The Most Iconic Master Yoda Scenes
"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmmm?"
-Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
The diminutive and wizened Jedi Master Yoda, memorable in his own right as having unique speech patterns and being a member of one of the more unique species in the Star Wars galaxy, is also one of the most influential and significant characters in the Star Wars franchise. As such, he is another Star Wars character that has many iconic scenes in the Star Wars films and series.
Yoda's first onscreen (chronological) appearance is in The Phantom Menace. Yoda does not get much screen time in this movie, although his name and teachings are almost immediately referenced by a young Obi-Wan Kenobi at the start of the film. Yoda makes his first onscreen appearance toward the middle of the firm, when young Anakin Skywalker is brought before the Jedi Council by Qui-Gon Jinn, who is seeking permission from the Council to train him. Yoda pointedly confronts Anakin about the feelings of fear that he senses Anakin has for his mother and how those feelings could eventually lead him to the dark side of the Force. Because of this, the Jedi Council initially rejects Qui-Gon's appeal to train Anakin as a Jedi. However, after Qui-Gon is killed and Obi-Wan promises to train Anakin himself as a promise to a dying Qui-Gon, Yoda tells Obi-Wan that the Council has agreed to allow it. By his tone, however, it is clear that Yoda believes this to be a mistake.
In Attack of the Clones, however, Yoda gets many more memorable scenes, starting with a charming scene where Obi-Wan comes to Yoda's for assistance in locating the mysterious planet of Kamino, whose location has been inexplicably scrubbed from their star charts. Yoda engages the younglings he is instructing at the time with the task of helping solve Obi-Wan's mystery surrounding the location of the planet, and their combined efforts are ultimately successful. Yoda later makes a surprise appearance on Geonosis on a gunship to help evacuate Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padme, and other Jedi survivors beset upon by the Separatists' droid forces in a deadly arena battle.
The real moment when Yoda truly shines in this movie, though, is when he dramatically shows up in a hangar to confront Count Dooku. Yoda engages in a fierce and frenetic lightsaber duel with Dooku and fights him to a bitter stalemate. Yoda is ultimately forced to disengage from his fight with Dooku in order to save Anakin and Obi-Wan from being crushed by a pillar, which allows Dooku time to escape. This scene was a verified crowd pleaser when it first came out and I was right there with the rest of the audience, particularly since I hadn't been spoiled about it back when it was released. Plus, having grown up during the original trilogy movies, it was the first time in the Star Wars saga that Yoda had been seen wielding a lightsaber or engaging in any kind of combat.
The animated The Clone Wars series gave us some pretty memorable Yoda moments as well. In the very first aired episode, "Ambush," Yoda leads a small group of clone troopers against Asajj Ventress and her droid forces in a contest to determine whether Toydaria would ally themselves with the Republic or the Separatists. What stands out the most about the episode is not so much that Yoda and his clone troopers succeed through some use of clever strategy. In a quiet scene toward the beginning of the episode where Yoda and the clone troopers seek refuge in a cave, Yoda reminds the clones of their own uniqueness and individual strengths, despite them being clones. The scene reaffirms the Jedi Master's wisdom and also shows how Yoda views the clones, specifically how they all still deserve the respect and care afforded to all other sentient beings in the galaxy.
I also have to give significant praise to the "Yoda's Journey" arc toward the end of Season 6 (The Lost Missions) of the series. This story arc involves Yoda, after hearing Qui-Gon's voice, going on a journey to areas of the galaxy strong in the Force to attempt to learn more about the Cosmic Force and the implications it has regarding the Clone Wars and the future of the Jedi Order. Some of the more memorable moments of this arc are him traveling to Dagobah and visiting the same dark side cave that Luke visits in The Empire Strikes Back, and seeing tragic visions about the fate of the Jedi Order. He also later confronts a twisted version of himself, as well as that of Darth Bane. At the end of the story arc, Yoda returns safely to the Jedi Temple to ponder his journey with Mace Windu in a pastoral scene set in a courtyard of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The journey seems to leave Yoda with the realization that defeating the Sith and bringing balance to the Force may be a longer task than just achieving final victory in the Clone Wars, an insight that proves to be prescient in light of later galactic events.
As the Clone Wars roll along in Revenge of the Sith, Yoda winds up on the front lines of the war on Kashyyyk, fighting alongside the Wookies against the Separatists. When Order 66 is initiated by Darth Sidious, Yoda begins to sense the deaths of Jedi throughout the galaxy so keenly that he falters and drops his walking cane. He later deftly springs into action and kills a pair of clone troopers who have come to execute him. His Wookiee friends Chewbacca and Tarfful quickly spirit him away to an escape pod, where he bids them a sad farewell.
Yoda later joins Obi-Wan in an effort to warn away Jedi survivors and confront Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. Yoda orders Obi-Wan to find and confront Vader while he confronts Sidious. Despite Obi-Wan's pain at seeing his former Padawan bow before Sidious and doubts about his ability to go through with killing him, Yoda firmly urges Obi-Wan to fulfill his mission.
Yoda later memorably strolls into Sidious' Senate Office, casually tossing his guards aside and later throwing Sidious across the room back into his chair while Sidious is taunting him about his triumph over the Jedi. Yoda and Sidious later begin an epic duel in the Senate chamber, which culminates in them throwing Senate Pods at each other. Ultimately, despite his powers, Yoda concludes that he is facing defeat against Sidious and chooses to withdraw into exile so that he can live to fight another day.
Although it was cut from the movie, there was a memorable scene filmed of Yoda arriving on Dagobah to start his exile there, which I think should have been included somehow, even though we all know where we see him next.
Although Yoda is seen via some Force visions by Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger in Star Wars Rebels, Yoda does not make another major onscreen appearance in the series until The Empire Strikes Back, where he spends a considerable amount of time training young Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Jedi, even though he first appears to Luke to be just an annoying swamp creature living on Dagobah. As with Anakin, Yoda initially expresses great skepticism about training Luke due to his age and also his impatience. Yoda, at the urging of Obi-Wan, relents, however, and begins training Luke. One of the most iconic scenes in the entire saga is Yoda demonstrating to Luke that the powers of the Force have nothing to do with one's size by calmly using the Force to raise Luke's X-Wing, a feat that Luke himself finally achieves much later in The Rise of Skywalker.
Yoda's role in Return of the Jedi is fairly brief but memorable in that Yoda dies and passes into the Force when Luke returns to Dagobah complete his training, but not before Yoda confirms the truth to Luke that Darth Vader is indeed Luke's father, as well as hinting at the existence of another Skywalker. Yoda dies before revealing exactly who the other Skywalker is, but Luke ultimately figures it out for himself. Yoda is seen by Luke at the conclusion of this film, alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, all of whom have now become Force Ghosts. Despite the seeming end of Yoda's journey in this movie, it is, amazingly, not the last time we see him.
Yoda makes a surprise re-appearance to Luke as a Force Ghost in The Last Jedi, while Luke is preparing to burn down the first Jedi Temple on Ach-To. To Luke's astonishment, Yoda somehow summons lightning to destroy it himself, acting somewhat like the mischievous swamp creature he was introduced as in The Empire Strikes Back . Yoda then goes on to teach Luke to forgive himself for his past failures with Ben Solo and the destruction of his new Jedi Order. He also urges Luke to help Rey, as they watch the Jedi Temple on Ach-To burn. Yoda's words give Luke the courage and strength to help confront the First Order and ensure the survival of Rey and the Resistance, which, in turn, helps restore a measure of hope in the galaxy.
Although The Last Jedi is the last time we see Yoda onscreen chronologically, it is likely not the last time we will ever see or hear from him again, especially since there is still much that we do not know about his species, even despite the fact that there have been two other characters of his species introduced in the canon to date. The High Republic publishing project, which is set 200 years prior to The Phantom Menace, has featured him, and perhaps he may be featured onscreen again in The Acolyte, set at the end of the High Republic era. Also, as he is now a Force Ghost, so he could continue to appear indefinitely beyond the sequel trilogy, although should he be used again in the future, I hope that his appearances are used sparingly, as I feel that Yoda is such a unique and special character in the Star Wars franchise that he is sometimes more memorable when his presence is felt, rather than seen.