Thread by @swankmotron

I like Midi-Chlorians and I think they make Star Wars more interesting and the Force more mysterious.

I think part of the problem some have with them is a perception issue. There were a lot of really loud voices who saw Phantom Menace once and didn't dig into the nuance and just assumed they were a replacement for the Force.

A criticism of Phantom Menace I still hear often is, "I hate how it explained the Force as something in your blood stream."

And that's like... Not how it is.

Who wants to dive a little deeper into Midi-chlorians with me?

First, as they're explained in Phantom Menace, and then deeper into the lore as The Clone Wars expanded and heightened them a lot...

Qui-Gon explained them very specifically. "Midi-chlorians are a microscopic life form that resides within all living cells."

"Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the Force. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you."

The Jedi have spent a thousand generations using this power. Hearing the will of the Force. They're curious in a world full of science. Why wouldn't they explore their abilities in that direction?

Science might have found them ANYWAY, because Midi-chlorians are, per Qui-Gon, found in ALL living cells. Every single living thing has midi-chlorians. Some just don't have a concentration high enough to hear them, but they're there.

But this is part of the downfall of the Jedi, too, right?

Qui-Gon tells Anakin "Feel, don't think" and this is advice he should have heeded on his own.

Midi-chlrorians are representative of some of the first steps the Jedi Order took that strayed their path.

First, they try to use science as a gauge, getting away from their spirituality. Then they decide that peace-keeping and soldiering can co-exist.

It was easy for Palpatine to manipulate, pushing further toward their destruction because they were already decaying from within.

But Anakin's Midi-chlorians are off the charts. I don't think Qui-Gon necessarily tests this to see if Anakin is fit to be a Jedi. I think the midi-chlorian test if for Qui-Gon to confirm his suspicions about the prophecy. (that's a different thread, though)

The next time we hear about it is Palpatine talking to Anakin about them at the end of the Clone Wars. Anakin knows he's different. Knows the Midi-chlorians created him in his mother's womb. Knows that he's destined for something more than the life of an average Jedi...

But we know more about them thanks to The Clone Wars.

Midi-chlorians began their journey on a mystical world called the Wellspring of Life. There they became a bridge between the Cosmic Force and the Living Force.

And this concept of Midi-chlorians wasn't new. Here's George Lucas in 1977: "It is said that certain creatures are born with a higher awareness of the Force than humans. Their brains are different; they have more midi-chlorians in their cells."

@bibbymoynihan Here's Qui-Gon talking to Yoda: "All energy from the Living Force, from all things that have ever lived, feeds into the Cosmic Force, binding everything and communicating to us through the midi-chlorians."

They're a gateway between aspects of the Force itself.

@bibbymoynihan The idea that you can't use the Force if you don't have a high enough Midi-chlorian count is a little wrong in my head, too.

Since Midi-chlorians are in ALL living things, the Force can work in ALL living things. Which is why you have people like Chirrut:

@bibbymoynihan He can't hear the Force enough to control it, but can surrender to it and allow it to control his actions.

I would argue these two do the same thing, but, like Han says, "I call it luck."

@bibbymoynihan The Force can act in anyone and anyone can surrender to the Force, regardless of their Midi-chlorian count. It's only that those with higher counts can gain higher mastery.

@bibbymoynihan Here's Dave Filoni explaining the concept in a really understandable way:

@bibbymoynihan [Let's use] Bruce Lee as an example. He has a lot of talent for martial arts–or a high midi-chlorian count. If I train in martial arts, can I learn martial arts? Yes, I can improve my midi-chlorian count in that discipline. Will I be as good as Bruce Lee? No, that’s not my talent

@bibbymoynihan Getting back to the idea that the Jedi had lost their way by focusing on this sort of thing, relying too much on Dogma, this is why you don't see Yoda testing Luke for Midi-Chlorians. It's why Luke only "senses" the raw power of Ben and Rey.

@bibbymoynihan Luke understood that the dogma of the Jedi order is what caused it to fail and needed to get away from that.

@bibbymoynihan It makes sense why he's not out dispensing blood tests. And why Yoda abandoned that, too.

Because the Midi-chlorian count doesn't matter. Only that they're there.

@bibbymoynihan This is also why I don't understand anyone having a problem with Rey's abilities, but we've never heard the same about Chirrut.

@bibbymoynihan Go back to the exchange between Luke and Obi-Wan in A New Hope aboard the Millennium Falcon:

@bibbymoynihan Ben: "Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him."

Luke: "You mean it controls your actions?"

Ben: "Partially. But it also obeys your commands."

@bibbymoynihan Once more, for those who seem to forget this when discussing characters like Rey:

THE FORCE CAN CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS WHEN YOU SURRENDER TO IT.

And it's the Midi-Chlorians that make that possible.

@bibbymoynihan At the end of the day, the midi-chlorians are a stand in for both a metaphysical concept and a physical one (talent and mitochondria as a building block of life) and acts as a bridge between those two worlds in this space fantasy series we all love so much.

@bibbymoynihan And the will of the Force (or the Whill of the Force, maybe?) remains a mystery.

WHY does the cosmic Force choose to utilize the living Force in the ways it does? If Midi-chlorians answered that question, I might agree that they explained away the Force. But they can't.

@bibbymoynihan So, yeah. I like Midi-chlorians. I think they're a cool idea that have threaded through the Star Wars story and served to make the Force simultaneously more understandable and more mysterious.

Also, my sincerest apologies to @bibbymoynihan. I was just trying to tag you in that one, hilarious photo, not the whole damn thread.