With the news that certain Star Wars characters are set to get their own standalone films after the Disney take over, (Han Solo and Boba Fett confirmed)it begs the question, will we finally get to know the true backstory of one of the saga’s most loved characters, Yoda?
Historically not much is known of Yoda. This is by no means an accident. Over the years Lucas has actively set out to stop some attempts to develop the character’s back story. Even ordering the cancellation of a run of trading cards that depicted other Yoda like beings, worshipping a large statue. Presumably Lucas didn’t want people to see Yoda as a member of a race of creatures, as this could have destroyed a bit of the mystique.
For years it was thought that Yoda was one of a kind and that there were no others like him in the Star Wars universe. George Lucas has kept the history, name, origin, and whereabouts of this species unknown for many years. It wasn’t until Episode I: The Phantom
Menace that we got a look at another of what has become known as Yoda’s species. Her name was Yaddle and she also sat on the Jedi Council just had Yoda had done.
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So what do we actually know about Yoda and what stories could Disney follow if making a standalone film about the great MasterYoda?
Well for starters we know how old he was when he died. “When 900 years you reach, look this good, you will not” is what Yoda says to Luke Skywalker when he returns to the swamp planet of Dagobah in Return of the Jedi.
Yoda was born on a remote planet that has never been named and he, himself was not aware of his own huge potential as a Jedi. It wasn’t until a ship Yoda was travelling on with a friend was struck by an asteroid and wrecked that, after drifting in space for days, a small swamp like planet appeared within rage and the two friends crash landed there. It’s worth noting that this swampy planet was not Dagobah as Lucas has stated that Yoda hadn’t visited Dagobah before his exile at the end of Episode III.
It was on this planet that a Jedi who went by the name of Gormo found the pair and exposed Yoda’s potential to be strong with the Force. Yoda was then taken under the tutelage of Master Gormo and by the time Yoda left this planet he was a trained Jedi.
Yoda was then sent to Coruscant where he would continue his training in the Jedi Temple and eventually become a Jedi Master.
I think in here there is potential for a decent story. The movie would be set hundreds of years before anything else we’ve seen on screen in the Star Wars Universe. It would tell the origin story of the greatest Jedi Master of all time and let’s face it, who doesn’t like a good origins story. From a business stand point there is, potentially, a whole Universe of new characters that Disney could introduce (think merchandise). As long as they are not like a certain Gungan I’m fine with that. Personally I would like these standalone movies to be as far removed from the actual ‘episode’ films as possible.
This could rule out things like Yoda’s training of Count Dooku, which is something that is mentioned in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, yet Dooku’s training could be factored into a film that features one of the only other stories we know about Yoda’s past. The time he declared that what everyone else on the council thought was the rising of the Sith, described as a ‘darkening of The Force’, was in fact the coming of a chosen one to bring balance to The Force.
This was a brash and outlandish statement for Yoda to make and many of the younger Jedi believed this to be short sighted. In response to these claims the young Jedi formed a breakaway faction which was named the Potentium. This splinter group ended up as its own ‘version’ of the Force, a different branch of the Jedi beliefs, if you will.
As you can imagine, going against millennia of Jedi teachings was not looked upon too kindly by the other council members and eventually Yoda was to lead a campaign to expel these rebel Jedi from the Jedi Order.
As it turns out, they were both right really! The rise of the Sith did happen as well as a bloke turning up to bring balance to the Force. Unfortunately for Yoda there was only one Jedi left by the time balance was restored, (Leia excluded) so he was unable to say I told you so to the doubters!
Whether Disney does decide to do a Yoda standalone film is yet to be confirmed. I though, cannot think of a better and more loved character than that of Master Yoda. So come on Disney restore some self-respect back to our little green friend who George Lucas jokingly once described as Kermit and Miss Piggy’s love child, stop having him sell mobile phones and put him back to the centre of The Star Wars Universe.
