44 / STAR WARS INSIDER
CAN YOU FEEL THE FORCE?and the abilities of the Force. Even with Yoda’s
advice, Luke struggles. In his mind, the ship is
too big. So Yoda shows him that the X-wing can
be lifted gently back to land, that size does not
matter. “Do or do not” also emphasizes the need
for concentration when using the Force, while
also serving as a reminder not to think about
how we might fail—or even what might happen
if we succeed—but to do, to live in the moment.
“Feel,” Yoda says. Don’t over think. Quiet racing
thoughts and use the skills you have been taught
to fi nish the task. Luke wasn’t ready for this
lesson at fi rst, but he achieved Jedi mastery of
his own eventually.
While the X-wing rests under the bubbling
swamp, Yoda teaches another important aspect
of the Force: “Luminous beings are we, not
this crude matter.” The audience might know
that some Jedi can live on after death, after a
fashion, but Luke had never seen that happen
before Obi-Wan’s ghostly appearance on Hoth.
It’s fair to think he may have known that some
religions and philosophies often include the idea
of life after death, but Yoda here means this both
literally—Jedi can appear as Force spirits—and
fi guratively. People are not restricted by theirphysical bodies when it comes to using the
Force. Yoda may be small, but don’t let his
size fool you. As he says, “Size matters not.”Fear’s Fate
On Dagobah, one of Yoda’s tests for Luke
shows the danger of using the Force for
selfi sh means. This is the dark side, and it’s
an easy path to walk—until it becomes truly
treacherous. One of Yoda’s most famous
quotes is from Star Wars: The Phantom
Menace (1999), when he explains the path to
the dark side to a then nine-year-old Anakin
Skywalker: “Fear is the path to the dark side.
Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate
leads to suffering.”
In this conversation, he is cautioning Anakin
not to give in to his fear. Initially, it sounds
rather out of touch: the young boy, who has only
ever known a life of slavery, has recently been
separated from his mother. But these words prove
to be prophetic of Anakin’s ultimate fate.
As the leader of the Jedi Council, Yoda is also a
key character throughout the prequel trilogy and
the Clone Wars leading to the collapse of the Jedi
Order. Before they realize what has happened, the02 Yoda explains
how “Size
matters not.”
03 In The
Phantom
Menace, Yoda
reveals that
fear can lead
one on the
path to the
dark side.
04 Luke
Skywalker
learns that
the Force is
not just about
lifting rocks.02