From the Episode III shooting script:
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YODA: Failed to stop the Sith Lord, I have. Still much to learn, there is ...

QUI -GON: (V.O.) Patience. You will have time. I did not. When I became one with the Force I made a great discovery. With my training, you will be able to merge with the Force at will. Your physical self will fade away, but you will still retain your consciousness. You will become more powerful than any Sith.

YODA: Eternal consciousness.

QUI-GON: (V.O.) The ability to defy oblivion can be achieved, but only for oneself. It was accomplished by a Shaman of the Whills. It is a state acquired through compassion, not greed.

YODA: . . . to become one with the Force, and influence still have . . . A power greater than all, it is.

QUI-GON: (V.O.) You will learn to let go of everything. No attachment, no thought of self. No physical self.

YODA: A great Jedi Master, you have become, Qui-Gon Jinn. Your apprentice I gratefully become.

YODA thinks about this for a minute, then BAIL ORGANA enters the room and breaks his meditation.

BAIL ORGANA: Excuse me, Master Yoda. Obi-Wan Kenobi has made contact.
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End Mega Long Quote (Copyright Rive Caedo Industries)

As we know, all but the final moment of this scene was cut. So for the longest time I thought the mystery of the Whills would once again be brushed aside to the realm of hearsay and the novelization.

This recent Blog entry however seems to indicate otherwise. It points out the fairly recently updated Anakin Skywalker databank entry.
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"Aboard the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor, Anakin Skywalker lay dying. He asked his son to remove his life-sustaining helmet, so that he could look upon his long lost son with his own eyes. Having saved his son's life, and reclaimed his soul from the dark side, Anakin died and became one with the Force. As he shed his corporeal form, he found the spectral forms of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda ready for his return. Through compassion and selflessness, Anakin discovered the secret knowledge of the Shaman of the Whills, a technique that allowed him to retain his identity in the netherworld of the Force."
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I'm happy this say this agrees with the mindset I've always set forth, that Obi-Wan and Yoda helped Anakin retain his identity.

A theory repeatedly spouted is that Yoda is a Whill. There's no evidence to the contrary of course, and in fact a Star Wars calendar reported Yoda to be a Will (Lucas film... or publishing... or licensing... one of them ) however said that this was a mistake and unauthorized. Whether you take this as evidence that Yoda isn't a Whill or not is your choice.

Personally I think not. Doesn't it make more sense for the Whills to be an organization rather than a species? I'll give some examples to make my point clear.
"A Shaman of the Empire"
"A Shaman of the Republic"
"A Shaman of the Ruu'thak Tribe"
Those all seem to work in my mind, however...
"A Shaman of the Twi'Leks"
"A Shaman of the Rodians"
"A Shaman of the Jawas"
Does it really make sense to be identified as a Shaman of your species? Or does the idea of the Whills as a tribe, a secret organization, or even a religious cult make more sense?

In fact, in my mind the Whills being a cult-like group that centers around force users, shunned by the Jedi for not becoming peacekeepers of the galaxy, makes a great deal more sense. Who else but Qui-Gon Jinn, who as Obi-Wan said was proficient enough to be on the Jedi Council if he'd follow their orders, would go to study with these Whills? Who else would open his mind to a view of The Force not supported by the Jedi?

The Whills look like they're here to stay this time around and we'll have to deal with them now. Exactly what they are isn't very laid out yet though, I think they were/are a religious cult (Who's to say that Luke won't bump into them in the EU now that they have been established more deeply into the timeline?), but what are these Whills that first learned the secret to eternal life to you?
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-=Rive Caedo=-
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