Star Wars Finally Reveals What Happens to a Jedi After They Die, Bringing George Lucas’ Most Epic 42-Year-Old Idea to Life

Star Wars has finally revealed what really happens to a Jedi after they die. Death has never been the end in Star Wars; as Luke Skywalker himself put it in The Last Jedi, “No one’s ever really gone.” We learned this lesson right from the outset, when Luke heard Obi-Wan’s voice as he took the final, fateful shot to bring down the Death Star. It wasn’t long before Obi-Wan returned as a “luminous being,” a Force Ghost giving Luke much-needed advice.

But what actually happens to a Jedi when they die? The movies alone have tended to remain quiet about the Force’s afterlife; the biggest hint to the truth was in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, when the voices of past Jedi offered words of encouragement to Rey. Those voices included Jedi who had never been trained to become Force Ghosts – indeed, who had never had the opportunity to do so. It therefore confirmed that, whatever the afterlife of the Force may be, it is for all Jedi. And now, finally, six years after The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has shown the Jedi afterlife.

Star Wars Has Finally Shown the Netherworld of the Force

In Star Wars lore, the “Netherworld of the Force” is essentially a paradaisical afterlife experienced by beings after death. It was briefly mentioned in Revenge of the Sith, but the first mention of this realm can be found in the rough draft for Return of the Jedi, all the way back in 1983. Like the Force itself, the Netherworld has been known by any other names; some canon sources have referred to it as the Mist-Beyond or the Garden Beyond (a term deliberately evoking imagery of the Biblical Eden). Only those who are of light can enter the Netherworld.

Charles Soule and Luke Ross’ Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #10 finally gives us our first glimpse of the Netherworld of the Force. Set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, this comic sees Kylo Ren seek revenge on Luke Skywalker’s Force Ghost. The Chosen One‘s grandson meditates deeper into the Force than ever before, and he undergoes a mystical experience that is clearly so much more than a vision. He enters the Netherworld of the Force, shocking the spirits of the Jedi he encounters there.

Yoda’s Most Famous Saying Was More True Than We Knew

“Luminous beings are we,” Yoda once told Luke, “not this crude matter.” It is fitting, then, that Kylo Ren initially encounters beings who have been stripped of their physical form – the light of their lives now shining brightly, unconstrained by the shell of matter that previously concealed it. His eyes are unable to distinguish between them, unsuited to this astral environment where only goodness is left. Interacting with Kylo Ren, Luke chooses to restore his previous appearance in full; there’s no hint of the usual blue that comes from a Force Ghost.

Legacy of Vader #10 hints that there is a sense of “geography” to the Netherworld of the Force. Kylo Ren encounters Luke at what is clearly a site of significance to the Jedi, ancient architecture that seems like some sort of Force vergence; curiously, it takes the form of an entranceway into some sort of mountain, and the style is reminiscent of structures on Tython in the old Legends Dawn of the Jedi comics. It’s difficult to say whether that’s deliberate, but if it is, it is possible Luke has found his way to the very source of the Jedi.

This isn’t the first time Star Wars has hinted that the Netherworld of the Force corresponds somehow to the physical realm. Timothy Zahn’s novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good introduced a race of Force-sensitives whose world had been subjected to a horrific genocide; they were led by a Magys who believed the best way for them to redeem their world was for their survivors to enter “the Beyond” and heal it from that plane. There is, therefore, a subtle link between the Netherworld and the physical world; the two are intertwined to some extent.

Kylo Ren, of course, should not be able to access the Netherworld of the Force at all. But that’s precisely the point of this unexpected mystical experience; as much as he may wish to swear himself to the dark side, the Ben Solo within him is still drawn to the light. In the end, he will wind up redeemed – and in doing so, eventually reach the Netherworld of the Force for himself. But the next time he is there, it will be be because he belongs there, stripped of his darkness at last.

You can read the full discussion in Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #10 by Charles Soule and Luke Ross, on sale now from Marvel Comics.

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