Rewatching the Yoda Arc of TCW Season 6. There are some lofty ideas, and I'm still trying to work them out. It appears there were three stages of Yoda being prepared to maintain his identity following death. 1. Meriting The Gift 2. Comprehending the Principles 2a. Overcoming Hubris 2b. Resisting And Working Through Emotional Temptation (Confusion, Anger, Sadness, Joy, Serenity) 2c. Willingness to Sacrifice 3. Fulfillment of Training Mastering the Principles I want to think a little more about each of these, break them down, and discuss thoughts about their overall relevance, and how important each stage seems to have been based on what we know of those we know who canonically received the Gift. (Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Anakin) --- 1. Meriting The Gift. The Priestesses (who we have been led to believe were different aspects of one individual being) stated they chose to bestow this gift on Yoda as a reward for something he would do - It is a gift of foreknowledge of what he would do, not who who he was. "Oh, it's impossible. He will fail with the great Gift. He will disappoint us. He will disappoint himself!" "Oh, no. No, I do not see that." "His destiny is already set. It is not for us to decide." "But why him?" "He is to teach one that will save the universe from a great imbalance. For this, the great Gift will be his." "He has no idea what he seeks, the responsibility he will have."
In before this thread becomes too TLDR for me: I don't know how I feel about it being characterized as a "gift"; it's more a responsibility than anything. It's not like "yay, I'm a Force God now!"--you're giving up your physical life in order to act as a conscious extension of the Force's will.
It's not a reward. As CooperTFN said, it's a responsibility. He's going to teach Anakin ("the one that will save the universe from a great imbalance") how to retain his identity in the afterlife.
Actually, this is something I think perhaps initially misunderstood the first time. It seemed that the gift would be granted just for a purpose. Revisiting the scene, and the dialogue, changed my perspective on this a bit. It looks to be there's another option. Is it to train Anakin? Is it because he trained Anakin? Is it because he will Train Luke? Is it because, to them and their perspective, he Did Train Luke? It seems it is a combination of both. Is specifically characerized as a Gift that is Merited, but also with a responsibility. But which came first? Was it merited because it was his destiny to fulfill it, IE, already had? If so/not, is his mission not completed? Did Yoda give Anakin a visit behind the scenes in ROTJ and pull a Qui-Gon? Was what Yoda did to Merit the responsibility also the purpose for its being given?
To teach Anakin. He never did. Luke didn't save the universe from the imbalance. Anakin did, Luke was just the catalyst. They are talking about Anakin.
It comes down to this line, I think: ""He is to teach one that will save the universe from a great imbalance. For this, the great Gift will be his." Was Yoda granted the Gift because he will Teach the One? Or was he granted the gift TO Teach the One? If we are clear we have identified the One, when was this teaching accomplished? Has it been done by the time the OT ends? Does this have relevance to their last message to Yoda, "There is another Skywalker"? We can see Qui-Gon being given the gift with which he facilitated the training of Yoda and Obi-Wan. We can see Obi-Wan being given the gift to facilitate the training of Luke Who did Yoda train with the gift? And when was this done? To what purpose was Anakin given the gift? Was it simply for his merit, or for a future purpose/responsibility?
I'm confident they're not talking about Anakin. Luke does save the universe from an imbalance, by redeeming his father. And Yoda trains him.
My fantheory is that the ghosts vanish into the force when they have completed their task. It is a willful and peaceful passing.
I think they're talking about Luke Skywalker, Son of the Suns. I would also like to think that the "priestesses" are Shamans of the Whills but that's probably just wishful thinking. Missa ab iPhona mea est.
Which brings things back to the question, is the Gift given for a purpose, or bestowed as a reward of merit. Your position goes to the Merit theory - he successfully trained Luke (and passed on the knowledge for Ben to seek the Gift so that after death Ben could still point Luke to Yoda so this could happen) - but at least by the point of ROTJ, we are unaware of anything Yoda was to do with the Gift following his obtaining of it.
I think it's very clearly purpose: to train Luke. That's why they talk about failure. When they say it's "for this" they mean "to do this." Missa ab iPhona mea est.
And who'se to say in Universe, Luke isn't an ancient Naboo word that means Balance. So, you know, Anakin, through Padme, brought Balance to the Force.
Just because Yoda doesn't die until RotJ doesn't mean he's not already acting in concert with the "gift" in ESB. I think once you have it, you are it--when and if your body happens to die is, pardon the pun, immaterial.
There's a lot I like about this idea, actually. "Luminous beings are we." - Eternal Life doesn't begin with the dissolution of the body, it begins now. Now is part of the eternities. Would you consider his interactions in Rebels being a manifestation of that Gift?
That actually makes a lot of sense. It's not Yoda physically speaking to them from Dagobah, it's Force!Yoda. And more importantly, even the Yoda that is physically on Dagobah is Force!Yoda--just as much as the little ball of light is.
Is Force!Yoda separate from Yoda? Like the old EU versions of holocrons having consciousness. Are those lights patterned on Yoda or are they a manifestation of physical Yoda? And recall that when Kenobi is struck down, he becomes more powerful than Vader might imagine. That's related surely. Missa ab iPhona mea est.
Physical Yoda Body is just one aspect of Crude Matter that Force!Yoda uses as a convenient host/anchor. LivingForceYoda surfs the Cosmic Force. Crude Matter Yoda is just his home port.
A holocron is a simulacrum--I'm saying the individual Yoda is by then no more. Though, yeah, taking Obi's use of "I shall become" literally kind of bumps up against this. We are here because you are here.
