Yoda's Evolution as a Character and the Prophecy.
Posted: 2009-08-19 03:30pm
I was watching TESB today, of course. While watching I decided to shift my attention away from Luke as I had usually done, and decided to really put effort into analyzing Yoda this time. See, I always liked Yoda as a kid and now. At least in Empire and ROTJ. In the prequels I felt a lot like Mike did, that he was an arrogant, over confident old man who micromanaged the Jedi Order all from the comfort of his backseat. This was different from the Yoda we knew.
Watching Yoda, it's easy to see that according to the OT alone, Yoda was a shrewd, wise Jedi Master with a disgruntled outlook upon the galaxy and a distrust of Obi Won Kenobi and other former or aspiring "Jedi". His character was extremely cynical, believeing Luke was likely to fail against Vader and possibly even turn to the Dark Side. Hell when Luke came to the planet he didn't even trust him. (Hence the clumsy old man act.) Even though Kenobi had presumably been in contact with Yoda over Luke's coming to Dagobah.
Then you watch the Prequels right? And in the prequels, Yoda teaches young students. He casually jokes with them, when he's talking with just Windu and Kenobi, he even seems lighthearted then as well. He expressed concerns with Obi Won taking Anakin as his apprentice in Episode 1, but condoned it nonetheless. Later, when people ask Yoda for help, he is very laissez-faire about his advice. Mike pointed out that Yoda's advice always seemed to amount to "smile and let it happen" which is pretty much the truth. This contrasts with Yoda's later decision to personally train Luke, and to stop taking a backseat to the lives of his students.
Yoda has also designed the Jedi Order with lots of little rules like "Don't fall in love". These rules and practices were ostensibly designed to micromanage the lives of the Jedi living in the order. So he wouldn't have to. Also, the great prophecy which fortold the coming "Bringer of Balance to the Force" he interprited like Windu, VERY optimistically. Basically "The Jedi will win in the end."
Mike's commentary noted that Yoda had basically turned the Jedi Order into his puppet which is pretty much true. So why wouldn't he be happy? As far as he's concerned his model of the Jedi Order is the most successful in history. After 800 years their have been no major wars until the Clone Wars which were certainly started by Sith intervention.
Then Anakin falls, Palpatine wipes out the Order, and criminalizes the Jedi. Yoda's world falls apart, everything he built came crashing down to a menace that was right in front of him. The many rules and precedents he designed did absolutely nothing to protect his Order. Ultimately handicapping it. The Prophecy he had read suddenly became terrifyingly vague. What if by "balance to the force" the prophecy did not mean "Jedi = Win" but actually had implied "Sith = Win".
Thus we have OT Yoda.
OT Yoda is cynical and broken. He initially refuses to train Luke and strongly distrusts him. When he finally concedes to train Luke, he's still very cynical of Luke's abilities and never quite believe in him. He staunchly believes Luke will end up just like his father. Because for all intents and purposes, the boy sitting in his hut right then whining "Ben tell him i'm ready!" was the spitting image of his father minus 60 years.
Regardless, Yoda goes along with it. He has to rush the training because Luke is already old and...well, the Empire isn't getting any younger, and neither are they. (Though he still believed Luke needed a lot of work when he left Dagobah). During the training Luke is impatient, whiny, and disbelieving. And Yoda, like he was Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in space, (minus the cursing) consistently turns Luke's own impatience against him. Embarrassing him routinely. He forgoes teaching Luke many of the old minor rules like "don't fall in love" or other precedents that he used to live by. Seeing the inefficiency of those rules in his new training.
Luke eventually rushes to fight Vader, and loses.
But amazingly, he does not turn. Even after he learns the truth. He fights Vader to the very end, willing even to kill himself to escape the Dark Side. This is where things seemed to change. Like Anakin, Luke rushed into a fight and got his ass kicked, he met the Dark Side face to face and even heard out its offer to "join us". But unlike Anakin, he chose to run from Dark Side. Luke comes back to train, and Yoda accepts to train him again. Because unlike Anakin, Luke CAME BACK.
The next time, Luke is no fool. The next time we see him, he's ready for war and ready for the Force. In ROTJ, Yoda has changed as well. He's still cynical and has ominous fears of the future, but he no longer believes Luke will necessarily fail. Even if he does, their is still hope with Leia. Before he died, he seemed pleased with himself and Luke. Even though things weren't over. He had trained Luke, he had really tried to make things better, and for the first time, it was showing.
This is Yoda in the end. In my opinion, Yoda repented the mistakes he had made in the PT. Evidenced by his change in attitudes and training techniques. He still tried to run away from the big problem early in TESB. He tried to run from the Galaxy and run from the terror that was ultimately his responcibility. Then, he learned what he had done wrong, from all of the fundamentalist teachings he had sewn into the Jedi Order to all of the silly machincations he believed he had control of. He was still religious, but he was no longer foolish, arrogant, and inactive. In the end, the Prophecy favored no one. Vader killed the Jedi Order true enough, but in the end, he ALSO killed Palpatine. Effectively ending the Sith.
Luke referred to himself as a "Jedi" but only in that he was opposed to the Sith. (And we was basically trying to light a fire up Palp's ass.) I believe that since Yoda skipped and disregarded most of the old teachings of the Jedi, Luke was a new kind of Force User. Not necessarily a Jedi, but not a Sith. He was the first of a new breed of Force User. His Father had cleared the way for him. Now the ultimate point of the Prophecy was clear to Yoda in death as it had been to men like Qui Gon in life. The Jedi and the Sith were both judged by the Force and it wanted them out of the way. Luke was given a clean slate to work off of. And unlike the EU's wretched "oh yeah he totally made teh new jedi's doode" belief, I strongly believe that Luke created a new order of Force Users post-ROTJ. One not bound by obsolete traditional beliefs and practice and inaction. (As Yoda had eventually learned the error of.) Yet not bound by self destructive, perpetual violence either. (As Vader had eventually learned the foolishness of.)
It's the path Yoda takes and the ultimate result of the Great Prophecy that I felt like looking at this time. Yoda went from being this stogy old Priest with delusions of power and confidence, to a broken, old man hateful of the Galaxy around him and the people he knew. Finally ending his life in a middle ground, accepting the problems and issues the Galaxy faced, but no longer believing they were unsolvable. The Prophecy ultimately worked out the exact manner it said it would. No Jedi, no Sith, only Luke.
So yeah, who's got what to say?
Watching Yoda, it's easy to see that according to the OT alone, Yoda was a shrewd, wise Jedi Master with a disgruntled outlook upon the galaxy and a distrust of Obi Won Kenobi and other former or aspiring "Jedi". His character was extremely cynical, believeing Luke was likely to fail against Vader and possibly even turn to the Dark Side. Hell when Luke came to the planet he didn't even trust him. (Hence the clumsy old man act.) Even though Kenobi had presumably been in contact with Yoda over Luke's coming to Dagobah.
Then you watch the Prequels right? And in the prequels, Yoda teaches young students. He casually jokes with them, when he's talking with just Windu and Kenobi, he even seems lighthearted then as well. He expressed concerns with Obi Won taking Anakin as his apprentice in Episode 1, but condoned it nonetheless. Later, when people ask Yoda for help, he is very laissez-faire about his advice. Mike pointed out that Yoda's advice always seemed to amount to "smile and let it happen" which is pretty much the truth. This contrasts with Yoda's later decision to personally train Luke, and to stop taking a backseat to the lives of his students.
Yoda has also designed the Jedi Order with lots of little rules like "Don't fall in love". These rules and practices were ostensibly designed to micromanage the lives of the Jedi living in the order. So he wouldn't have to. Also, the great prophecy which fortold the coming "Bringer of Balance to the Force" he interprited like Windu, VERY optimistically. Basically "The Jedi will win in the end."
Mike's commentary noted that Yoda had basically turned the Jedi Order into his puppet which is pretty much true. So why wouldn't he be happy? As far as he's concerned his model of the Jedi Order is the most successful in history. After 800 years their have been no major wars until the Clone Wars which were certainly started by Sith intervention.
Then Anakin falls, Palpatine wipes out the Order, and criminalizes the Jedi. Yoda's world falls apart, everything he built came crashing down to a menace that was right in front of him. The many rules and precedents he designed did absolutely nothing to protect his Order. Ultimately handicapping it. The Prophecy he had read suddenly became terrifyingly vague. What if by "balance to the force" the prophecy did not mean "Jedi = Win" but actually had implied "Sith = Win".
Thus we have OT Yoda.
OT Yoda is cynical and broken. He initially refuses to train Luke and strongly distrusts him. When he finally concedes to train Luke, he's still very cynical of Luke's abilities and never quite believe in him. He staunchly believes Luke will end up just like his father. Because for all intents and purposes, the boy sitting in his hut right then whining "Ben tell him i'm ready!" was the spitting image of his father minus 60 years.
Regardless, Yoda goes along with it. He has to rush the training because Luke is already old and...well, the Empire isn't getting any younger, and neither are they. (Though he still believed Luke needed a lot of work when he left Dagobah). During the training Luke is impatient, whiny, and disbelieving. And Yoda, like he was Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in space, (minus the cursing) consistently turns Luke's own impatience against him. Embarrassing him routinely. He forgoes teaching Luke many of the old minor rules like "don't fall in love" or other precedents that he used to live by. Seeing the inefficiency of those rules in his new training.
Luke eventually rushes to fight Vader, and loses.
But amazingly, he does not turn. Even after he learns the truth. He fights Vader to the very end, willing even to kill himself to escape the Dark Side. This is where things seemed to change. Like Anakin, Luke rushed into a fight and got his ass kicked, he met the Dark Side face to face and even heard out its offer to "join us". But unlike Anakin, he chose to run from Dark Side. Luke comes back to train, and Yoda accepts to train him again. Because unlike Anakin, Luke CAME BACK.
The next time, Luke is no fool. The next time we see him, he's ready for war and ready for the Force. In ROTJ, Yoda has changed as well. He's still cynical and has ominous fears of the future, but he no longer believes Luke will necessarily fail. Even if he does, their is still hope with Leia. Before he died, he seemed pleased with himself and Luke. Even though things weren't over. He had trained Luke, he had really tried to make things better, and for the first time, it was showing.
This is Yoda in the end. In my opinion, Yoda repented the mistakes he had made in the PT. Evidenced by his change in attitudes and training techniques. He still tried to run away from the big problem early in TESB. He tried to run from the Galaxy and run from the terror that was ultimately his responcibility. Then, he learned what he had done wrong, from all of the fundamentalist teachings he had sewn into the Jedi Order to all of the silly machincations he believed he had control of. He was still religious, but he was no longer foolish, arrogant, and inactive. In the end, the Prophecy favored no one. Vader killed the Jedi Order true enough, but in the end, he ALSO killed Palpatine. Effectively ending the Sith.
Luke referred to himself as a "Jedi" but only in that he was opposed to the Sith. (And we was basically trying to light a fire up Palp's ass.) I believe that since Yoda skipped and disregarded most of the old teachings of the Jedi, Luke was a new kind of Force User. Not necessarily a Jedi, but not a Sith. He was the first of a new breed of Force User. His Father had cleared the way for him. Now the ultimate point of the Prophecy was clear to Yoda in death as it had been to men like Qui Gon in life. The Jedi and the Sith were both judged by the Force and it wanted them out of the way. Luke was given a clean slate to work off of. And unlike the EU's wretched "oh yeah he totally made teh new jedi's doode" belief, I strongly believe that Luke created a new order of Force Users post-ROTJ. One not bound by obsolete traditional beliefs and practice and inaction. (As Yoda had eventually learned the error of.) Yet not bound by self destructive, perpetual violence either. (As Vader had eventually learned the foolishness of.)
It's the path Yoda takes and the ultimate result of the Great Prophecy that I felt like looking at this time. Yoda went from being this stogy old Priest with delusions of power and confidence, to a broken, old man hateful of the Galaxy around him and the people he knew. Finally ending his life in a middle ground, accepting the problems and issues the Galaxy faced, but no longer believing they were unsolvable. The Prophecy ultimately worked out the exact manner it said it would. No Jedi, no Sith, only Luke.
So yeah, who's got what to say?