Chris Snellgrove | publishing
The Star Wars prequel always portrays Yoda as a difference from politicians like Palpatine…and the future emperors mostly hatch plans from the shadows, but the Jedi is in danger, with only lightsabers and some bad CGIs. This is easy for this little green guy to take root as he is seen as the ultimate force in his plan to take over the galaxy with Palpatine. Yet Yoda lived for nearly a thousand years and led Jedi like a long American politician, making him as guilty as Palpatine in the destruction of the Old Republic.
Star Wars has always been political despite the fanatics: George Lucas explicitly resides on Richard Nixon on Richard Nixon and uses the Ewoks as a symbol of Viet Cong against the powerful American war machine. Therefore, not That Crazy comparisons of our own ancient politicians with those of Star Wars and discover some similarities… For example, some American politicians are in power Distant Longer than Palpatine’s 23 years. But it turns out that Yoda is worse than both American politicians and Palpatine himself when he continues to rule, and is doomed to everyone they should have protected.
Now, one would say that comparing Yoda to politicians is unfair, so here is another difficult fact: Jedi politicians are not only Jedi politicians, but they are the most corrupt people in the far-off galaxy. These are galaxy policemen with theories, effectively representing billions of people as government ambassadors…but they have no real external oversight, and Sergeant Shows that someone is willing to cover up the outrageous crime when trying to investigate. Yoda hosted all these powerless men, hiding his powers weakened until it was too late to be full of Jedi.
Yoda has been a member of the Jedi Council for more than 350 years in Canon, meaning he has been leading the way in this elite group for more than the entirety of the entirety of the life Various Galaxy aliens. On paper, that’s good because he’s both powerful and wise…the kind of leader who can give sage advice and still kick the butt with a lightsaber. But by the time of the prequel, this ancient alien is providing everyone with a very terrible secret: his ability to use that power is declining with everyone else’s ability. It is this failure that makes most people look like a dirty American politician.
If you go beyond the clumsy plot of the prequel, Yoda is revealed as a realistic politician who has been in power for centuries and refuses to resign when he realizes he has lost command of the troops…you know, that makes him both powerful and wise. A new, young leader may well have identified this issue of power and may even infer that Palpatine was the Sith Lord. But, like countless real-world politicians before him, Yoda’s refusal to ced his power, resulting in the Jedi genocide being easily stopped.
Of course, none of this is to reduce the evil behavior of Palpatine or his evil interns, but the point is that Yoda should be able to perceive the intentions of such predatory politicians, i.e. especially He knew a Sith lord hid behind a simple sight. Yoda will likely do this in the last few years, but the prequel Jedi Master no longer has enough control over the troops. If he is willing to quit, or even just work with some new ideas (like Ahsoka), 66 orders can be easily prevented.
At this point, Yoda enthusiasts may be screaming on the screen, he is better than older American politicians, and he is trying to stop Palpatine’s plan. But the little green master must learn his most famous course in the most painful way: do or not…not try.
