The Dark Side, I Have Joined
Art via Aleksandr Nikonov.
What we have above is a rarely seen picture from Yoda’s rebellious teenage years when he thought he’d experiment with the dark side of the force.
“Mom and dad, ground me, you cannot! To Darth Plagueis’s party, all the cool kids go!”
Maybe someday now that Lucas is gone they’ll do a “Star Wars Universe X” where all the light side and dark side roles are flipped. I’d totally watch that.
Side note: To this day I think Yoda’s lightsaber fighting was my least favorite part of the new trilogy. That’s just not what his character was about and it didn’t make any goddamn sense to have him limping around all the time if he was capable of that.
Th force is a energy source and the Jedi respect it to much to use it as a crutch. When needed a Jedi can ‘turn up the volume’ sort of speak. But when the situation passes they release the extra stored energy. So due to Yoda’s 800+ years, without the force bolstering his body he is susceptible to the ravages of an aging body like everyone else.
I think he was limping around cause of his age but when things got tough he would use the force to move. Maybe he just didn’t want to use it all the time for whatever reason…
He limps because he’s 800+ years old. During that scene, it showed that he can and will call on the force to help him fight. It also showed that even the most peaceful, non-violent Jedi can fight when called upon.
Also, Yoda being a great warrior enriches his assertion about great warriors in ESB. It doesn’t undermine it.
In the books, it states that he was a great warrior capable of many things his diminutive form made seem impossible. additionally Yoda fit the archetype of a Samurai, balancing his fighting abilities with peaceful pursuits much like some of the greatest feudal Samurai in modern day would be seen as florists and poets that could wield a sword is the most dangerous ways.
One doesn’t have to turn into a Ball of Spinning Death to be a great warrior. If you really want to use the samurai archetype, the greatest warrior need only make a single cut, if any at all. Yoda’s fighting style should have been serene, mystical, and when the right moment came, decisive. The best part of any fight scene with him was when he and Palpatine stopped saber-dueling and starting throwing the Senate chamber at each other. That’s what I wanted to see between them: A duel of sorcerers. With Yoda and Palpatine both, they should have been dangerous because of their sheer presence and iron wills, not because they can whip a sword around.
I love yoda!
He isn’t the best fighter of the jedi’s but he is certainly one of the most impressive.
Some fun backstory on combat with jedi.
Darth Maul (still apprentice) was given a task early to defeat one of the strongest lightsaberist, Jedi Master Siolo’urmanka. Who was now a hermit that gave up the lightsaber in order to delve deeper into the force (one of his weaker points)
It was said that Siolo only wielded a wooden staff (walking cane) when Maul approached him to kill him while using a sith saber. Siolo dominated Maul and laughed him away telling him to rethink his actions.
Maul challenged him again and unveiled his new weapon (the staff saber that he created solely to beat Siolo) and was able to surprise Siolo and win.
——–
Mace Windu has mastered the art known as Vaapad which is a sword art that immerses itself so in deep with the fight that most jedi lose their way while brandishing this form. All of Mace Windu’s pupils had fallen from their path and become Dark Jedi’s (not sith just jedi who have lost their way and now explore all sides of the force).
The sword style is so strong he was believed to be able to beat anyone in a one on one duel.
He was requested to be the grandmaster of the jedi order(yodas spot) but declined because he felt he was less experienced as someone such as yoda.
Food for thought
When he fights, he augmented himself physically with the Force. Pretty standard stuff for Jedi/Sith honestly.