you're my only hope

May 3, 2011 11:21 AM

I'm trying to find a particular article that laid out a theory for Yoda being the real evil in Star Wars.

I'm pretty sure this article came out just prior to Episode III, because it was explaining how the franchise could be saved from itself. It went into some detail giving a breakdown of how Yoda could be shown to be the evil power behind the throne, or some such thing.

It's very hard to find one particular Star Wars article on the Internet. Unfortunately, I don't really know SW well enough to remember the theory well enough to get good keywords. It may have been on Slate?

posted by DU to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 answers total)

Perhaps this?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 11:29 AM on May 3, 2011

Not exactly about Yoda, but could it be this Open Letter To Luke Skywalker?
posted by bondcliff at 11:30 AM on May 3, 2011

Was it this?
posted by nushustu at 11:34 AM on May 3, 2011

Perhaps this?

Sadly no. It wasn't defending the Empire (I don't remember if the Empire was evil or not in this theory), it was specifically targeting Yoda as the manipulator of all events for nefarious purposes. An it definitely said we should find this out in Ep 3, although the article may have come out pre-Ep2 (I doubt it though).

Was it this?

No, but this is getting closer. The article didn't baldly assert Yoda was evil. It made a case for it tying together the movies and saving the franchise with a twist.
posted by DU at 11:37 AM on May 3, 2011

Was it David Brin's Salon piece?
posted by synchronia at 11:38 AM on May 3, 2011

It is David Brin, but not his Salon piece - it's his follow-up on his own website.

http://www.davidbrin.com/starwars2.htm
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:42 AM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

http://www.davidbrin.com/starwars2.htm

This is super close. If you skip down to where it starts "The biggest irony is this..." it has all the elements I'm looking for. I just thought it was longer.

The more I look at it, the more I'm sure this is it. Thanks!
posted by DU at 11:49 AM on May 3, 2011

I seem to remember, too, a much longer, much more fleshed-out version of this argument (Obi-Wan and Darth conspire to end the aristocracy that gives rise to both Empire and Jedi Order) - will do a bit more searching and see if I can't find it.

It's a very real possibility that this longer, more fleshed-out version existed only in my head when I read Brin's postscript though.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:51 AM on May 3, 2011

I think a longer version has to exist, because otherwise this sentence makes no sense: In fact, a scenario is possible, if Vader and Obi-Wan conspire together against BOTH Emperor and Yoda.

Why is Yoda in that sentence? He's given no indication that Yoda is evil up until then and doesn't explain that afterwards either. It's missing a piece.
posted by DU at 11:57 AM on May 3, 2011

Thanks for posting that last part. I read the piece linked above and was like... I don't *get* it. How is Yoda evil? I'll keep checking back here, because this is actually an interesting train of thought. I hope you can find the whole thing.
posted by indiebass at 12:02 PM on May 3, 2011

Maybe, or it was just playing off his dislike of Yoda that he said earlier:

"old Yoda -- the green-asbestos oven mitt", "His silly Yoda-philosophy was bearable in Empire Strikes Back (ESB)", and, perhaps most important one: "... I disliked snooty-superior-secretive lying Yoda even then. I wanted him to turn out the "sanctimonious goody villain" counterpart to the Emperor."

That last one is almost enough to tie into Obi-Wan wanting to conspire against Yoda.
posted by skynxnex at 12:02 PM on May 3, 2011

That could be. Although I could swear the "Portrait of Yoda as Evil" was longer and specifically included a section on the scene in the swamp with Luke.
posted by DU at 12:03 PM on May 3, 2011

I have the feeling that this reading is expanded on in the second section of Brin's Salon article - used to be available on his website, but apparently taken down when it was published in "Through Stranger Eyes," a collection of Brin's short nonfiction. Amazon says this was published in 2008 - assuming the essay was available online until then, it would have been right about when I remember reading it.

You may need to go dead-tree edition to track this one down.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 12:07 PM on May 3, 2011

Google Books showing the first result for Yoda in "Through Stranger Eyes", including a paragraph that starts with "All evidence points to Yoda as co-villain with the emperor all along" and moves on from there.
posted by skynxnex at 12:10 PM on May 3, 2011 [5 favorites]

Skynxnex has it. Well done.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 12:12 PM on May 3, 2011

Is it the brilliant "A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope"?
posted by nicwolff at 1:08 PM on May 3, 2011

Well, you know, I had a Yoda Is Really Working the Dark Side Angle theory I posted back in 2009 here in Metatalk.
posted by misha at 5:32 PM on May 3, 2011