One Attack Of The Clones Scene Is Secretly Key To Yoda's Entire Prequel Trilogy Story

Summary Yoda's descent in the prequels shows his doubt in the Force, leading to the Jedi Order's fall.

Yoda's failure to see the clone army creation is a pivotal point in his journey of faith.

Yoda's lack of foresight causes him to be blindsided, affecting Anakin and the Jedi Order.

In the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Yoda is held up as the Grand Master of the Jedi Order; he represents the pinnacle of almost 25,000 years of Jedi history. Nevertheless, each prequel movie details Yoda’s slow descent into doubt and defeat. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace shows Yoda is confident in his foresight of the future, enough to see the darkness in Anakin Skywalker. But in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, one line shows just how blind Yoda had become to what was really going on in the galaxy.

As the Grand Master of the Order, Yoda embraces all the Force. He does not balk or run away from Force visions, regardless of the doom they portend. Instead, Yoda seeks to learn from every experience the Force has to offer; he’s always looking for the lesson to be learned. Nevertheless, something happens to Yoda in Attack of the Clones that causes him to start doubting his ability to use the Force, ultimately leading Yoda to fail Anakin and lead the Order to its own destruction.

Attack Of The Clones Is The Moment Yoda's Faith Is Shaken

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After Obi-Wan Kenobi reports his discovery of the massive clone army on Kamino, Yoda and Mace Windu discuss their ignorance of the whole situation. Yoda remarks: "blind we are, if creation of this clone army we could not see.” In other words, hundreds of thousands of souls were being crafted on the fringe of the galaxy; even with all Yoda’s foresight, he was utterly oblivious to the creation of the clones. Of course, Master Sifo-Dyas’ involvement only served to make Yoda grow more paranoid of the Order’s impending doom.

Sifo-Dyas' connection to the creation of the clone army is explored in even more detail in the final arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 6.

It’s also interesting to point out Yoda’s desire to keep their failure under wraps. Mace Windu offers to inform the Senate that the Jedi Order’s foresight in the Force has diminished, but Yoda insists that this course will only multiply their enemies. The bitter irony of his situation is that Palpatine already knew the Jedi were blind to his ascension. While Yoda doubted his ability to see the future and attempted to hide his shortcomings from the galaxy, Palpatine was busy exploiting his weakness.

Yoda The aged Jedi Master had trained Jedi for 800 years by the time he met Luke Skywalker on the planet Dagobah. One of the most famed and revered Jedi, Yoda served as Grand Master of the Jedi Order for centuries; he was powerful enough to duel Darth Sidious himself, although he was defeated. Yoda exiled himself to Dagobah, where he learned how to become a Force Ghost and offered guidance to Luke Skywalker. Created By George Lucas Cast Frank Oz , Tom Kane Alliance Jedi Race Unknown

This Is Why Yoda Loses Confidence When Counseling Anakin

Yoda lost faith in his foresight in Attack of the Clones, which is why he cautions Anakin Skywalker not to trust his visions in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. But just because he was unable to see the creation of the clones does not mean Anakin’s visions were something to ignore. In the end, all Yoda offers Anakin is some advice about letting go; he fails to empathize with Anakin’s plight and fails to realize that Anakin really is seeing the future.

The moment Yoda hears about the clones in Attack of the Clones is the turning point of his journey. Not only did he fail to foresee the creation of the clone army, but he was oblivious to their existence for over 10 years. In the 900 years he’d been alive, this may have been the first true point where the Force failed him. And as soon Yoda starts doubting the Force in Star Wars, the rest of the Jedi Order is led astray along with him.