"You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"

Famous last words.

If you're as into Star Wars as I am, you probably know that George Lucas originally had a reason why Obi-Wan would say this, but when he made the decision that Obi-Wan had to die instead of make it to the end of the picture alive, that reason disappeared; for some reason, the line remained. (I'm talking from memory; I haven't done the research lately to know every detail on this; like, what was the original idea? Sorry, I forget.) Well, the line still works, and here's why:

Vader thinks dead is dead, but Obi-Wan knows that he will be able to help and influence Luke from the spirit realm. That means give him the confidence to use the Force against the Death Star, to lead him to Yoda for further training; and to appear to Leia and help get her to Yoda as well, if the need should arise. Obi-Wan has spent nearly 20 years becoming one with The Force, and perfecting his ability. Now, would the line still work if George had not established in Episode III that the ability to return as a Force Ghost is a discipline one must train in, in order to be able to do this? Probably not as well, if you ask me. Although, if any Jedi could return in this way, without specialized (and newly discovered) training, it would definitely clear up other PT questions (see my previous blog).

Would we love the saga as much if there wasn't so much to discuss and debate?