‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Rumor: The Simple Reason Yoda Was That Powerful

One of the more pleasant surprises in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the appearance of Yoda, but his return is more than just an homage to the originals.

Yoda seemed to be more powerful with the Force than ever before, summoning Force lightning to burn the Force tree to the ground in his pivotal scene in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens sequel.

This is an ability never seen in a Force ghost in the Star Wars saga before, ultimately opening up to exciting new storytelling possibilities, especially for the character of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) moving towards Star Wars: Episode 9.

One of the things some viewers might have overlooked in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi scene is that Yoda was able to hit his former student with his cane. The sound of it can even be heard.

Yoda’s display of incredible Force power has a reason. According to the popular Star Wars watcher and YouTuber, Stupendous Wave, the location where the Jedi grandmaster manifested as a Force ghost plays a vital role.

He explained that the planet Ahch-To, as revealed in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is a Force Nexus, which is defined as a place where the Force or an aspect of it is unusually strong. The other known Force Nexus in the Star Wars saga is, as fans would know, Dagobah, where Yoda lived.

However, Dagobah is more inclined to the dark side while Ahch-To, as per Stupendous Wave, represents the Force in its purest balance, which could be one of the reasons Luke chose the place.

A Force user is likely to get a power surge when in this location, which is why Yoda was able to adjust the weather to summon the lightning and interact with Luke physically.

The Star Wars watcher pointed out that the location was also the reason why Obi-Wan Kenobi, in his Force ghost form on Dagobah, managed to sit on a log in the physical world while his other Force ghost manifestations, such as on Hoth, were not as strong.

Stupendous Wave adds that the level of raw Force power is also a factor in how powerful the Force ghosts will be, and as far as the Star Wars canon is concerned, Yoda surpasses Obi-Wan in that department.

The YouTuber also theorizes that a Force ghost is not all that different from the Force projection that Luke pulled in the final act of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where he, in addition to manifesting himself from light years away, also conjured items like the dice from Millennium Falcon to give to his twin Leia (Carrie Fisher), who he even kissed on the forehead.

This new ability seems to require the person initiating it to temporarily be one with the Force, as with Force ghosts, which would explain why it took everything Luke had to successfully execute it.

At the moment, there are no clear rules on what Force ghosts can and cannot do, especially after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which expanded the lore in massive ways.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson stated in an interview with LA Times that the Yoda scene in the film is “a tantalizing hint of the potential of someone who is a Force ghost interacting with the real world,” but he did not go into detail about it.