The Unique Way Master Yoda Trained His Padawans
icked off its Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia event, which will be told across multiple books, comics, and eventually cross over onto Disney+ with the newly announced The Acolyte series. This week, IDW released the first issue of their Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comic series. Minor spoilers ahead, for those that have not yet read any of The High Republic material.
The issue ties in closely with The High Republic’s first novel, Light of the Jedi. The opening chapters of Light of the Jedi describe “The Great Disaster,” a catastrophe in which a freighter called the Legacy Run rips apart in hyperspace. The debris from the Legacy Run emerges from hyperspace in the Hetzal system. While many die, Jedi in the system are able to make a huge difference and save lives. Unfortunately, debris begins to emerge in other systems, leading to a death toll in the billions.
The High Republic Adventures opens on a Republic security monitoring satellite, where it is presented very much as “just another day,” with a Dug technician even saying, “Nothing remarkable,” as he checks off sectors. Of course, things change very quickly when debris from The Great Disaster emerges in the system, and a distress call is sent out.
Luckily, the Star Hopper, a “Padawan Academic Cruiser,” is able to respond to the distress call. The Jedi Master teaching these Padawans is none other than Yoda. But this Yoda actually looks quite different than the one whom we are accustomed to seeing. He is not bent over and using a cane; he is shown standing straight and at attention. This Yoda looks more like a great warrior (though as he famously said in The Empire Strikes Back, “wars not make one great”). The artist, Harvey Tolibao, went to great lengths to show that this is a younger, less weathered Yoda, and in some ways it works. In others, it’s distracting, because you know this is supposed to be Yoda, but he looks so different from all we’ve ever seen of him.
The main character in this group of Padawans is Lula Talisola, who wants to be the “greatest Jedi ever” but also constantly worries about how things can go wrong. In her inner monologue, she states that she knows how to make herself look calm, but that it’s a mask.
A few of the Padawans express concern that maybe they’re not qualified for an evacuation mission, but Master Yoda brushes it off, saying in his trademark syntax: “No. Padawans, you are. But it matters not. The only hope of rescue, we are, for Trymant, and so… continue we must.”
Yoda instructs the Padawans to head to their rescue speeders, and tells them, “May the Force be with you.” It is unclear whether the Jedi Master accompanies any of the Padawans to the surface, or if he stays on the Star Hopper to command, as he is not seen again in the issue. His students are then thrust straight into the action as they fly down in small groups to assist with the evacuation efforts on Trymant. But things aren’t that simple, and the Padawans quickly find themselves wrapped up in a situation they couldn’t have anticipated, with danger they were not prepared for.
It’s difficult to say whether Yoda, as a teacher, made the right decision here. In a moment where thousands of lives are in peril, he doubtless was thinking of the greater good. But if Yoda had any kind of plan for these Padawans to carry out, the issue doesn’t show it. Was this another kind of test for them? If it was, was this the best time for it?
Master Yoda has been shown time and again to have a “letting the students teach themselves, it's the best lesson” mentality. In The Clone Wars episode "The Gathering," we see Padawans race against time to find the Kyber crystals for their first lightsabers before the only exit from the cave system is frozen over. By the end of the episode, Yoda reveals that the biggest obstacle they faced was not being trapped by the ice, but being trapped by their own insecurities. Luke Skywalker is put through a similar test by Yoda on Dagobah without warning. Some lessons must be learned through experience.
It remains to be seen how the Padawans handle their literal trial by fire, but with more from The High Republic Adventures on the way, we will know soon enough. We do know that 200 years in the future, Yoda is still a Jedi Master and member of the Council, so things can’t go too badly. Right?
What do you think? Is Yoda doing this for the greater good and letting his Padawans learn through experience? Or does it seem like training under Yoda should require signing liability forms? Leave a comment and let us know.
Source(s): Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #1