Skip to main content

star wars - Was Yoda fully sane on Dagobah?


Our (and Luke's) original impression of Yoda is by no means flattering. He looks like a crazy hungry green thing that unfortunately has the ability to speak. Yoda digs through Luke's stuff, eats Luke's food, and, obsessed with that awesome little flashlight, ends up stealing it. (He even goes so far as to fight with Artoo over it.)


So was Yoda slowly losing it during all those years as a hermit?


Perhaps going from fighting battles and conversing with others on a daily basis to living in total isolation with no one to speak with would play a part in that? Or could Yoda have been faking his apparent insanity for some reason? (If so, what is mentioned reason?)



Answer




He was:




  1. Pretending to be the nutty old harmless thing so Luke would not know who he was.
    See Obfuscating Stupidity.
    The reasons were:




    • He didn't want to teach Luke (being wary of another Skywalker Reversal) due to Luke having similar problems to Anakin (started too late, wrong personality traits, Skywalker Curse, and excessive Midichloran count meaning that the downside of Luke falling to Dark Side was that much higher).





    • He didn't know if he could risk the info that he was Yoda the Jedi Master to fall into Luke's hands yet.




    • Luke not knowing who he was helped him test Luke by observing Luke in "natural" state (e.g. NOT the state of Luke talking to great Jedi Master).






  2. In addition, that behavior was testing Luke (e.g. would he react with violence to stealing of flashlight or food? How would he react to having his patience tested by seeing this nutcase when he's in a rush to find Jedi Master?).



    This is not just a logical speculation, but is confirmed in C-Canon:



    Yoda had also given Luke a hard time at that encounter. It had been a test of Luke's patience and of his treatment of strangers. And Luke had flunked it. Rather miserably. (Dark Force Rising, Timothy Zahn)





Also, as far as behaving in weird manner, it's a standard archetype/trope for a Quirky Weird Wise Wizard Mentor. Somewhat covered by Old Master but I'm too afraid for tvtropes to go dig for more specific trope names.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion
Post a Comment
Read more