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When Yoda was a Padawan, could the Jedi have thought he was the Chosen One?

Rogue Jedi
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user35971
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1 Answers1

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It is highly doubtful that the Jedi would have considered the possibility that Yoda was the Chosen One.

The prophecy of the Chosen One, as given in The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, reads:

In the time of greatest despair,

a child shall be born

who will destroy the Sith

and bring balance to the Force.

Yoda was born approximately 900 years before the events of the movies. However, the Sith were thought to have gone extinct about 1,000 years before the events of the movies (when Darth Bane created the Rule of Two).

Consequently, Yoda was born at a time in which the Sith were thought to be extinct, and Yoda was well past childhood by the time the Jedi learned that the Sith were not extinct. Yoda did not fit the description of the prophecy, so the Jedi probably never thought he was the Chosen One.

Null
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    To be fair, Anakin was born during a time period where the Jedi believed the Sith were extinct as well. – phantom42 Sep 14 '15 at 17:56
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    @phantom42 Sure, but Anakin was still a child when the Jedi did find out in Episode I, whereas Yoda was about 900. The point is that Yoda was nowhere near fitting the description in the prophecy, whereas Anakin was evidently close enough that the Jedi did think he was the Chosen One. – Null Sep 14 '15 at 18:02
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    An aside: the prophecy tends to fit Luke much more than it fits Anakin. I'm not sure there's any canon that certifies whether Anakin was officially the chosen one or not. Especially considering almost everyone who thought so was dead just a few years after. – TylerH Sep 14 '15 at 20:17
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    @TylerH Indeed he does -- that's a good point. Lucas has definitely said Anakin is the Chosen One, though. – Null Sep 14 '15 at 20:24
  • @Null I see. Well, Lucas is also responsible for the prequels, so I guess there's precedent for him making some bad calls. – TylerH Sep 14 '15 at 20:55
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    @TylerH - but Anakin does destroy the Sith, as he is the one who kills the Emperor (technically, the last Sith as far as movie canon goes) after returning to the Light side. – HorusKol Sep 15 '15 at 02:05
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    If it has to be a child and it has to be a time of great despair, then why not Ezra? – JK. Sep 15 '15 at 04:38
  • @JK. The short, simple answer is that it's because Lucas said it's Anakin. – Null Sep 15 '15 at 15:34
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    @JK: Whoever it is, they would be born a child. Also, the Mortis arc of The Clone Wars explored Anakin's status as Chosen One. – Ras Morthil Sep 17 '15 at 02:04
  • Also, the prophesy does not say that the Jedi would be aware of the Sith when the child is born, only that the child is born during "the time of greatest despair". The Sith were already working on getting a foothold to control the galaxy long before the Jedi become aware of the Sith's existence. – Remy Lebeau Sep 18 '15 at 04:58
  • @RemyLebeau It's quite a stretch to interpret "the time of greatest despair" as a time in which the triumphant Jedi Order thought they had exterminated the Sith. It's also a bit of a stretch for Anakin, but at least he was still a child when the Jedi re-discovered the Sith. – Null Sep 18 '15 at 13:35
  • @Null: by "time of greatest despair", I was referring to the Sith working to take control of the galaxy under the Jedi's noses, in probably the biggest occupation in galactic history. And Anakin was born during the time that Palpatine and Plagueis were getting things rolling. – Remy Lebeau Sep 18 '15 at 15:40
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    @RemyLebeau Ah, I thought you were arguing that Yoda still fit the prophecy even though he was born when the Jedi weren't aware of the Sith. As I said, it's still a bit of a stretch for Anakin since it's hard to argue that the Jedi were "despairing" at a time when they didn't even know the Sith existed, but Anakin still fits better. – Null Sep 18 '15 at 15:56
  • @Null I agree. Other than the invasion/blockade on Naboo, there wasn't a whole lot of problems on the Jedi's plate in the movies when we first meet Anakin. – DCOPTimDowd May 17 '17 at 17:11