Star Wars Hints At How Long Master Yoda Was On The Jedi Council

The debut novel of The High Republic publishing initiative, titled Light of the Jedi, hints at the fact that Master Yoda has held a seat on the Jedi Council for several centuries.

Of course, Star Wars fans have always recognized the green alien as one of the most powerful individuals in the entire galaxy. The character originally appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, serving as Luke’s mentor after Vader killed Obi-Wan on the first Death Star during the events of A New Hope. And even in the Original Trilogy, which chronicled Yoda’s final years in exile, he was a force to be reckoned with. The canon has already revealed, in fact, that the only person who could potentially wield more power than the Grandmaster through the sheer use of his Midi-chlorians was Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One.

At his prime, Yoda was even able take on Palpatine and easily defeat him. Luckily, the new narrative set 200 years before the events of Episode I – The Phantom Menace has provided Lucasfilm with the opportunity to depict the character in exactly that manner, and Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi may even give us an idea as to how long the legendary light side warrior served on the Jedi Council.

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that Yoda started out basically like everyone else – as a padawan or a Youngling. Though as the years passed, he rose through the ranks to not only find a seat on the Jedi Council, but also become a Grandmaster of the Order. In the High Republic era, Yoda is already one of the three Grandmasters, the other two being Lahru and Veter, and when he goes on a sabbatical to the Starlight Beacon to train a group of Younglings in Light of the Jedi, he appoints the Mon Calamari Jedi Master Ephru Shinn to occupy his seat on the Council.

It’s safe to surmise, then, that in the new Star Wars canon timeline, adjusted to include The High Republic narrative, Yoda has been a member of the Council for more than two hundred years. And based on what he told Luke in Episode V about having trained Jedi Knights for “800 years,” the character must have been around for quite a while.