Official Sith Pacify Power Rankings: #4

The 4th character for the Official Sith Pacify Power Rankings is…Yoda!

Yoda Overall = 98

As the last Grand Master of the Jedi Order, the legend of Yoda is as illustrious as the Jedi itself.

Small in stature and ancient in age, the Jedi Master’s place in the Force is at the very top.

In every single category one could judge a Force-user on, Master Yoda is elite.

Besides his prowess in the Force, his emotional and spiritual representation is unparalleled.

His devotion to living beings, his understanding of life itself and his dedication to all that is righteous is what this little green creature is.

As he sat atop the Jedi Council during the final days of its existence, Yoda knew the shroud of evil had grown so strong and so powerful that its consumption of the Order was eminent.

As the plot of the Sith unraveled and it was clear who Darth Sidious was, Yoda carried out his duty and attempted to right the wrong and defeat the Sith Lord.

Of course we know he ultimately failed in the battle for the ages but does that hurt his legacy? His place among the all-time Force-users?

Not in the slightest.

Characteristics

• “The Force is my ally” (Strength, 99/100)- Leader of the vaunted Jedi and a being of more than 800 years old, Yoda has seen and been through it all. With age comes experience and this little green individual has it all. With a complete and totally mastered arsenal, Yoda is a walking reminder of how epic and dynamic the Force really is. Not only is his combat use of the Force profound but his far sight and ability to sift through the ever turning future is what makes Yoda elite. Beings like the Emperor might have more offensive weapons than Yoda but it’s his defense that separates him from the pack…
• Pillar of Defense (Strength, 99/100)- Undoubtedly the best, Yoda’s strongest side of combat was his legendary defense. He might not have the most powerful Force weaponry, but he does have the most comprehensive and complete defensive talent out of anyone in Star Wars history. Yoda’s maneuvering and searching for the upper hand in warfare was severely unnerving for his opponents. Count Dooku and even Darth Sidious learned the hard way that the small in stature Jedi’s defense is impenetrable. 
•  Maestro Extraordinaire (Strength, 95/100)- What did Yoda refer to himself as most? One of the most powerful beings in the Galaxy? The most respected individual in all of Coruscant? None of the above. Yoda was a teacher and he thought of himself as one. Even though he was the most powerful being throughout the universe, Yoda’s pride and joy was in his teaching. His love for his younglings, his intense passion for his students and his admiration for his Padawans is what defines Master Yoda. Unlike the Sith who think inward, the Jedi and Yoda more specifically, is at the absolute pinnacle of humility. 
• I Choose Hope (Strength, 97/100)- As Ben Kenobi became one of the biggest influences for Luke to follow his destiny and become a Jedi, it’s Yoda who doesn’t receive enough credit for his part. After the Galaxy fell to the control of the Empire, Yoda could have just left existence and gone into hiding as Satele Shan once did. But no, the Grand Master of the Jedi knew he would still play an invaluable part in the timeline of the Force and descended in secrecy to the jungle/forest planet of Dagobah. Of course, young Skywalker would eventually find his way there and it would be Yoda who would provide the necessary training in order to take the next step in his path to a Jedi Master.
• Overlooked (Weakness, 40/100)- With the Clone Wars raging on and more information on the mysterious Sith Lord Darth Sidious being discovered by the day, it was Yoda who failed to register the legitimate  threat of the Sith. Of course all Jedi failed in this regard but as the Grand Master and leader of the Jedi, Yoda was most responsible. Of course it’s unfortunate for Yoda. Someone with such a pristine reputation and  level of understanding, to fall to Sidious and the Sith, that will forever plague Yoda’s legacy.

Intangibles 

• Level of Calm (Strength, 98/100)- In the height of the Clone Wars with intergalactic devastation throughout, with the wave of the Dark Side ever approaching and finally with the fall of practically all of his comrades, Yoda remained in a state of calm. As he assessed the situation, he fully knew that his emotions would do nothing but muddy the predicament. As the very best of the Order, you would expect no less and Yoda most certainly delivered. Unlike many other leading members of the Jedi who either showed a great deal of grief in the trying times of Order 66 or just in the thick of battle within the Clone Wars, Yoda remained relatively calm. Of course I’m obligated to point out that Yoda felt such immense pressure and weight on his conscience as more and more Jedi were lost every day but for the most part his attitude towards it all was what separated him from his peers as he was able to embrace diversity.

Final Word

Yoda is just one of those characters that deserves to be at the very top. Although he is fourth in my rankings, Yoda will forever be a mainstay as “one of the best”. With Yoda, there’s just so much to assess. His competence in the Force is at any individual’s peak, his level of understanding within the universe is top notch and all the intangibles that makes someone great are there as well. What’s there not to like about him? Of course he lost to Sidious in what would have been a Galaxy-saving victory but does that tarnish his reputation? Absolutely not. What’s fascinating is Yoda was extremely advanced in age at the time of their battle. What would have happened if Yoda was five or six hundred years younger!? Could the Jedi have emerged victorious? Of course we can only speculate but i’d tend to think the tides could have been swayed to the other side. The Light side.

-Sith Pacify out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story Saturday: The Failure of Exile

It’s common knowledge that Yoda went into a self-imposed exile after Chancellor Palpatine betrayed the Jedi and announced himself as the infamous Darth Sidious.

What isn’t so well known however is what happened to Yoda immediately after he arrived on Dagobah.

Well, the following short story will give you a better idea.

The premonitions were inevitable. A feeling long felt, dreamt, thought of, even daydreamed, yes he saw it coming.

Yoda, former Grand Master of the Intergalactic Jedi Order stands alone in his new home. While in exile on the Outer Rim remote planet of Dagobah, the nightmare of the demise of the Jedi replay in his head over and over.

Torture amongst solitude is enough to make even the strongest break.

But the once all-powerful leader of the respected Jedi, is now cracking under the sheer guilt and immense weight that reality has left him.

It was like a bad dream that plays over and over in his head. The faces of his slain comrades, their emotion of being caught off guard, surprised.

It was exactly three weeks since the Jedi were extinguished. To this point, Yoda’s journey to remain isolated from the rest of the galaxy has gone unexpected.

The impeding guilt of what happened mixed with the constant quiet that is Dagobah has started to deteriorate the mighty warrior’s mind.

Yoda knew being alone would certainly present its challenges but this situation he was unprepared for.

He could feel the force but it now felt different, very different.

A master of the force, a being of almost 900 years and for the first time, what he knew best was alien to him.

He felt as if all of his former padawans, his Jedi compatriots, were now submerged in a world of nothingness.

Almost as if their very existence now bear one thing in common: failure…

This “stinging wound” inflicted by the once so-called “chosen one”, Anakin Skywalker, brought Yoda unexplainable pain. The pain he felt was as if his body was impaled with a thousand singeing lightsabers held by all the former and current Sith Lords of the galaxy.

Today, Yoda woke up in the usual fashion. After intense mental clashing with his own conscience and psyche, the small creature found himself back in a deep sleep forced on him from pure exhaustion.

As if he was lifting 10,000 stones with his mind while sifting through his once vaunted Jedi archives searching for a single word of a foreign tongue in dozens of intricate yet different texts.

The short time he had been away from all he once knew had already began to deteriorate Yoda’s mind, spirit and body.

Yes the egregious results of the near past mentally scarred Yoda far worse than any physical injury could cause.

Yoda sat down on a branch gazing into the greenish gray forests as the morning sun mixed with rain sprinkled upon the trees and the moss that filled the planet’s ecosystem.

As Yoda prepared to allow his mind to fall back into a trance of mental meditation, he froze. He could feel the prodding mind of the all powerful Emperor mentally searching every crevice and interstice around.

His gaze was expanding, filling everything with awareness.

He was searching for someone, he was searching for Yoda.

However, the former Jedi champion knew he was safe. The boundaries of Dagobah protected its inhabitants with a one of a kind force concealment.

As the Emperor’s wave unknowingly washed over the planet with Yoda unscathed, the former Jedi sat back in deep reflection of his thoughts once more.

He knew over 98% of all beings who called themselves Jedi in any capacity were exfoliated, but he also knew within that very little known 2%, some holdouts remained.

Specifically, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Three weeks ago, the Jedi master dueled the spewing-with-hate Darth Vader on the volcanic planet of Mustafar and cursed the fallen Jedi to inexplicable punishment.

Unbeknownst to Obi-Wan, Vader survived the bout and went through emergency surgery to save and repair what was left of the once almighty body of Vader’s.

Yoda studied this new mechanical monstrosity that was now Darth Vader.

He could feel his dilapidated body stained with shame, confusion and anger. The last few months before the purge of the Jedi yielded great amounts of alienation for Skywalker.

Struggling to come to grips with his rapidly growing connection with the force and his second to none physical prowess, he became more and more unhappy with his role as a Jedi knight.

The gifted Skywalker demanded more.

More responsibility, more attention and more respect.

In the end, these feelings would push the very limits of reality and unfathomably joining the dark side of the force as Darth Sidious’s pawn.

In trying to come to grips with his situation, Yoda stretched his mind to the future.

The change of direction felt refreshing and for once in many years, the future existence of reality was no longer clouded.

Since the Dark Side had already struck, its great shadow of “unknown” was lifted.

Yoda saw decades ahead of intergalactic submission forced upon by the new regime.

However, he foresaw a meeting that shook him to the very core.

It was the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, the boy, Luke.

While Yoda was alone on Dagobah, young Luke was being carefully watched from a distance by Obi-Wan.

The boy would learn the force and eventually come to grips with his situation through Yoda himself.

This was the astronomical vision that Master Yoda could see!

As it began to fade out, Yoda regained an emotion that felt as if it was absent for centuries, happiness.

Deep in his heart and mind, Yoda knew of a secret, a new hope has arisen. Yes, Yoda knew…