From the moment he was introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda has been cemented as one of the most memorable Star Wars characters. The wise Jedi Master was a valuable mentor to Luke Skywalker in the latter two Original Trilogy entries and The Last Jedi, and we watched him lead the Jedi Council during the Prequel Trilogy. And yet, while we know a lot about Yoda himself, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding his species. We still don’t even know what they’re called, and the only other two members who’ve been spotlighted are Grogu in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, as well as Yaddle, who was first seen in The Phantom Menace. However, and if I may draw from Yoda’s distinct way of speaking, a big question about him, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, which Disney+ subscribers can now watch, just raised.
Ahead of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’s six episodes dropping on the Mouse House’s streaming service, Bryce Dallas Howard announced that she voiced Yaddle for the animated anthology series. Since Yaddle was essentially a background character during The Phantom Menace’s Jedi Council scenes, this marks the first time we’ve heard the character speak, and man, was that a doozy. I won’t spoil what happens with Yaddle in Tales of the Jedi, just know this: she speaks normally. In other words, she doesn’t follow Yoda’s distinctive object-subject-verb speech pattern.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (which dropped its first trailer in September) doesn’t just feature Yaddle speaking for the first time; it’s also the first time we’ve heard someone of this unnamed species besides Yoda deliver any dialogue. Grogu is the most important character in The Mandalorian aside from Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin, but at just 50 years old, he’s basically a toddler by this species’ standards, so he’s not talkative outside of occasionally saying the nonsense word “Badu.” Since it could be another half century in the Star Wars timeline until Grogu starts forming complete sentences, it was unclear if we’d ever hear another member of this species talk, but now that’s been rectified with Yaddle’s prominent role in Tales of the Jedi’s Count Dooku story.
But as a result, now I wonder just what the deal with Yoda’s speech is. Had Yaddle spoken in the same object-subject-verb pattern, then it could have been logically inferred that all the members of this species speak this way. And yet, Yaddle doesn’t do that, so why does Yoda? Is this something where these types of aliens speak differently depending on which corner of their homeworld they’re from? Maybe, although remember that the Jedi were often taken from their family at a young age, so this wouldn’t necessarily apply to Yoda and Yaddle. As of now, I’m more inclined to think that Yoda’s unusual way of talking is distinct to him and hime alone. In which case, what prompted him to do this?
Obviously this is a trivial concern in the grand scheme of the Star Wars mythology hierarchy, but hopefully the franchise set in a galaxy far, far away will someday shed light on why Yoda adopted the object-subject-verb way of speaking. Maybe it’s one of the questions that the High Republic publishing line will eventually answer about him. In the meantime, look over our guide detailing the Star Wars movies in order and check out what upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows there are to get excited about in the coming years.
