I don't own Star Wars. I came up with this after seeing the Last Jedi and having so many questions about Yoda. No spoilers for the current movie, mild spoilers for Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith. Not cannon-compliant.
Once upon a time, there was a youngling who lived with his eggmother and their brute of a master.
This is not that story..
No one knows that Yoda is the last survivor of the sentient species native to Achto. They were Force-sensitive, all of them, though physically unimpressive, but he was the strongest of all. They overthrew their oppressors, eventually, but he alone survived the effort. He joined the fledgling Jedi Order, which vowed to assist the galaxy, so that no other species could use the Force for destruction. (Hah.)
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When Anakin Skywalker is brought before him,Yoda counsels against adding him to the ranks, knowing that Qui-Gon is too stubborn to be dissuaded. He's counting on it. Anakin's a hammer; he could either fix the Order and bring it out of its calcified ways, or he could smash the Order into pieces. Yoda concentrates on isolating Anakin, even from Obi-Wan. It's no surprise when Anakin shatters, and takes the Jedi Order down with him. The only thing Yoda regrets is the price the younglings paid. But it had to happen; the Order was too ossified and isolated to survive. Best to burn it down and start anew.
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Luke never caught on. In some ways, he's nearly as dense as Anakin. Oh, he tried, in his ham-handed way to repair what had been broken, but it was a doomed effort from the start. The only good thing is that unlike Anakin, Luke's rage ends up directed inward. At least Luke's too caught up in blaming himself to do any more harm, or any good. He never could see the big picture, not like Leia.
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Rey may not have a fancy bloodline, but she's clear-eyed and pragmatic. She doesn't ignore her feelings and her bonds reinforce her connection to the Force. She'd walk a mile through lava for any of her friends. She doesn't burn with anger like the Skywalkers; her temper is a cold inexorable glacier.
Sometimes the best leaders come from 'nobody and nothing' and Yoda has a feeling that Ben Solo's going to find that out the hardest way possible. Pity the only way the Skywalker males learn anything is by beaten repeatedly around the head.
Luke mocked both Ben and Rey for getting the Force all wrong. But he had it wrong too. Rey was never the last Jedi- she's the first Jedi.
I realize Yoda's supposed to be one of the good guys, but if he'd been all that and a side of eggs, he really should have been more effective in the prequels. It's possible that old age was catching up to him by then..or equally possible, that he knew what Anakin would do, and deliberately decided to let the Jedi Order fall. Keep the flames polite, please!
