cause of force sensitivity.

[@ninjaishproductions2.053]

The main complaint I always saw was that midiclorians supposedly made it so that only certain people can be jedi which took the magic away. But to me it always had to be something like that. Otherwise, it makes no sense that obi wan and Yoda had to put all their hope into Luke and Leia. If anyone could be a jedi, just train some random people to be jedi rather than wait 20 years for these particular people to grow up.

[@numbernumber25]

That was their complaint, well that is interesting. I mean considering that most of the quotes referring to the Force are either talking about how it is everywhere and within people or the farewell "May the Force be with you". I mean beyond that many of the younglings that became Jedis were just common toddlers that had the ability to sense the Force, those toddlers then being taken to the Jedi temples to be trained. My analogy was that the force was water and the midichlorians were sponges. The more sponges you had, the more grasp on the force you could manage. Some people have a lot of sponges and some people have few, but even some people with less sponges were able to connect with the force.

[@whythatspreposterous]

​@@numbernumber25Sounds like you're both in agreement to me

[@pong9000]

For sake of story, best if anybody can use the force, but not everybody!

[@5crufft3ch95]

I never fully understood the concept until now, but I never had much of an issue with it. Then again I only saw the OT just before the PT came out so I guess a bit of a different outlook like yours Theory. I will say I do love the explanation though. Gives a hint of our own reality to help make understanding everything easier and it makes perfect sense too!

[@PushingThroughThePain]

My dad was an OG Star Wars fan from the first time it was in theaters. He told me about the midi-chlorians YEARS before Ep1 came out because he went into the lore and knew a bunch of the backstory stuff! So I was super excited when Qui-Gon tested Anakin's blood for them and mentioned how high they were. I totally knew what he was talking about! I felt like I was a super fan that I knew about it already before it had been mentioned on screen...i couldn't understand why do many fans were upset later since that info had been available for so long.

[@shabnamrafique7730]

Why test Anakin's blood for a midi-chlorian count if they can be found throughout the sentient being which was Anakin Skywalker? the introduction of midi-chlorians into Star Wars lore would also bring into question the way Anakin Sywalker came into existance.

[@SpiritProf]

I’ve always interpreted midichlorians as a special kind of mitochondria, it’s so funny he used that word. To me they’re not a receptor in the mitochondria per se, but rather a unique organelle that creates force energy instead of ATP, and its cellular concentration varies from person to person based on genetics. I really liked the bits about the cosmic force, how qui-gon learned from the whills and the chain it passed down. Solid content all around - well done! 👏

[@24Raby]

This is exactly what he would have explained in his sequel trilogy just sadly we never got it, the fact we will never see that side of Star Wars unless Dave incorporates it into his movie is sad

[@maximillian875]

I actually like the idea of Qui-Gonn appearing as a Force Ghost. He could’ve gone back and finished his training. No sources said he COULDN’T go back.

[@johnkeenan5383]

He was a master just didn't take a seat on the council he had a padawan before Obi-wan

[@Chuck_EL]

The comic about Luke's time in between Ep 5 and 6 shows Qui-Gon did finish his training

[@palpaladin315]

Always made sense to me. - I think ppl not read up on basic biology, simply followed 10yo Anakin's cues in the film.. I remember at the time, this being a fairly big topic among the staff. So I took an interest when one of them blurted out that it sounded absurd; so I suggested that, it sounded like George Lucas was leaning on the idea of mitochondria. - Which I went onto explain are organisms that exist within our cells, and are responsible for converting nutrients into energy required for cell reproduction. Furthermore, I went on. That, an idea has developed in modernity, which ones body is little more than a disposable vehicle for a temporary existence. Couldn't be more counter-intuitive from all our hereditary ideas about life, born of our most ancient myths. - the basic function of religion, is to instruct one on the fundamental pursuit of personal well being. Y'know 'Body, Mind & Soul', aka "cosmology". Further along, we developed other key concepts, such as meditation, conceptually 'comuning with ones self'; and Chi energy, conceptually 'managing our own energy levels'. Which itself inspired legends. - When we face sheer, insurmountable adversity, we can throw ourselves bravely at it, or ask ourselves for true courage. When we're feeling depleted, ask ourselves for a little more energy. - Nothing in our various religions states one should asking 'God'; it states we should be "looking within".. This is often described as the feeling of euphoria among Christians. A brief moment of clarity, being integral, and completely free. - Now, understand that religion is transformative; one transforms into the next. Its not constructed, but rather 'instructed' by our growing consciousness. But the question still remains: Where did these ideas come from? By all records, they are over 5 millennia old already; and we didn't identify 'mitochondria', until the mid 1800's.. curious, isn't it? Another fact; since TPM, roughly 15yrs later - biologists suddenly decided developing a counter for mitochondrial DNA was worth pursuing. Previously, it was considered too infintesmal to be a priority. - Whats changed? I think therefore, George Lucas' Sequels would probably have leaned on the 'human condition', aka "a continuous state of awakening". Which is probably why Disney didn't want it. They are invested in this contrivance called 'woke'. Which has nothing to do with the human condition, but rather attempting to control 'people'.

[@jasonfarrell00]

I LOVED midichlorians…as a kid I thought them as a type of conduit that guides the channel of the force into beings. If you have more you have a higher potential to being force receptive and building on that is easier and stronger for you…otherwise it’s just more difficult to connect to the force. Love the explanation. This really helped expand the lore of the universe to me, and brought a new color to it

[@snorom11aru23]

The idea of Midichlorians is really fleshed out in the novel Dark Plagueis. It's not as dumb is it seemed in Episode I.

[@warmonkey1272]

HA, I've been right all these years!!! I've always seen the force as more spiritual like George does so it was easy for me to see what he meant by them. I've always been saddened others couldn't see this too or understand when I tried to explain it. I would try to use a radio wave signal needing a physical radio device with speakers broadcasting the sound as an analogy for midi-chlorians. So it's like there is a sound wave and depending on how powerful the radio is for picking up the signal the sound quality and power will be either more or less.

[@joelheath2746]

I never had a problem with midi-chlorians, I even liked Jar Jar because of how important he was to the story and the rise of the empire.

[@mattdavis7368]

An unusual stance but I agree. Binks never bothered me at all and I never understood how he attracted so much hate. Where Lucas went wrong was in making Anakin a child, which meant that "younglings" had to be a thing, which in turn makes the Jedi seem like a kidnapping cult of weirdos. Qui and Obi should have discovered Annakin as a teenager already using the force, untrained, in the wild. This would fix the timeline somewhat, make his relationship with Padme less creepy and probably eliminate the need for midichlorians to be mentioned at all.

[@Ahglock]

@@mattdavis7368 Agree with all of this, and also in general little kids are worse actors than teens. It also fixes Padme and her being an elected queen at 14 which was so damn dumb. Hereditary queen at 14 sure, elected come on. And having a 14 year old lead troops with a gun, WTF.

[@ChuckCanada1]

This is cool. I am glad Master Lucas came out with this explanation. It makes more sense than just thinking of Midichlorians as just some type of cell. Thanks for the upload.

[@sambrero3]

I never found midichlorians confusing and I honestly always liked them because it explained how some people were force sensitive compared to other people.

[@TheXman779]

1:09 He said episode 9. He probably meant episode 1 lol.

[@tsunderemerc2963]

As the comments say, medichlorians always made sense to me as a medium between the Force and yourself. It always confused me why people were upset when Ben Kenobi in episode IV already said that the Force was created by all living things

[@keoshemusic3306]

Yoda describes it differently in Episode 5 with a more "universal" approach. Saying to luke, something to the effect of: the force connects all things, from luke himself, to the rocks on the ground, to his x-wing burried in the swamp.

[@bobjohnson1633]

Because it means your ability to use the force is connected entirely to them being in your blood. That removes talent or skill completely from using the force. It makes it entirely genetic, like being tall. It also means that you could just transplant them

[@jakewheeler6014]

@@bobjohnson1633 Clearly you don't understand.

[@Chuck_EL]

I'm also spiritually attuned, and I was able to play the drums with no training, write poetry and draw without training But I had to train to excel at them

[@anderssn]

Think of the force like a soul or consciousness, while the midichlorians as the nervous system that allows the force to function through the galaxy. I think the "microscopic life-forms" terminology is what caused some issues for a lot of fans, because it implies they're parasitic life-forms controlling things.

[@BatFan1]

The way Yoda explained the force in Empire made it seem more magical, supernatural. The explanation in EP1 gave it the scientific reason why one is connected to the force. Both a valid. Even though Yoda made it seem like anyone could use the force it is still held as some higher spiritual level one has to reach to in order to control it which only a select few can reach. While the explanation from QGJ makes it seem everyone has the potential to control the force if their midichlorian count is high enough the force can be controlled to different degrees ie low midi count you can elevate pebbles, while a higher count you can elevate boulders.

[@darthnito6336]

I really think that can be a great season 2 for Obi-Wan, him doing the trials of these priestesses maybe they can explain also how qui-gon finished his training

[@RensStoryteller]

I've always loved the idea of Midichlorians, it always tickled my ADHD in just the right "Understand the building blocks of lore" kind of way.

[@Brickzie]

It's always puzzled me on why people were not grasping the idea. Even as a young teen when Episode 1 came out, I understood the entire concept. An easy way to put it is the better you look, the easier it is for you to bend the universe to your will and do things in your favor. The more midichlorians you have, the easier it is to make things happen for you. That's alllllll

[@duskears8686]

The problem with Midichlorians has always been that they tied one's ability to use 'The Force' to a hard - unsurpassable - physical limit rather than empathy and spiritual development. Midichlorians basically turned The Force into a dime store super power and no amount of 'explanation' can fix that.

[@FiddleSticks800]

Amen, you have perfectly summed up my qualms with their introduction in later films.

[@c3bhm]

It's so sad and creepy that so many 'fans' don't seem to understand this. It's extremely simple and obvious, and it makes all the difference in the world. The entire Star Wars universe, as precious 'sacred mythos' for modern society, gets derailed by this perversion. The Force, for young modern audiences, is a substitute for humanity's old-school religiosity (with all of its dogma and rigidity). It's a fun, clean, cool version of spirituality for audiences to allegorically embrace. And as such it must be universally approachable by everyone, without bias or privilege...like the ultimate 'equity' for access and development. But the moronic midichlorian stuff just fetishizes and trivializes something that was otherwise elegant and beautiful.

[@mythicdawn9574]

@@c3bhm The Force was never approachable by everyone, without bias or privilege. Before the Prequels even existed, it was already an elitist thing. Only a very small number of people were Force sensitive, some of them had to work hard to develop their potential while others (like Luke) had very little difficulty with it. It's also clear in the OT that Luke has potential because he is Darth Vader's son, and it's hinted at that Leia also has potential despite never showing any kind of affinity with the Force, for the same reason. The exact reason could be good genes transmitted from father to son, or something more mystical like the Force wanting Vader's son to be just as strong as his father because only his son could bring Vader back to the Light. In any case, the Force always has been about fate and was never granted to anyone (beyond the very very basics, like anyone who tries the simplest Force trick for 40 years would eventually succeed...) As for the midichlorians, not a lot is said about them. People with high potential have a lot of them, and they serve as canals between an individual and the Force. But the way you get them is not so clear. George Lucas mentions "genetics", which goes well with how Luke and even Leia somehow are "strong with the Force". But it doesn't mean you get the exact amount your father had, you could get more, you could get less, it could skip a generation, etc. And it doesn't mean you could "manipulate" the Force into creating superhumans either by breeding or cultivating more midichlorians. Since the Force is described as having its own will even in the Prequels, to me it sounds more like the Force kinda decides how many midichlorians you get and so how sensitive you are (remember, was already a thing before midichlorians existed in lore), so the midichlorians would be the "symptoms" (consequence) that you were blessed by the Force, instead of being the cause. It's not even said if midichlorians are "normal" biological cells or something weirder half biological, half energy or whatever. We don't have an exact answer about this subject, but people arguing midichlorians mean that the Force is no longer a mystery but just a biological thing 1) didn't listen to George Lucas in this video because the Force is still very much described as something well above biology and midichlorians are just a conduct, and 2) clearly lack imagination because there is nothing in the concept that contradicts previous lore on the Force and so little information about them that the Force is still just as mysterious in the way it works as before.

[@FiddleSticks800]

​@@mythicdawn9574, by your description, nature vs nurture etc., then why even have the midichlorian. It doesn't help explain anything while adding an extra layer of complexity. As a literary tool all they do is pigeonhole the story. Think of how they were introduced, as a bioassay which could definitively identify those who are force -capable and those who aren't. Quaigon gin could do that on his own anyway. "the fore is strong with this one" is all he would have had to say to replace that midiclorian assay scene. This fact, really pigeon holes the story telling while simultaneously creating bizarre plot holes. What I mean is, why isn't midichlorian screening much more prevalent throughout the entire Star Wars universe? If you want to know if you are dealing with a jedi, scan them. If you want to stop a force capable person from boarding your ship, scan them. Luke entering Jaba the Hutt's lair, scan him. Want to get rid of all the Jedi, scan everyone at every turn. The fact that the midoclorian scanners never showed up after they were introduced in episode I -3 shows you that the writers realized pretty quickly that it was a bad idea, introducing nothing useful while tying their hands. Midiclorians are an interesting Sci-fi concept but useless for storytelling. Star wars is much more fantasy than sci-fi anyway.

[@NieroshaiTheSable]

Everything mystical has a mundane explanation.

[@itsheresy]

This is SUCH a better explanation. You're right, if this had been laid out in the film then I'd say the majority of people would be cool with it. In the film it sounds like the Medichlorians produce the force, like a bacteria that gives off that energy... it cheapened the Force. But as Lucas says, the Force is essentially God, and not produced by any mundane substance. Medichlorians being a measurable receptor in beings, the same way the human body has all sorts of different receptors, is a great concept that works in explaining how some are more Force capable than others, without cheapening the Force in general..

[@dornfist3913]

Thanks for this video SWT! This definitely makes the midichlorian thing make so much more sense!

[@robbiewatson3525]

I always suspected the relation between the words. Makes so much sense. As a matter of fact, George unknowingly explained dark matter years before we knew about it. I love how George Lucas Starwars exemplifies possible extraterrestrial galaxies.

[@QuincyLeJeune]

I actually really like this. I was never as bothered by the idea of midichlorians as most people seemingly were. I figured there had to be a biological component to it for the Jedi or anyone else to sense the Force at all. Hearing this now, it def. clarifies what Lucas' original intention was; I just wish he'd found a way to incorporate this explanation naturally into the prequel movies. (also the idea of "Personal vs Cosmic Force" is something I never considered, but again makes so much sense) (someone send this to the Red Letter Media guys - not that they'll acknowledge it or care very much anyways😏)

[@vukkulvar9769]

And The Force being accross multiple species meant it was very ancient and not tied to the evolution of a specie in particular.

[@eandvwigle7510]

Personally I think midichlorians are a good thing. They bring a little reality to an otherwise fictional world and give us a way to make sense of it all.

[@rolandswift4311]

I think that's actually the biggest problem with them. I wish I could remember who made it or what it was called, but I remember a video on world building where a major point was the dangers of demystifying your worlds mysticism. When you take the spiritualism and magic system of a world and go too in depth into explaining it; it can end up draining the wonder out of it. The problem was that they introduced a means by which a person's force sensitivity could be reliably detected, analyzed, and quantified. The idea of putting a hard number made it feel less lively and fun, like going from exploring caves to look for hidden treasure to finding a document in an office full of cubicles and filling cabinets.

[@5idi]

​@@rolandswift4311It never felt this way to me. These aren't "hard numbers." Genetic predisposition isn't really indicative of a person't eventual skill, but it makes sense the Jedi set some minimum at which a trainee's chances are realistic, and that they pay attention to those with higher counts because there's a good chance for... accidents. You'll see this filtering about anywhere you look, from education to special forces to musical schools to wherever, based on physical or mental parameters to gyms, but there are countless examples of people who've succeeded or failed despite that.

[@futurestoryteller]

George just going "racism is bad; but eugenics is awesome!"

[@scottbraun2457]

-8:39:...I always thought that it was a very practical and direct way to explain the things, and the reason that some are more FORCE..ENABLED.. than others and some just aren't at all..and why a certain kind of lizard..could totally block it out, and that lizard's opposite, could actually actively use it to track and hunt prey. I also thought..and still do..that it was a really cool idea. Having a medically physical explanation and basic yet complex system gives even more believability.

[@Mike__S]

I liked the explanation the Auralnoughts gave 😅 Anakin-"what are midichlorians?" Qui-gon-"it's heroin"

[@jamesfraley2715]

Lucas has a history of reinventing his own narratives. I'm not sure he thought midichlorians through in Episode 1, but later, when criticized, comes up with a better theory.

[@ZorroDeChicago]

He made it up later when inquiring nerds wanted to know.

[@mnomadvfx]

Reinventing..... more like taking the best stuff his fans come up with and selling it as his own. Basically 99% of his work is just taking scraps and shots from better creators and rebranding it.

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

Maybe, but he did always plan for the force having a biological & genetic component, not for the force itself but for whether or not someone was strong in the force. It was pretty clearly laid out in the OT that you needed to be born with "force sensitive genetics", if you will. He just never went into detail as to what those genetics are or what they do until he started the prequels.

[@williammata5948]

Man you forget sometimes how well he writes and ties things together

[@builderphill1361]

I always thought it was similar to muscles, if someone is trained they can use their muscles to their full potential, if not they are rather weak. However, obviously you cant build more midichlorians but just an analogy that helped me understand

[@bryanmoore1293]

I always thought similar i always hoped it would be just like building muscle, obviously some people are born more gifted than others physically, but even the most gifted natural athlete can't bench more than someone who has been lifting weights for 10 years. I really wish they had ret-conned it so that as you train your midiclorian count could raise, maybe they multiply as your connection to the force grows stronger, just like how your muscle mass grows as you train. that way its not always just a chosen one who just got lucky and won the midiclorian lottery at birth. I think thats why i like the magic system in the stormlight archive so much as its not just another get lucky at birth system like star wars or the wheel of time. Don't get me wrong i love star wars and the force, i just wish they had tweaked the whole midiclorian thing a little. I like the idea that some people would be naturally stronger than others, but through intense training someone who was born weaker should be able to become more powerful even though they were born with the disadvantage. I mean thats kinda what we see with obi-wan, not counting the obi-wan series but in the old canon obi-wan was not considered very powerful in regards to his force abilities, but he trained harder than anyone else and so even though he started at a disadvantage he over came that through hard work and persistence. Which is part of why he toasted anakin in RoTS.

[@oEXTRA]

​@@bryanmoore1293I was ready to use obi wan as an example, then I finished reading your comment lol. The sad part is, I'm almost certain that George would've elaborated on and/or better fleshed out midichlorians with his sequel trilogy, but we all know how that went. Hopefully he'll get the chance to tell his full thoughts to someone and that person will actually carry his thoughts out.

[@lukeeinwechter2159]

I always felt the science behind the force was a sign of the era they were in. A sophisticated, high republic era. Why wouldn’t the mystical force have a molecular representation of itself. It made entire sense to me. But than again I listened in high school science class.

[@gluehoof573]

I'm so much happier with the whole midichlorian thing now, thanks. When I watched the movies in the cinema it always sounded to me like Anakin was just riddled with Space Herpes or something (but in a, that's good because it means he's caught The Force, kind of a way).

[@Somanous]

Every time George expalins something, it becomes deeper, more poetic and fleshed out. He really is the Creator.

[@thedefamationleague]

What do you mean "finally" and "NOW it makes sense"? Your title implies this is new information revealed by George Lucas. That is blatant clickbait. Come on Theory. You are better than that. Don't be a Mike Zeroh or a Stupendous Wave

[@sparking023]

I'm with you on that, I was introduced to Star Wars via the Prequels so the concept of midichlorians always made sense to me. it even clicked that they were analogous to mitochondria. But as I got into the Original Trilogy and more of the overall lore of SW, I started to view it as a more scientific, or empirical examination of the Jedi. You see, in the Prequels the Jedi were at their peak. There were many of them, compared to the OG, they had ann entire academy, a council, masters of the many forms of lightsaber combat, teachers to train Padawans into the ways of the Force. It stands to reason that they would devise a more formal and fundamental way to select which students to take into the temple. After the ascension of the Empire, the Jedi were almost completely purged, along with their knowledge. All that formal education and training was basically lost, safe for a few survivors who could pass it on. The Jedi became a thing of legends, and what was already not very known became mysterious and mythical. So the Force in the that period has a more mystical vibe to it, opposed to the more scientific approach of the Prequels. At least that's how I felt about the Force and Jedi in general

[@manostroulinos1726]

Thanks for the video, that was great. I never had a problem with the concept of Midichlorians from the point of view of "explaining away" the Force (as many complained). "Explaining" is fine for me. "Explaining away" is taking away all the good stuff including the mystery of what it is. So I see the concept of midichlorians doing the former rather than the latter, so all good with me. What I do have a problem with however, is the genetic determinism that this concept pushes to all Star Wars fans and indirectly to popular culture. If you have enough MDCHL you can become a Jedi. If not, tough luck. I would much prefer an explanation where, for example, all people can increase their MDCHL counts, or increase their MDCHLs effectiveness with tough, dedicated training. Rather than been born into it, like a Royal of the past - OK you still need training, but if you have it in your blood you have an inherent (and unfair) advantage over everybody else. So we could have great sub-plots with other "unknowns" in the same Universe who can become Jedi (although with great difficulty) and drive the world-building further. Same reason I liked it when in Episode VIII it seemed that Rey was a "nobody" that could still achieve greatness, and hated it when in Episode IX the story completely threw that away and suddenly she is Palpatine's grand-daughter. Why? It's really strange how a popular mythology that favours and promotes democracy and free will against authoritarianism and absolute thinking, uses this genetic determinism as a deus-ex-machina to save the world. Anyway that's my complaint, even though I grew up with Star Wars and I love it like crazy, I think our real world has suffered and still suffers a lot from absolutism and determinism and their consequences, and SW has lost a great chance to influence popular culture in a better, more positive way.

[@bricksbeersbeards9368]

mitochondria (chloroplast in plants) are thought to have derived from something like a bacteria, it was beneficial to the cell it was in, as they produced energy the cell could use, over time it evolved into the mitochondria we see in our cells; its an endosymbiotic example. In our cells, the number of mitochondria can change and their numbers can increase, with exercise for example, and as we age mitochondria function changes, and generally their numbers decrease. As a scientist, when I heard "midichlorians" I "got it" immediately. Nice post!

[@MoeTheMaker]

Always knew this as I'm a religious person and have always followed George's, Buddhist journey, star wars is extremely deep and I love it.

[@ohkaygoplay]

This makes so much more sense now! The solar panels analogy is perfect. I'd always thought they were like living things or bacteria, too.

[@da47934]

The concept is easy enough to understand, and I think it came through just fine in Episode I. The backlash is that something fantastical was being given a science-y explanation. Remember, Star Wars isn't science fiction; it's fantasy. Lucas was essentially making a soft magic system into a hard magic system, and audiences got whiplash. Imagine if halfway through Harry Potter, it is explained that wingardium leviosa operates because of gravitons or something. For many people, that takes some of the magic away from the magic. For others, they like "knowing" how the magic system works, as if it were a programming language that you can understand. There's something intriguing about that for them. I understand both perspectives. I think it depends on how you introduce it to your audience in the first place. It may be most effective to keep soft magic systems soft and hard magic systems hard. The reverse can be true: The Matrix is explained so rationally and scientifically/technologically, and then at the end (spoiler) Trinity's kiss operates with literal fairy tale magic. I accept it, but it's still jarring. (UPDATE: Just watched Star Wars Theory's Whills video, and it makes this same point.)

[@crowwick7652]

You definitely laid it out more clearly than episode 1. I remember being annoyed at the idea when I first saw it and had to kinda step back and think about it some.

[@christopherdhill2354]

Thank you so much for this video. I was beginning to think I was going to have to start my own channel to get this out there !! If you have a chance, lookup the Farseer Saga by Robin Hobb and give it a read. I find that there is a wonderful analogue to the Cosmic Force in the Skill, which is the magic in this series, including lots on how you can become lost in it and how you can retain your individuality after death that is really really insightful to understanding what Qui Gon had to have learned. In comparing the Skill with the Force, it also suggests how the force works and why it doesn’t in certain cases - Aliens that can’t be Mind Tricked for example. It’s a lot of books, but the story is great! Worth the read.

[@polarisauthorservices7270]

As a kid my earliest movie memory was a Jawa knocking out R2, so I also grew up in original trilogy territory and Joseph Campbell later in the 80s. When I first saw Episode 1 in the early 00s with friends, and heard the term midi-chlorians, the shock came less from the quality of explanation, but more from the genre-bending franchise hop. Just hearing the term "midi-chlorians" was like we had taken a hard right and skidded into Star Trek biology. It was the first time the space fantasy seemed to turn into hard sci-fi.

[@christopherchilton-smith6482]

I wasn't confused by this, I was confused by people's reaction to it. No one has ever articulated a coherent reason for disliking it to me outside of "it's stupid". The information you just went over matches my assumptions about it pretty closely.

[@FellSkyhawk]

First, i was 9 seeing episode 1 as well. It felt so cool to see Anakin as our age at the same time. Anyway, that's kinda how qui gon explained it, it made sense to me. I always thought it was so cool to know how the natural and supernatural connect, because somehow they have to connect, or the natural couldn't control or sense the supernatural.

[@IntangirVoluntaryist]

people didn't like midiclorians because it wasn't part of the extended starwars universe that was licensed for the books, so many stories already had others was of determining it, but those required someone who actually has the force. the timothy zahn trilogy was epic and it didn't have midiclorians

[@TheTruthIsGonnaHurt]

Midicholorians always made sense. It does nothing to diminish the magnitude or mystery of the Force. Everyone (all living things) has a personal connection to the Force, however some living creatures are more attuned to hearing it. However, with practice and training you can strengthen your personal connection. The Jedi Order only takes people at a certain level, but as we see people that are Force Sensitive are all over the place and exploring the Force in their own ways. -- I see no problem with any of this.

[@GarytongueBetz-vl1fu]

There is no.mystery of the force.

[@fadams32]

exactly how i perceived it even as a youth, obviously didn’t have the vocabulary or knowledge but it’s exactly what i thought he was going for and it’s honestly the main thing that drew me star wars. always thought of it as a combination of holy ghost and something that binds everything together similar to how the native americans viewed nature

[@pulsarstargrave256]

I think what happened with the O.T. STAR WARS almost since its creation was that some tried to reinterpret Lucas' story through the lens of their own religious tradition, instead of accepting that George was creating a new myth! Where his story seemed to "contradict" their preconceptions , some felt "betrayed", insisting that The Phantom Menace and Lucas had "ruined" Star Wars for them! Personally, I've seen this kind of thing many times before! One of my favorite movie moments involved a wealthy RODNEY DANGERFIELD character's hiring author KURT VONNEGUT to help him write a report about his own work! Dangerfield's character got a failing grade! The outraged professor said whoever he got to assist him with that paper obviously didn't know anything about Kurt Vonnegut!(?)

[@USSEnterpriseA1701]

I was even younger than SW Theory when I saw EP 1 and I knew that it was a concept based on mitochondria. Of course I grew up reading a lot (my mom worked at our local library), so I was far better informed than your average kid of that age (and apparently most adults it seems) with a particular interest in sciences. It also doesn't hurt that my suspicions were confirmed by a History channel special examining the inspirations behind the concepts and characters of Star Wars (back when the History channel was worth something), and they had exactly the same response from George himself on the concept of midichlorians as we got yet again in this interview. I've heard it stated before that George Lucas overestimated the intelligence of his audience, while Disney underestimated them instead. I do find some level of truth to it, though it looks like things are at least improved on the Disney front compared to several years ago. The shows at least have partially redeemed them.

[@senshidoKB]

I was 7 when Episode 4 was released, and having never heard of midichlorians before Episode 1 was released i never took to the idea but after hearing Mr Lucas's explanation its changed my mind on the concept

[@christopherwic236]

Absolutely Live this and have been looking for a video and breakdown for a Long time