Star Wars Hints At The Identity Of Another Of Yoda’s Old Padawans

Star Wars has subtly hinted at another of Yoda‘s old Padawans, reinforcing the impact the Jedi Grandmaster had on the Order. It’s impossible to overestimate how important and influential Master Yoda was to the Jedi. Aged just shy of 900 by the time he met Luke Skywalker on the swampy world of Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda had been training Jedi for 800 years. By the time of the prequel trilogy, he was revered as something of a living legend.

Yoda particularly enjoyed training Jedi Younglings. During the High Republic Era, he was well known for going “walkabout,” taking ships full of younglings across the galaxy on adventures as he taught them how to be a Jedi. As seen in Young Jedi Adventures, he routinely paid visits to remote Jedi Temples, spending time with the children being trained there. But sometimes, just sometimes, a potential Padawan caught Yoda’s eye. Count Dooku is the most famous but he isn’t the only one.

Ki-Adi-Mundi Was One Of Yoda’s Old Padawans As Well

That’s still the case in Star Wars canon

In Star Wars Legends, the Cerean Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi – a member of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace‘s Jedi Council – was once Master Yoda’s apprentice. Ki-Adi-Mundi’s canon story is a little different; for one, thing, The Acolyte revealed he’s older than his Legends version, actually alive during the High Republic. But, surprisingly, there’s evidence he’s still Yoda’s old Padawan. He’s confirmed to be Yoda’s student in a second-grade workbook, and also in an annual based on LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles.

Yoda is known to have only infrequently chosen Padawans, meaning something about Ki-Adi-Mundi must have stood out to him. Curiously, like Yoda’s other Padawan Dooku, Ki-Adi-Mundi is known to have been quite proficient with a lightsaber; like Dooku, he was a practitioner of the lightsaber form known as Makashi, a graceful lightsaber style that emphasized conflict and combat. This helped Ki-Adi-Mundi a little during Order 66, because he was able to deflect several blaster bolts before being overwhelmed by the unexpected clone trooper betrayals.

Ki-Adi-Mundi’s Yoda Connection Adds Surprising New Depth To Him

And explains Yoda’s influence in the Council

This surprising detail gives an idea just how much prestige was attached to Master Yoda; even his Padawans were future Jedi Council members. But it also subtly hints why Yoda became almost too influential among the Jedi; other council members were used to following his lead, to seeing him as a mentor figure who guided them with sage advice. They became too deferential, and Yoda’s views on the Force became too dominant, with other perspectives losing popularity.

The Force, of course, is far too great for any one Jedi to fully comprehend it – even Master Yoda. That truth has been emphasized in Star Wars: The High Republic, which has revealed different ways of understanding the Force that flourished among the Jedi just 200 years before the Skywalker saga, but had been lost by the time Anakin joined the Jedi. With the benefit of hindsight, the presence of Yoda’s old Padawan on the Jedi Council hints at just how the Jedi lost their way in Star Wars.

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.

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