10 Star Wars Controversies That Divide Fans

Throughout the first trilogy, the Force was presented as a mystical energy, not dissimilar to magic.

Indeed, those who believed in the Force were considered to be superstitious. Vader was described as having a "sad devotion to that ancient religion", and even Han Solo dismissed it as "hokey". Although it becomes clear that the Force is very real in this universe, it was never quite clear what it was. It was one of the features that blurred George Lucas' epic sci fi tale into the realms of fantasy.

With the prequels, however, Qui-Gon Jinn explained that the Force was largely to do with microscopic, intelligent life forms called Midi-chlorians. They attached themselves to Force-sensitive beings, forming a symbiotic relationship which gave Jedi their power. One could even measure someone's Midi-chlorian count through scientific testing.

For many fans this explanation seemed to ruin the magic of the Force, demystifying it with a load of scientific sounding jargon. It also begs the question: why was everyone in the originally trilogy so sceptical about the Force's existence, when there were established, scientific ways of measuring it just years before?