star wars - How old should you be when you begin Jedi training?

Anakin Skywalker was about nine years old (see script link, below) during "The Phantom Menace". Yet according to various people, he was too old (or even "far too old") to begin training as a Jedi:

• QUI-GON: "I'm afraid not. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early, and he would have become Jedi, no doubt...he has the way. But it's too late for him now, he's too old."


• OBI-WAN: "The boy will not pass the Council's tests, Master, and you know it. He is far too old."


• MACE WINDU: "He is too old. There is already too much anger in him."


• and even ANAKIN himself: "I'm with Qui-Gon...but...they're not going to let me be a Jedi. I'm too old."

All quotes above from The Phantom Menace script.

However, during "The Empire Strikes Back" Yoda gives Luke's age (18 in chapter IV according to the Star Wars A New Hope script) as the reason to deny him training only after first saying that Luke is:

• too impatient



• too angry


• not ready


• is unfocused ("Never his mind on where he was") and


• reckless

All from The Empire Strikes Back script.

I would have thought that, if at 9 Anakin was too old, Yoda would have seen Luke at 18+ and started off by saying, "No chance, he has".

So, what is the age to begin Jedi training?

Answer

While it's not explicitly stated in the films, the implication is that training starts at a very young age, before children have a chance to get too attached to family members, and that training at a young age allows children to develop without (much) love, anger, hate, etc.

The inconsistencies you note in your question arise from the situation at the time of each film. In Phantom Menace, the Republic was functioning as normal and so a child of 9 would definitely be considered too old to begin training, for the reasons Qui-Gon gave. At this stage the age limit is a matter of bureaucracy more than anything else.

In Empire Strikes Back, the Republic has long fallen, and Yoda is essentially the only Jedi left alive. The reasons he gives Luke before mentioning his age are essentially the reasons they didn't take in older children during the time of the Republic.

On top of this, I suspect that in Empire, Yoda is deliberately trying to put off Luke, to test his determination. He knows full well who Luke's father is, and that he would make a very powerful Jedi based on his midichlorian count. I suspect he rejects Luke initially more to check how Luke deals with rejection than anything else. If Luke had gotten angry or violent, Yoda would have rejected his training for that reason; but instead Luke manages to convince Yoda that he is "righteous" enough to be Yoda's last chance at keeping the Jedi order going.