The "John Can't Sleep" Post

Can't sleep. What I'm about to write isn't what's keeping me awake, but I'm thinking about it, so I thought I'd write a fair piece.

In Episode 2, Yoda is wailing on Count Dooku, until Dooku telekinetically squeezes the base of that tower, and send it crashing down onto Obi-Wan and Anakin. Yoda stops, drops everything, and doesn't just push the thing out of the way, but has to use both hands to telekenetically grab it, and then push it out of the way. Note that Dooku pretty much tossed off his telekenetic squeeze, and Yoda showed visible strain with his telekinesis. Dooku escapes. All is well with the burgeoning Empire.

In Episode 3, Yoda is wailing on Emporer Palpatine (I don't remember if he's the Emporer yet, actually), but they're fairly evenly matched with their lightsabers. Then Palpatine starts throwing those pod things around, and Yoda has to stop everything to grab them. Note that Palpatine is whipping these things around like they're frisbees, Yoda has to drop everything, use two hands, and shows visible strain.

In Episode 5, Luke needs to get his X-Wing out of the water, and tries really really hard to do so, but just succeeds in loosening it from it's precarious hold on the bottom, and it sinks further. Yoda mocks his effort, throws a good little lesson about the force in, and then gets really showy, and picks up the entire ship with one hand and gracefully guides it over to a safe place.

Here's what I'm thinking (and no, I don't think George Lucas puts this much thought into his characters; I think he says, "This'll look neat" and this serendipitously came out): Yoda was this incredible force master, but his big weakness was his telekinesis. Everybody knew it. They knew that if you wanted to stop master Yoda, throw something big around. Sure, he can pick up his lightsaber without thinking, but the guy uses a freakin' CANE! Very few people were on par with him in one-to-one combat, but they knew how to stop him if it came down to it.

So when he's in exile, thinking about how he could have saved the Republic and ended the Empire before it started if he'd only been able to push things out of the way better, what does he do? He studies it. He thinks, "I should have done it this way. That would've showed them." Sure, he's meditating and reaching out and watching what's going on "outside," but he has a lot of spare time, and evidently a lot of work to catch up on.

That's my theory. I doubt Lucas shares it, but y'know, I don't care so much what he thinks.