SPECULATION Who are the Guardians of the Whills and what will be their future role in SW?

I still wonder how Chirrut knew Jyn had on her mum's Kyber pendant. Hopefully it will be further explored.

 

Yeah, he can sense the presence of crystals.. so he has to be Force sensitive to some degree

 

I bet Bendu was a drinking buddy of theirs back in the day.

 

This is a GOOD one @Darth Wardawg .I will LOVE to see a movie about this topic....

 

From Wookieepedia (New Canon):

The Journal of the Whills was a journal that referenced the Jedi. A verse within the journal labeled 7:477 contained a poem concerning the dark side and the light side of The Force.

Behind the scenes
The conception of the Journal of the Whills dates back to the earliest drafts of the Star Wars franchise, in which George Lucas had intended to use the Journal as a plot device for connecting the Star Wars galaxy to the real world. While this idea was ultimately dropped, the Journal was mentioned in several Star Wars sources such as the novelization of the original film, which, like the novelization of The Force Awakens, was written by Alan Dean Foster. The Journal of the Whills was first made canon by the novelization of The Force Awakens, which opens with a quotation from the journal.

"First comes the day
Then comes the night.
After the darkness
Shines through the light.
The difference, they say,
Is only made right
By the resolving of gray
Through refined Jedi sight."

―Journal of the Whills, 7:477


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From Wookieepedia (Legends):

The Ancient Order of the Whills was a higher order of beings deeply connected with the Force. They had holy men known as Shamans.

History
"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."
―Qui-Gon Jinn to Yoda

One of their Shamans was known to have discovered the secret of eternal consciousness and, later, Qui-Gon Jinn learned the secret, allowing him to interact with the living after his death.

The Whills kept a collection of stories, called the Journal of the Whills, that chronicled the history of the galaxy. A Keeper of the Whills was responsible for adding new information into it. One such Keeper was told the story of the Skywalker family's exploits during the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War, by the Astromech droid R2-D2 one hundred years after the Battle of Endor.


Behind the scenes
In early drafts of A New Hope, the name 'Whills' is equivalent to the Force.

"Originally, I was trying to have the story be told by somebody else (an immortal being known as a Whill); there was somebody watching this whole story and recording it, somebody probably wiser than the mortal players in the actual events. I eventually dropped this idea, and the concepts behind the Whills turned into the Force. But the Whills became part of this massive amount of notes, quotes, background information that I used for the scripts; the stories were actually taken from the Journal of the Whills."
―George Lucas

It is a common misconception that "Whill" is the name of the unknown species of Yoda. George Lucas has firmly denied this. Because their form is totally unknown, and since the Whills were an early concept of the Force, some fans have speculated that the Whills are of spiritual substance more or less like Wisties and probably immortal. However, this is unlikely to be true, as Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith: Illustrated Screenplay and The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith both have Qui-Gon Jinn stating that he knew of only one Shaman who had achieved immortality. However, Qui-Gon also states in the Revenge of the Sith novelization that immortality is a possible end-result for working with the Whills' teachings.

Since the journal was composed in 104 ABY, it's possible that the events explored in the Star Wars: Legacy were not part of the narration. In fact, it is unclear to what extent the narration covered the history of the galaxy as we know it.

The idea of Qui-Gon Jinn learning the secrets of immortality from a Shaman of the Whills was later contradicted by "Voices" from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which indicated that he had learned from the Force Priestesses, but his training was incomplete.

 

snoke as evil whill?

 

Force priestesses equals Whills?

 

Yeah I find the moon of jedha to be a very interesting branch of the star wars story. There's a lot of things to explore. I doubt the films will really get into it but future novels will most definitely get into who or what the whils are and the moon's importance to the jedi

 

I know now that the Whills are canon people will be trying to make the connection to the Church of the Force, but I think they'll remain separate. The force should mostly be practiced by the Jedi, but other interpretations do exist, like the Nightsisters, etc. I'd think that the Whills do get some more explanation, if they even do, in Rebels, and the Church in comics and maybe some big media thing that'll probably happen with the ST.

 

I quite like this; it's very creative. Well done!

If we ever do learn what a Whill "really" is, I suspect the answer will adhere closer to Lucas' original concept.

But that said, I'd love more than anything to see Luke attain some from of enlightenment -- benefit from some deep insight -- which allows for his moving beyond constructs like Jedi/Sith (even concepts such as light and dark) in the ST. To that end, "Luke Skywalker, Whill of the Force" has an awfully nice ring to it.

 

Has anyone checked any of the official STAR WARS sites?

 

I might be asking too much of ep.8 but I hope the Whills is explored in that episode considering Luke was searching for the first Jedi Temple.

 

Thank you for this. I need to get into the novelization. This (the passages in Pilgrims of Jedha) potentially gives new meaning to...

Spoiler: SPOILER

... Jyn's acceptance of her place in the Alliance. Along with her father's message, Jedha helped her realize what side of the fight she is on.

I'll buy a ticket to this. Five times.

 

I'm wondering if Whills were people who had ability with the Force, but not enough for them to qualify as full Jedi.

Alternatively, the Whills could be to the Jedi as real-world religious groups like Christians, Jews, and Muslims are to each other: they all hold the same locations in reverence, and have the same concept/entity as their center of worship, but can differ wildly on specifics: how it should be worshipped, what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, etc. Alternatively, the Whills could be closer to the mendicant or cloistered monks of Christianity, whereas the Jedi are like the religious chivalric orders like the Templars and Hospitalers.

 

I've got a feeling we're being primed for something...

Yeah, I definitely got the impression that Jedha was a sort of Mecca or Jerusalem. Lots of different faiths, all with a claim to it and all knowing the force in their own way.

 

I found out that Kybers "communicate" when they "get close" IImwe "heard" Jyn's Kyber.

Hmmmmmmmm since the Erso's were Jedi lore lovers I wonder if they named Jyn after Qui-Gon Jinn?

 

I would love for the concept of "grey" to be in ep7 or 8, and even as the ultimate end goal. If in the end we realize that this is being set up by the concepts of Bendu and Ahosoka's white lightsabers in Rebels, along with the Guardians of the Whills and Jedha from Rogue One, to be brought in to focus in the ST, I would be one happy camper. Tieing in both of the new "Prequel" type properties to the ST would be awesome.

 

The thing I really love about The Whills thing is that it really fleshes out SW as a setting.
And it injects a amount of depth and realism when it comes to the force, namely that the force is mysterious and is interpreted by different cultures in diverse ways.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 31, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 31, 2016 ---

Agree so much, I firmly believe not all Dark Side users are totally evil. I think the ST will prove that the force is a power that is mysterious that can't be summarized by Light or Dark Side doctrines.