Who doesn't love Yoda?
He's a little green mystical guru who rides around in a hover chair and beats robots with
sticks.
Oh yeah, and he's a seasoned general, war hero, and possibly the strongest Force user
in the galaxy.
But, like a lot of stuff related to Star Wars, once you dig deeper into the movies and broader
canon, you start to realize stuff you might not have noticed at first like that this miniature
Jedi master can be a huge jerk.
Here's a look back at the worst things Yoda has ever done.
Doing Ahsoka wrong
In The Phantom Menace, one of Yoda's concerns about accepting Anakin Skywalker into the
Jedi Order is that he's not only too old, but also too attached to his mother.
Nevertheless, Obi-Wan is allowed to train Anakin.
The wider Star Wars canon saw Yoda still concerned about Anakin's tendency to become emotionally
attached.
And in The Clone Wars animated film, Yoda decided to give Anakin a Padawan of his own
in Ahsoka Tano, hoping that her eventual ascendancy to Jedi Knighthood would rob Anakin of this
tendency.
But why would he consider that a good idea?
A Padawan like Ahsoka would get much better training from someone who wasn't...you know,
also a Padawan.
The final arc of the Clone Wars' fifth season again saw Yoda and Ahsoka at cross purposes.
When the Jedi Temple was bombed, Anakin and Ahsoka were called to investigate.
Although Ahsoka had nothing to do with the bomb, the true culprit framed her for it.
After escaping and being recaptured, Ahsoka was expelled from the Jedi Order by the Council.
Except, as Yoda admitted at one point in the storyline, his ability to commune with the
Force had become clouded due to the events of the war.
If that's the case, why was he put in charge of such a monumental decision?
Even Padme quickly deduced that Ahsoka couldn't have committed the crime she was being framed
for, and she's as far from a Jedi as you can get.
If Yoda knew he couldn't see the truth, he should have stepped aside rather than risk
unjustly ruining Ahsoka's life.
Keeping Sith secrets
In the sixth season Clone Wars episode "The Lost One," Yoda, Mace Windu and Obi-Wan discover
the truth of what happened to Sifo-Dyas, the Jedi Master revealed to have ordered the Clone
Army's creation in Attack of the Clones.
The episode shows that decades ago, Sifo-Dyas' ship was shot down by a crime syndicate paid
by Count Dooku.
Dooku then impersonated Sifo-Dyas and ordered the creation of the clones.
Yoda decides that the only course of action the Jedi have is to keep the truth to themselves.
"Cover up this discovery we must."
Except that definitely isn't all they could've done.
Exposing this betrayal could've resulted in the withdrawal of the Clone Army, the discovery
of the inhibitor chip that enabled Order 66, and a better way out of the Clone Wars.
Uncovering your enemy's plans, then re-covering them, is a pretty stupid thing to do.
A push to the Dark Side
In Revenge of the Sith, as part of the final salvo of his plan, Chancellor Palpatine appointed
Anakin as his special representative on the Jedi High Council.
The Council agreed with one condition.
"You're on this council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master."
It was a first in the history of the Council, and Anakin didn't take it well.
Even with the rising Dark Side clouding his vision, Yoda could've surely seen that Anakin
was at a breaking point.
Even if Yoda didn't know the details of Anakin's increasingly unbalanced private life, it was
obvious that the young Jedi was in crisis and denying him the rank of Master might have
been the final straw that pushed him to turn completely to the dark side.
Quitting time
One of the biggest controversies sparked among Star Wars fans by the prequel trilogy was
its depiction of Yoda as a highly accomplished fighter, not just a wise old Jedi Master.
But even fans who preferred the more sedate version of the little guy had to admit that
Yoda's battle with Emperor Palpatine made for an emotionally charged sequence.
On the other hand, the end of it all is unbelievably lame.
Having realized that they're evenly matched and he can't really win, Yoda makes an escape.
But then rather than making any sort of heroic last stand or plan, Yoda considered the greatest
Jedi Master of all simply says that he's failed and has to go into exile.
Obviously, Yoda had to end up on Dagobah to set up the original trilogy.
But that means Yoda also hid himself away from the Knights he led and who saw him as
a hero, essentially abandoning all the Jedi to get purged.
It's a trap
While there hasn't been much focus on Yoda in the new Star Wars canon outside of his
traditional role, the old Legends continuity saw him take the spotlight a few times.
Case in point: Sean Stewart's 2004 novel Yoda: Dark Rendezvous.
In that book, set toward the end of the Clone Wars, Yoda receives a message from Count Dooku
that he wants to meet to talk about peace.
Despite knowing full well that this is a trap, Yoda opts to meet Dooku, taking a pair of
Knights and their Padawans along with him.
Almost immediately, the two Jedi Knights are struck down in an ambush, and Yoda barely
escapes with his life.
That's right: the leader of the Jedi walked knowingly into a trap, and he got two Jedi
killed for it.
But that's Yoda for you always the goofball.
"haha."
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!