The only reason GL needed to devise this whole 'retaining one's identity in the Force' BS is because he had the stupidity to show Qui-Gon's body after his death. If he had followed the pattern that he had followed with all Jedi deaths prior to that, he would have made Qui-Gon's body disappear upon being struck by Maul's lightsaber - no explanation required. But instead, he tried to be consistent with his mistake and had all these other Jedi die with their bodies intact in AOTC and ROTS (Uh, see, I MEANT to do it that way...). See, here's the thing - When Darth Vader struck Obi-wan with his lightsaber on the Death Star platform in ANH, OBI-WAN DIED. And when a Jedi dies, he disappears. When Yoda lay down on his death-bed, drew his last breath, said his last words, THEN disappeared - guess what - HE DIED TOO. Of old age, believe it or not! When Darth Vader listened to his son's pleas, and found the man that was his father deep down inside of him (Anakin Skywalker), he threw the Emperor down the shaft, and following that, HE DIED! So here we have 3 Jedi dying in the OT, and all three of them become apparitions at the end of ROTJ AS THEY WERE WHEN THEY DIED. Prior to the PT, all Jedi were SUPPOSED to disappear when they died, Lucas just stuffed it up. No BS explanations required. Case closed.
The only reason GL needed to devise this whole 'retaining one's identity in the Force' BS is because he had the stupidity to show Qui-Gon's body after his death. If he had followed the pattern that he had followed with all Jedi deaths prior to that, he would have made Qui-Gon's body disappear upon being struck by Maul's lightsaber - no explanation required. But instead, he tried to be consistent with his mistake and had all these other Jedi die with their bodies intact in AOTC and ROTS (Uh, see, I MEANT to do it that way...). See, here's the thing - When Darth Vader struck Obi-wan with his lightsaber on the Death Star platform in ANH, OBI-WAN DIED. And when a Jedi dies, he disappears. When Yoda lay down on his death-bed, drew his last breath, said his last words, THEN disappeared - guess what - HE DIED TOO. Of old age, believe it or not! When Darth Vader listened to his son's pleas, and found the man that was his father deep down inside of him (Anakin Skywalker), he threw the Emperor down the shaft, and following that, HE DIED! So here we have 3 Jedi dying in the OT, and all three of them become apparitions at the end of ROTJ AS THEY WERE WHEN THEY DIED. Prior to the PT, all Jedi were SUPPOSED to disappear when they died, Lucas just stuffed it up. No BS explanations required. Case closed.