Saga Was Yoda fully sane on Dagobah?

Our (and Luke's) original impression of Yoda is by no means flattering. He looks like a crazy hungry green thing that unfortunately has the ability to speak. Yoda digs through Luke's stuff, eats Luke's food, and, obsessed with that awesome little flashlight, ends up stealing it. (He even goes so far as to fight with Artoo over it.)

So was Yoda slowly losing it during all those years as a hermit?

Perhaps going from fighting battles and conversing with others on a daily basis to living in total isolation with no one to speak with would play a part in that? Or could Yoda have been faking his apparent insanity for some reason? (If so, what is mentioned reason?)

 

He was just testing Luke. But if you watch the movies in episodic order, I think the idea is you're not supposed to be sure whether he's really gone crazy or not. I think that's what Artoo thought was going on.

 

Yoda was more sane on Dagobah than he was at any point prior.

In the prequels he was already the wisest of the Jedi, but even he was clouded by the presence of the Dark Side within their ranks and hindered by the limitations of the old Jedi ways. After the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, Yoda suffered an absolutely crushing defeat. That, along with the contact he was able to make with one Qui-Gon Jinn, helped him to realize his old failures, however, and he spent his exile discovering the "true" nature of the Force. He (along with Obi-Wan, on Tatooine) opened his mind and experienced the true potential of what a Jedi could be, and that is what he tried to teach to Luke when he arrived in TESB.

Yoda acted crazy during Luke's initial arrival, but that's exactly what that was: an act. He was testing Luke's patience, trying to see if there was any of his father in him.

 

I thought it was common knowledge that this was a test of Luke's patience and that Yoda's personality shift upon revealing who he was made that somewhat obvious. I guess there's always more than one way to look at something.

 

It was. Some people just don't catch that part of the story.

 

Surely you have to be a little crazy to live on Dagobah

 

He was faking.
After he reveals himself as THE Jedi Master, Yoda stops his crazy behavior.

The reason: testing Luke.

Yoda had Luke tested in many ways: patience (over his crazy acts), fear (at the cave), control (by levitating rocks), faith (by levitating his BIG X-Wing), etc...
He even told Luke that "You must not go!"
He knew Luke wasn't ready....

He was right after all, since Luke had a hand lost, and got completly shocked by Vader revelation.

 

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous also has a few scenes where he acts a bit silly (obviously inspired by ESB), so I would take it to mean that he's always had that side to him.

 

Yoda was sane. Like others have said, he was testing Luke to see how he would react.

 

YODA: "I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience."

OBI-WAN: "He will learn patience."

YODA: "Hmmm. Much anger in him, like his father."

 

Testing Luke. My love of that character stemmed from the change from jester to super serious sage.

 

He liked to have fun testing young Jedi. I can't imagine he got to have much fun cooped up in the tower with the Jedi Council.

 

He was testing Luke. His patience, possesiveness, perception, and so on...

 

Sometimes I actually wish the insane Muppet persona was the real Yoda. That's surreal filmmaking at its best to see a little frog guy beating a robot with a stick over a flashlight.

 

The question has been answered....but having to face another Skywalker boy after Anakin could induce some anxiety.

I don't blame him for not being too eager to train Luke, it must have been a very difficult situation to face, and Luke's behavior wasn't very comforting.

I see how paranoid and scared some people get over the slightest terrorist threat, it would be very easy for someone in Yoda's position to get hysterical and think it's happening all over again.

 

Always thought Yoda was crazy

 

R2 must have been like, "Whaaa?" It's one of those moments in which he has the unfortunate privilege of knowing things no one else knows, but he has to keep his mouth shut. Earlier in TESB, he had to watch Leia kiss Luke to annoy Han, and he probably wanted to say something, but he couldn't.

 

This. Yoda's solitude only made him even more wise. When we first see him, he's acting off the walls to test Luke's patience and compassion. We see that he has only gained knowledge of the force on Dagobah once we actually see him training and instructing Luke.

 

Yes, Yoda was fully sane. He was only testing Lukes patience.

 

He was merely faking his "eccentric" behavior to test Luke. Yoda's mental state was fine.

 

He was testing Luke. Notice how he drops it as soon as he reveals his real identity. I love the way Lucas sorta plays against our expectations here. We hear about this great Jedi master, and we’re expecting some great, big, strong warrior. Sorta like this, maybe:



When the great Jedi master turns out to be this little froglike Muppet, it surprises us, and we’re supposed to learn that there’s more to being a Jedi and being in tune with the Force than just lightsabers and superpowers. It’s about a certain mindset, a more abstract, spiritual and philosophical thing, “not this crude matter”. Yes, it enables you to have certain abilities, but that’s more of an added bonus, rather than the entire point. That’s why Luke only becomes a full Jedi at the end of RETURN OF THE JEDI, when he throws aside his lightsaber and says, “Never. I’ll never turn to the Dark Side. You’ve failed, your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” That’s when Luke finally understands what Yoda was trying to teach him. Levitating stuff with your mind and being able to wield a lightsaber is cool and all…but that’s not what being a Jedi is about. It’s hard to put it into words, but the best way to describe it is to say that being a Jedi is about wisdom. Doing Yoda the way they did him allows that message to be conveyed in a visual, subliminal way—visuals serving the story instead of being mere eye candy.

That’s why I don’t like midi-chlorians, because apparently, it turns out that being a Jedi IS all about crude matter. I also didn’t like the overemphasis on powers and lightsaber fights for the exact same reason. The Sith should be the ones obsessed with powers, lightsabers, and all that crap, not the Jedi.

 

When the official Star Wars site used to have a Q&A feature, they addressed this question and explicitly confirmed that Yoda was simply testing Luke.

Yoda had already had his former padawan, Count Dooku, converted to a Sith by the Emperor, and then Anakin as well. So Yoda was reluctant to risk helping create "Darth Vader Jr." Fortunately, although Luke acted impulsively and made mistakes, his commitment to the good side was strong.

 

On Earth, over the centuries, there are many examples of spiritual teachers feigning insanity in order to expose the faults of would be disciples and of society in general.
This technique has also been used to help students recognize and overcome the assumptions of ordinary thinking, shocking them out of the constraints of inculcated thinking patterns.
For me, this is one of GL's greatest accomplishments in the SW universe. He brought this ancient concept to the attention of millions of contemporary human beings.
As Rumi says "Do not look at my outward shape, But take what is in my hand." (13th Century)
"Judge me by my size, do you?" -Master Yoda
"You must unlearn what you have learned." -Master Yoda

 

Yes, as the others have already said, he was testing Luke's patience. A test Luke basically failed by the way. Yoda ends up training him anyway though of course. I'll admit, after first watching the PT years back, I found myself wondering the same thing, and had to go re-watch ESB to make sure. It was definitely supposed to be a test for Luke.

 

Yoda's antics and Luke's reactions make up some of the best character moments in the saga Imo.