'The Shroud of the Dark Side has Fallen' - what does Yoda actually mean

In the final scenes of AOTC, Yoda says to Obi-Wan and Mace "The Shroud of the Dark Side has Fallen, begun this Clone War has"

But what does he mean exactly by the Shroud of the Dark Side falling? I know The Dark Side has clouded the vision of the future, so can the Jedi now see thf future again (doubtful consdiering the end of the war), or just the fact that they now know war is going to happen, or something else?

 

I think that sentence, at the time Yoda said it, has more to do with Dooku, as wookiepedia states:

"After deflecting Dooku's Force powers, among which was Force Lightning, Yoda realized that Dooku had turned to the dark side of the Force, becoming a Sith Lord."

But that sentence was more profound than Yoda realized at that point.

 

I always thought that Yoda was trying to articulate the fact that they're chances of catching the Sith Lord are postponed because of the war. Now they have too much on their plates and Sidious has the advantage. If he was impossible to find before, now with the war and a second Sith, he's virtually invisible. JMO.

 

I think it indicates that he/they now know for sure that the Dark Side has really and truly returned as a force to be reckoned with... first through the start of the war, and second through the realization that Dooku is a Sith apprentice. Before that point, they had a feeling that the Dark Side was growing and that it was clouding their vision... but now they know for sure. The shroud that was mostly hiding it has fallen.

As a side note, I always think the part about "begun this Clone War has" is a little odd. Like he immediately knows what this war will be later known as. People didn't know that "World War I" had started, just a big war. The Clone Wars could have just as easily ended up being known as The Droid Wars or The Republic-Confederacy War. I kind of think that line is there as a reference/confirmation for the audience.

 

"Now,I realize that we have been manipulated by the Sith/the dark side to fight a war that will destroy democracy and be our demise"

 

For hundreds of years, the Jedi failed to sense the steady rise of the dark side amidst the decaying order of the Republic. Once they realized the apparent scope of the order's influence in galactic affairs, they understood the fight was on, a fight they though would, could never happen since the Sith had been destroyed a millennium ago. But it took the Jedi the entire movie to realize it!

The opening scene of the Temple shrouded in mist is a tremendous visual describing what was happening - had happened - to the order. They failed to see the Sith gaining influence and power. The jedi were operating from their ivory tower as they had always done, figuratively shrouded in the 'fog' of the dark side with a Sith lord in their midst.

For ten years 'Chancellor' Palpatine deftly manipulated the Senate and the Jedi. He knew the order better than they knew themselves. He pinpointed their few (but fatal) weaknesses and effectively neutralized their greatest strengths. And still, just before the curtain falls on AOTC, the Jedi bend to the will of Palpatine and agree to serve as generals for 'his' Clone army, in essence taking orders directly from a Sith wolf in sheep's clothing.

Oh, how sweet that moment must have been for Sidious, watching the Clones mobilize and knowing with great certainty that everything was proceeding according to his plans.

 

Most likely "something else", because the Jedi certainly haven't lost their ability to use the Force when fighting. Then again, the lightsaber scenes are the bread and butter of these films, so it should come as no surprise that this particular Force skill remains undiminished.

At best, it's just setting the mood of the story....just another phantom menace...I doubt it gets much more specific than that.

 

I always thought of the "shroud" to which Yoda refers not as a veil obscuring vision, but as a metaphorical funeral shroud. I believe he is articulating the death of the world he has known and assigning responsibility for this metaphorical death to the forces of the dark side, which include the Sith, but also the anger, fear and agression that will animate even many Jedi who become warriors.

The prequel era Jedi, as represented in Lucas' movies, are "the guardians of peace and justice," "keepers of the peace." The major purpose of their Order was to prevent war and conflict within the Republic, so Obi-Wan and Mace are happy with their military victory, but Yoda sees any military engagement as a defeat and indeed destruction of the Jedi Order, irreparably changing its character.

And in that respect, it is significant that Yoda calls the conflict the "Clone War," and not the "Droid War," or the "Republic Civil War," or something along those lines, because he is characterizing the entire conflict in terms of what appears to be the Jedi Order's new army. For Yoda, the age of Jedi is over and the age of clones (and Jedi Knights as clone army generals) has taken its place.

 

And in that respect, it is significant that Yoda calls the conflict the "Clone War," and not the "Droid War," or the "Republic Civil War," or something along those lines,

Lucas had no choice but to call it the Clone War in order to tie it to the line in ANH. He chose "Clone War" because it sounded cool and futuristic at the time.

Overall, there were many times more droids than clones involved, and the droids were the rebelling forces who eventually lost. The victors write the history. So from the perspective of a typical Republic person, the term "Droid War" would have been a more logically choice.

 

Yeah, I was going to say something similar to that. Yoda calls it the Clone Wars because of the OT, and because it's in the film Attack of the Clones. That's pretty much it.

 

I think he must likely thinks that Dooku is the master, not the apprentice, and figures that the Sith are now revealed.

 

What Yoda means is that Dooku, who has grown powerfully with the aid of the dark side of the Force, is leading the Separatist in the first stages of the Clone Wars. The dark side itself has revealed itself on a galatic scale.

 

Dam that OT. Nothing but a party pooper.