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What is done with a Jedi's ashes after they are cremated?

After Qui-Gon Jinn was killed by Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, his physical body was burned in a funeral pyre, presumably as part of Jedi funeral tradition.

I used Qui-Gon Jinn as the prime example as it is shown onscreen in the film. While he did appear to various people after his death, he apparently had not yet learned to return as a force ghost until long after his physical passing.

Note: Lest we digress into the discussion of why some Jedi disappear at death, I would not count Darth Vader as an example in this question. According to Steve Sansweet, and also Wookieepedia, Luke cremated only his father's armor with its prosthetics. His body had already gone on to become one with the Force. So tradition would probably not apply to the ashes of just his suit.

Spar10 Leonidas
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DenVog
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    Jedi have their own version of LifeGem and turn fallen Jedi into lightsaber crystals. – phantom42 Dec 11 '14 at 18:55
  • Ha! That's pretty good. – DenVog Dec 11 '14 at 19:37
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    @phantom42 - Per "The Bacta War"; 'Corellians cremated their dead exiles and used industrial-grade gravity generators to compress the carbon residue into raw synthetic diamonds.' – Valorum Dec 11 '14 at 21:04
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    The final part of the Jedi funeral tradition is mixing the ashes with tobacco, after which all Jedi present smoke the deceased from a big hooka. – Omegacron Dec 11 '14 at 21:16
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    Is the answer midi-chlorians? – Valorum Dec 11 '14 at 21:24
  • You folks are killing me... – DenVog Dec 12 '14 at 00:21
  • The best I can give is more book written. Although I cannot remember which one. I can tell you its either The Phantom Menace or the book following it. I do know it was significant as how they are handled. I'd also like to remind you Qui-Gon Jinn was in his 80's. – Virusboy Dec 12 '14 at 01:00
  • Qui-Gon did learn to 'force ghost.' >His force ghost appears in The Clone Wars cartoon. Episodes- "Overlords", "Ghosts of Mortis." He is also listed as a Jedi with a Force Ghost on the link that you provided. As for what they do with ashes I'm not completely sure. – TJF. Oct 18 '16 at 11:03
  • @TJF Those episodes are.... difficult to reconcile with the rest of canon. Regardless, I would be surprised if Qui-Gon couldn't force ghost considering he taught Yoda how to do it after he was killed. – BlackThorn Sep 13 '17 at 16:07
  • Maybe they compress the ashes into diamonds to put in lightsabers! –  Mar 07 '18 at 00:31
  • Ground up and snorted like cocaine; https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ashes_of_Malachor – Valorum Apr 29 '19 at 17:13

2 Answers2

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Stored in an urn temporarily, then scattered.

On at least one (Legends) occasion, we learn what is to become of the remains of a Jedi Knight named Etain Tur-Mukan. She was cremated, then her ashes were temporarily stored in a metal urn until the return of her partner, then scattered in a brief ceremony.

"Darman needs to know what happened to Etain's body."

Ordo was silent for a few moments, as if he'd had to think about it.

"We took her back to Mandalore, and she was cremated in keeping with her custom.”

"Jedi custom."

"Kal'buir wanted it." Ordo sounded almost ashamed. "Her ashes haven't been scattered. We're waiting for Darman to come home."

Imperial Commando: 501st

On a related note, we see a Jedi funeral in Tales of the Jedi: Choices. A Jedi Master receives a "burial" in a "grave". Note the lack of cremation. No explanation is given for this change in apparent routine.

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Valorum
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0

There is no indication in either Canon or Legends as to what is done with the ashes. It is likely that they were kept in urns in vaults under the Jedi Temple. In Legends, the Corellians compressed ash into synthetic diamonds, so there is some precedent for alternate means of preservation.

Historically, in our world, the ashes from a pyre were collected and put in urns, unfortunately this is the closest we can currently come to guessing what happens in the Star Wars universe.

CodeMed
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amflare
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