Yoda: The Empire Tells the Truth

This is part two of The Jedi Suck Trilogy. Click the link for part one, Kenobi: A New Lie, why Obi-Wan Kenobi sucks. Stay tuned for the finale.

Yoda doesn't suck, he's no Kenobi, but he represents the suckiness in the Jedi. Yoda is the Jedi most responsible for the fall of the Jedi Order.

Yoda is supposed to be one of the wisest and most powerful Jedi. He survives Order 66 and a battle with Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine. If Yoda is the wisest and most powerful Jedi, then he is most at fault for the fall of the Jedi order. Even though Yoda shows skepticism in the Star Wars Pre Trilogy (PT), he fails to step up and alter or correct the Jedi's mistakes. Yoda and the Jedi fails to do the following:

1. Identify Palpatine as the Sith: it is Palpatine who reveals himself to Anakin Skywalker and Skywalker tells the Jedi. The Jedi couldn't figure it out on their own.
   
2. Oppose Senator Palpatine: The Jedi are wary of Palpatine. The Jedi and Yoda do not like Palpatine's rise in power, but they go along with it. They go along with it for years as Palpatine rises in power and makes political gain after gain. When the Jedi finally learn that Palpatine is the Sith master, it is too late. The Jedi Order is physically fractured across the galaxy, fighting the Clone Wars. A group of Jedi try and fail to arrest or stop Palpatine. After the attempt on Palpatine, Palpatine ascends to Emperor and officially destroy the Jedi Order.
   
3. Address the obvious weakness in the Jedi order: When Jedi learn about their inability to protect the Republic, they decide to conceal their deficiencies. At that point, it may have been too late, but still, the Jedi didn't have any significant response to their obvious decline.
   
4. Prevent the Clone Wars: Yoda leads the Clones into their first battle. The Jedi go from being peacekeepers to generals in a galactic civil war. The Jedi are a powerful force in the Republic (pun intended). Where are they when it is time to prevent a war?
5. Teach Anakin Skywalker: Yoda initially rejects the Skywalker. Yoda senses Skywalker's fear and anger. This creates a bad relationship. The Jedi don't want Skywalker and he knows it. Later, they know Skywalker's attachment to a hot young senator. What do they do? Send them alone together without supervision. Skywalker wasn't raised a Jedi. And still, the Jedi fail to see that Skywalker has different needs than the typical Padawan. They sense Skywalker's pain and trouble and they neglect giving him the proper counseling and Jedi Council. The Jedi struggle to conform Skywalker which ultimately leads to his fall and their own destruction.
   
6. See the value in attachments: Attachment makes us human. Denouncing attachment brings imbalances in the force. It allows the rise of a Palpatine and the fall of a Skywalker.
   

Pick any problem with the Jedi in the PT, and Yoda is more to blame than any other single Jedi. Yoda is close 800 years old. He failed with Anakin Skywalker and then he repeats the mistakes with Luke Skywalker. Yoda doesn't learn from the Jedi's mistakes.

Yoda continues the strict teaching of the Jedi. Yoda tries (not does) to get Luke to "unlearn what you have learned." Luke, like Anakin, isn't the traditional Padawan. And Yoda still tries (not does) to train Luke by the traditional methods. Yoda wants Luke to detach from his friends and emotions. Yoda was raised a Jedi. He is stuck in the traditional Jedi ways. He can't see the value in what makes Luke and Anakin the ones. It's attachments. Luke's attachment's to his friends and then his father eventually save Anakin Skywalker and restore balance to the force.

Like Kenobi, Yoda has and withholds the truth from Luke. Once again, Yoda doesn't trust Luke, just like the jedi didn't trust Anakin. Palpatine won over Anakin because Palpatine manipulated Anakin with trust. He told Anakin what the Jedi wouldn't tell him. Anakin shouldn't have trusted Palpatne, but he had every right to mistrust the Jedi. The Jedi rejected him over and over. They didn't want to train him initially. They didn't trust him for important missions he was qualified to command. They didn't trust him with the title of "Master Jedi." And Yoda repeats this mistake with Luke. He doesn't trust Luke. He hides the truth from Luke because he doesn't trust Luke. Yoda fears Luke will fall like Anakin did. Yoda is wrong.

Luckily for the galaxy, Luke ignores Yoda's advice. He confronts Darth Vader, who tells Luke the truth! It's the truth and Vader that give Luke the key. Luke needs to rescue his friends. Luke needs to learn the truth about his father. Luke needs his attachments. Once again, another Jedi is wrong and the evil Empire has to step up and tell our hero the truth.

To be clear, Yoda is a product of his environment. He is a product of a declining Jedi Order. Simply more proof that the Jedi suck.

Conclusion

Take what is useful from Buddhism, but remember humans are social animals. Give whatever metaphysical explanation that floats your spaceship, but remember attachments are a net positive for humanity.

The Shitty Thrilogy (Star Wars Episodes 7-9) (ST) made a huge blunder by neglecting the idea the unified the Original Trilogy (OT) and Prequel Trilogy (PT).