‘The Mandalorian’: Disney Is Embracing Midichlorians and Some Fans Are Intrigued
When the Star Wars prequel trilogy came out over 20 years ago, it divided fans in two as many fans loved the prequels, but many fans hated them as well.
There were many reasons for why fans hated the prequels, and the introduction of the concept of Midichlorians was one of them. A lot of time has past however, and now many Star Wars fans are looking more fondly at the prequels.
Disney is doing something similar, and in a recent of episode of The Mandalorian, Midichlorians was once again brought up in the Star Wars universe.
Here’s a look at why Star Wars fans are reacting warmly to this reintroduction of a once-hated concept.
What are Midichlorians and why fans hated them
In the original trilogy, when Luke was learning how to use the Force, there was a lot of mystery about how the Force worked and why it worked. The original trilogy treated the Force as if it was magic, as it wasn’t something that science could necessarily explain.
That went out the window in the prequel trilogy, when it said that Midichlorians, which are tiny Force-sensitive things that are in cells, were how Force-sensitive people were connected the Force. In essence, the more Midichlorians someone had in their bodies, the more powerful they’d be in the Force.
This didn’t sit well with many Star Wars fans, as it explained away a mystery that many fans were happy to keep around. Additionally, for some fans, Midichlorians simply weren’t a cool explanation for something that was as cool as the Force.
The reintroduction of Midichlorians has made some fans intrigued
Disney was well-aware of how fans reacted to Midichlorians, and by and large, Star Wars has ignored Midichlorians ever since George Lucas introduced them in the prequels. That being said, Disney has reintroduced Midichlorians in The Mandalorian, and rather than calling them Midichlorians, they’re simply referred to as M-count.
Many Star Wars fans on Reddit were intrigued by how Disney is handling Midichlorians now. Like one fan said, “As someone who never liked Midichlorians (and was horrorfied by Lucas obvious plans to feature mor of that in future Star Wars…) I am okay as well now.”
Most fans were intrigued by how Disney is handling Midichlorians because of who’s using that word in the first place.
In The Mandalorian, most of the people who are using that word are scientists, and it’s reasonable to see why they’d use that word. Those scientists want to know how and why the Force works, so it’s believable that they’d figure out that it’s related to Midichlorians. As a result, fans are okay with how it’s being used.
One fan even said, “Honestly I think this was the best possible way to bring Midichlorians back. I didn’t think it could be done, but it really does fit better in a conversation between Imperial scientists trying to manipulate nature.”
Some fans are still skeptical though
However, many fans are still wary of Midichlorians, and a few fans simply wished that Disney didn’t touch on them at all. Many fans are aware of the damage that the introduction of Midichlorians caused to the franchise, and they simply don’t want that to happen again.
As one fan said, “I really hope they tread carefully. Midichlorians are an extremely volatile storytelling tool, and if used carelessly, could ruin everything.”
However, other Star Wars fans on Reddit were less pleased with Disney’s decision to reintroduce Midichlorians. Regardless though, many Star Wars fans aren’t fully onboard with Midichlorians just yet, and they’re all anxiously waiting for the next episode of The Mandalorian to drop so that they can get a better idea of where Disney is taking Midichlorians.
