Yoda’s first lesson to Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars canon was much deeper than you think. As seen in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda agrees to train Luke Skywalker as a Jedi after the young hero finds him on Dagobah. However, it was only after Yoda shared some wisdom based on his past trauma and regrets during the Clone Wars.

At the end of the prequel trilogy, the Jedi Order fell thanks to the manipulations of the Sith combined with their own pride and hubris. While Grandmaster Yoda attempted to defeat the newly named Emperor Palpatine, he ultimately failed, motivating Yoda’s exile to the swamp world of Dagobah. However, it can be argued that Yoda’s failure extended well beyond his duel with Palpatine, reaching back to the start of the Clone Wars itself. To that end, it’s fascinating to look at Grandmaster Yoda’s first lesson to Luke in the context of what happened during the Clone Wars.

Yoda Warns Luke To Stay In The Present, Not The Future

“A Jedi Craves Not These Things…”

As seen in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda doesn’t want to train Luke Skywalker, at least not right away. Not only does Yoda claim that Luke is too old and reckless to begin Jedi training, he also knows the kind of life Luke Skywalker led as a moisture farmer on Tatooine:

“All his life has he looked away … to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was … what he was doing. Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.”

While Yoda eventually agrees to train Luke, this piece of wisdom was effectively Skywalker’s first lesson. Warning Skywalker to remain in the present and keep his mind focused on what’s currently happening in front of him, Yoda confirms that keeping one’s mind only on the future can prove disastrous if a balance isn’t struck. Sure enough, this lesson also continues, especially after Luke receives a vision through the Force that his friends were in danger. Regardless, it can certainly be argued that Yoda was speaking from direct experience due to his Clone Wars history.

The Jedi Order Fell Because They Misread The Future

Clouded by the Dark Side

Firstly, Yoda and the Jedi Order failed in their understanding of the Chosen One prophecy and how it would be fulfilled by Anakin Skywalker. Additionally, it was confirmed by Yoda and Mace Windu in Attack of the Clones that their ability to use the Force and ascertain the future had been diminished, having been clouded by the dark side and the manipulations of Darth Sidious from the shadows. Thanks to their pride, the Jedi believed themselves to be an infallible insтιтution that would continue to last for millennia into the future.

The Jedi also hoped to bring a swift end to the Clone Wars by becoming generals for the Republic’s clone army. As such, they effectively compromised their own core values in the name of securing future peace, ironically becoming soldiers instead of peacekeepers. As a Grandmaster who’d lived hundreds of years and a core leader of the Jedi Council, Yoda was central to the Jedi Order’s failings, having deeply misread the future while blind to what was truly happening to the present galaxy with the rise of Palpatine’s Empire (at least not until it was far too late).

Yoda Never Learned How To Balance The Present & The Future

It Was Too Late To Save The Jedi Order…

By keeping their focus on the future and what they couldn’t see, the Jedi Order failed to recognize what was happening in the present. Likewise, the blame falls on the Grandmaster just as much as any other Jedi Master, given the position Yoda held among the Jedi Council and his great influence. As such, all of these past mistakes and guilt from the Clone Wars certainly recontextualize Yoda’s first lesson to Luke as he cautions Skywalker to achieve a balance between the present and future, something Yoda himself seemingly lost during the prequels.