The Jedi Order was horrified when the Clone Wars forced them to become soldiers instead of true peacekeepers. Still, Yoda is proving to fans the role the franchise’s Force-sensitive heroes were meant to serve in the larger universe.
Yoda resigned from his usual place on the Jedi Council during the High Republic era to assist an alien species under attack on their home planet. A rival race was constantly threatening their village. Yoda easily pushed back the aggressors; the Jedi Master, however, did not return to the Temple., much to the Council’s amazement. Instead, he resolved to settle on the planet until he could achieve long-term peace.
Cavan Scott and Nico Leon’s Star Wars: Yoda #2 further on Yoda’s efforts. He assists the locals in constructing a watchtower to detect potential attacks. Even when asked, he does not use Force to assist in its building. Instead, he only provides advice. The villagers ask why Yoda responds that the Force is not a shortcut and that the Jedi should only interfere when absolutely required. Yoda is on the planet to offer its inhabitants the option to make their own lives; he protects the peace but declines the opportunity to shape the society he oversees in his image.
Yoda Teaches Others to Fight for Their Rights
It is a typical trend among Jedi, which the Clone Wars certainly challenged. According to Mace Windu, the Jedi are peacekeepers, not soldiers. Sensing this, Palpatine orchestrated the clone army’s birth, instigating a conflict that would force the Jedi to militarise and harm their connection to the Light Side. However, before this point, Yoda demonstrates that the Jedi were more by Mace Windu’s ideas. In The Phantom Menace, Queen Amidala begged Qui-Gon to aid her with her condition, and he refused, stating that he could not fight her fights for her.
In this issue, Yoda truly epitomizes this philosophy. He is hesitant to utilize the Force to assist in constructing and maintaining the infrastructure required to bring about global peace. Instead, he only uses Force when people’s lives are at risk, whether by accident or battle. It is seen when someone falls off the tower, and he uses Force to save them. Yoda might easily lead a charge against the aggressors and wipe them out, or he could play the messiah role by erasing the agency of those he’s pledged to protect.
But that is not in keeping with the Jedi mentality at its peak. Peace is the ultimate goal, not conquest, even if the latter might be depicted as benevolent. Yoda has been living for hundreds of years, and it’s remarkable to observe how he has absorbed the original Jedi attitude and uses it wherever he goes.
