Does the personality of Yoda in the PT (Prequel Trilogy) contradict his personality found in the OT (Original Trilogy)? I ask this mostly because I remember seeing a very sad, angry, serious, dark, twisted, Yoda in the Return of the Jedi where & when he tells Luke Skywalker that he will be very scared. I love Yoda and I am not here to talk about the fighting that Yoda does in the prequels. I am not here to argue for or against Yoda's mad skills of the prequels. I love seeing Yoda fight but I understand and respect the people that have problems with Yoda or with too much Jar Jar Binks or with the bad acting of baby Darth Vader or with the bad character development or other things. I like the prequels and I love the OT and the Clone Wars and Rebels and I just saw the comics with Maul and also the ones that take place after The New Hope. But never mind these details for now. I just want to talk about Yoda's personality. What does Yoda do after going into hiding? Did he dabble in the dark side? Is Yoda telling Luke that he will be scared for facing Vader in Jedi or for things that may happen after Jedi or what? I know Yoda is older in Empire and in Jedi, but it seems that he is so much more scarier and much more like evil looking or like more sad and mad and something or something when he is talking to Luke. Yoda did not seem to be as sad or angry during the prequels. Yoda didn't seem to be angry when fighting Dooku or even Sideous. What do you think?
When Yoda told Luke that he will be afraid, he wasn't being dark and twisted. He was telling him a simple fact of life that comes with training in the Jedi Arts, he will be afraid. All Jedi Padawans will face fear as fear is the path to the dark side. Yoda himself also faced fear during his initial Jedi trial when he was a young Padawan and again during his sojourn during the Clone Wars, as shown in "Destiny". SERENITY: "At death, in order for you to preserve your identity, you must know yourself, your true self, and then let go. On that island dwells all that remains unconquered, what, in your existence, some call evil, otherwise known as fear, all which must be finally overcome before the journey can be taken. Free yourself, you must." YODA: "A Jedi Master I am. Know all that dwells within I do. Mastered my weaknesses and conquered my fears I have." SERENITY: "Have you? You must face your evil on that island and defeat it." YODA: "How shall I complete my training?" CONFUSION: "You must face the ultimate test, the ultimate seduction, the gravest of journeys." SADNESS: "You will travel to Moraband." YODA: "Moraband." ANGER: "Journey through the ancient home world of the Sith. Face all that you fear, all that haunts your soul!" Yoda's change is the result of what happened by the end of ROTS, with the Jedi Purge and all that was lost. But he is also wise enough to know that Luke's journey is just starting and part of that is that he will face himself and he knows that it will be a humbling experience for him.
Sure, that is true, you're right and I do agree. The greatest trial is facing yourself. Plus, the purge was a unique experience to endure. Yoda wanted to make sure that Luke would be focused enough not to fall to the dark side after Yoda goes to die. As far as the story goes, this is ok. I understand what is happening as a reader. I am not totally mad or confused or anything... all of this is ok to some extent.... I understand the process of becoming a jedi and that it important to be focused..... you must endure trails..... I love the episodes in the clone wars in season 6 with yoda and the ancient creatures..... and also the other episodes with the other planet and the father and and the son and the daughter but my concern here might be either in the appearance of yoda's personality...... that it might be a little too dark.... like too much of a change... or in the editing of the films in the OT and then also in the way they made the PT.... it might be in the makeup... in the lighting... in the way that the yoda puppet moved in Jedi..... and in Yoda's like drugged out eyes in Jedi..... it just seem that Yoda became more serious and bipolar after the purge and I wonder if Yoda was an alcoholic before the purge or not and I wonder if the bipolar split between silly yoda and killer yoda in Empire and Jedi is acceptable or not I am ok with it but Yoda was already about 800 years old in the PT and Yoda should have already developed that bipolar split before the PT but I guess this is what happens to jedi after the purge but Ben didn't become as biploar as Yoda why didn't Ben become bipolar? and how is Asoka doing after the purge?
Welcome to the boards @Joey Arnold. This is a very interesting post with its drug, alcohol and bipolar references. To address the original question, I would say no, there's not really a contradiction between the two trilogies when it comes to Yoda's personality. In the PT Yoda is earnest, determined, but mostly quite calm and self assured. Post purge, there is an understandable change as everything that he has so long stood for has been all but destroyed under his watch. There's a world weariness about him. A sense of trepidation. The seemingly contradictory 'bipolar' behaviour in TESB is just an act to test Luke.
It does on purpose - to show what he has learned In the OT alone, I never really thought much of Yoda. His development in the PT adds a whole new layer of meaning to his characterization in the OT and I can appreciate it much more. It feels more fulfilling and satisfying to see him go from overly sure of his own abilities to the more wisdom oriented master he is I think that the duel with Palpatine alone shows visually his development from the beginning with his defeat foreshadowing and answering what he would become. The novelization beautifully points out that it was only during the duel that Yoda really discovered what he had done wrong - he relied too much on the old ways and thought the issue could be solved by defeating the enemy in combat rather than progress into new techniques and use wisdom and the Force to prevent such conflicts from occurring. From what we see of him, we could easily infer that he had realized something like this "Failed, I have" refers to much more than just being defeated in the duel, and Frank Oz delivers that line with such a powerful weight I'm tired lol, it's hard for me right now to state what really makes Yoda so special to me; it would make him a much less interesting, static character were he characterized just like he was in the OT
I think even before the PT, the implication is there in the OT that Yoda has taken a beating, physically, emotionally, metaphorically, and that this has helped to shape and transform his character at that point. The PT explains it well though.
In the OT alone, Yoda is the mysterious Jedi Master. In the PT, one of the biggest things, fans remember is that Yoda can fight. Which I think is good thing. It adds more to "size matters not". Also age matters not. Not only physical age, but also that you're never too old to learn. Yoda is flawed, which really adds to his character.
The dark tone with Yoda in TESB is that the film itself was dark and so we see the duality. First, we see Yoda testing Luke's patience. Then we see him make his true feelings about the boy known, as Luke has become a disappointment to him. Then we the test by which Yoda will judge what kind of man Luke is trying to become by sending him into the cave, just as he went into it and the island on the Force planet. But then we see Yoda start to come around as Luke begins to catch on and evolve, all leading to his departure and Yoda's disappointment in Luke. He's seeing history repeat itself and he is not pleased at all.
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