Did Yoda become crazy?

I watched Ep. 3 last night and Yoda was respectful, calm, and not mildly retarded.

Im watching Ep. 5, and he is crazy! laughing all the time, making unfunny jokes, all that jazz.

Im wondering, what happnened to yoda to make him this way? He is still master of the force, but acts much different from before his exile.

 

He was just testing Luke.

 

It was the effect of 22 years of swamp gas.

But seriously, it's a good thing the crazy Yoda bit was left out of ROTS!

 

You did, um, notice that he stopped acting like that just as soon as it had served its purpose, yes?



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

If for twenty years you lived in a swamp, drink a lot too, you would.

But yes, in all seriousness, he stops acting crazy after Luke shows his impatience. He was just testing Luke. I'm sure that he was having fun with it though.

 

You see, Yoda was always a closet thespian. He just never had the oppurtunity while the Old Republic was still standing to fully commit himself to acting. He simply finally got to live out his dream of being an actor after the Jedi Purge as he no longer had the responsibilities of the Old Order on his shoulders.

Edit: Seriously though, it was all a test so that Luke would see his impatience etc.

 

Exactly. Not sure what else needs to be said in this thread but I guess we'll let it go.

 

He does the little crazy stunt in Dark Rendezvous, so it's also part of his "normal" personality.

 

He's testing Luke to see his level of patience and his compassion for all sorts of personalities. Luke failed that test seeing as he was too eager to learn the force and not patient at all. Plus after being in isolation for 20 or so years, you'd be excited to see someone too.

 

Root leaf stew is mildly narcotic.

Nah, he was just trying to suss Luke out before training him.

He snapped out of it as soon as Luke figured out who he was.

But you would become a little bit eccentric I suppose, if you lived alone on a swamp planet for 20+ years. His eyes definitely lit up when he saw Luke's Cadbury 'Flake'.

 

Bingo!

He was testing Luke's patience. Patience is one of the key aspects of a Jedi's life. It helps you to keep your emotions under control.

"I cannot train him. He has no patience."

 

Maybe I'm wrong here...

But wasn't there a scene in the script for ROTS where Yoda is acting crazy in a Kashyyk swamp, covering himself in mud so that the clonetroopers wouldn't recognise him?

 

Yep, it was a deleted scene, that didnt make it onto the dvd deleted scene selection. Tbone has it on his website.

 

Wookie good! Eat wookie! Ehehehehehe mmmmmmm

 

It was an act to test Luke, of course. It also helps reveal Luke something about himself that he didn't know before. He would certainly have acted very differently had he been aware of Yoda's identity as a Jedi Master from the get-go.

 

It was also in the illustrated screenplay.
Heres the text :

152 EXT. KASHYYYK-LAKE ON VILLAGE EDGE-DUSK

CLONES in modified one-man AT-ST's and Swamp Speeders flash their searchlights across the gloomy lake. The light of one of the AT-ST's spots something floating in the water. It is what's left of a Wookiee catamaran. The body of a dead Wookiee (TARFFUL) is lying across the stern of the wreckage of the flying boat. There is some movement on the boat. The CLONE SERGEANT on the AT-ST fires a warning shot past the boat.

AT-ST CLONE SERGEANT: Everyone out of there!

A CRAZY LITTLE CREATURE about two feet high pops its head over the rail. The creature is covered with mud. His long hair is frizzed out in all directions.

CREATURE: Wookiee good . . . eat Wookiee. (crazy little laugh)

CLONE SERGEANT: Did you find something?

CREATURE: It's nothing, nothing. (laughs)

CLONE SERGEANT: It's nothing, nothing. All these Wookiees are dead. Move to the east.

CLONE TROOPER: Yes, sir.

Suddenly, CHEWBACCA climbs up behind the AT-ST CLONE, dripping wet, and throws the CLONE SERGEANT into the water. CHEWIE BARKS.

CREATURE: Right you are, Chewbacca. Faster that will be.

TARFFUL jumps up in the boat, and the CREATURE takes off his hair. It is Yoda.

YODA: Stink, this mud does. A moment to bathe, give me.

YODA, covered with mud, jumps into the water. TARFFUL climbs onto the AT-ST with CHEWBACCA. YODA is out of the water and putting his robes back on.

YODA: (continuing) Not far, are we, from the emergency ship. Quickly . . .

YODA whistles and a large ALIEN FLYING INSECT called CAN-CELL appears. YODA jumps on the insect's back and they take off. The WOOKIEES follow on the AT-ST. The CLONES continue to search the swamp.

153 EXT. KASHYYYK-HILLS OVERLOOKING LAKE-DUSK

The AT-ST marches up the hill and stops. The WOOKIEES jump down. YODA lands on CAN-CELL nearby. CHEWBACCA goes to a tree and pulls down one of its branches.
The ground opens up, and a small WOOKIEE ESCAPE POD rises into the field. YODA opens the door of the pod.

YODA: Good-bye. Chewbacca and Tarfful, miss you I will. Good friends you are. For your help, much gratitude and respect, I have.

 

You'd go crazy, too, if Frank Oz had his hand up your ass all day!

 

The screenplay insists that Yoda is crazy because Yoda is being portrayed in that fashion. Yoda is acting crazy on purpose. He is merely testing Luke. A screenplay is a written formula of what the audience are supposed to be seeing. When we first saw ESB, we are supposed to think that Yoda is a crazy life-form, with no real purpose to the storyline. Obviously, we are mistaken, and learn that Yoda was testing Luke to see how patient he was. Yoda did not become crazy. He always had a sense of humour:

"Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarassing, how embarassing."