#anti yoda because that little gremlin screwed up so badly and by doing so gave bad direction for other jedi masters

[cienie-isengardu]

In your personal point of view, where do you think the Jedi erred the most when it came to Anakin's training?

To be honest, I wonder from time to time how much different all of this went if Anakin got more experienced teacher to guide him through the training process instead of freshly promoted to Knight and still processing Qui-Gon Jinn’s death Obi-Wan that took the boy out of obligation (the last promise to fallen master) rather than anything else. This is by no means an attack on Kenobi for whom the whole situation was as unexpected as for Anakin and who I believe tried his best but Anakin was his first student and one from which greatness was expected due to some old, incomprehensible prophecy. So maybe old Ben was right, he wasn’t ready to teach Anakin as he thought he was then. Maybe if Jinn lived long enough to train little Skywalker or if one of the Council members took upon themselves this duty, Anakin’s - and galaxy’s - fate would be much better or may not, we will never learn.

However, I think the worst error of the Jedi Order didn’t lie specifically in the choice of Anakin’s teacher but rather in Yoda himself who was from the start against training the boy and whose personal reservations (fears) rubbed on everyone involved, including Obi-Wan:

Yoda’s gaze was distant when he spoke. “Decided, the Council is,” he repeated. “Trained, the boy shall be.”

Obi-Wan felt a surge of relief and joy flood through him, and a grateful smile escaped him.

Yoda saw the smile. “Pleased, you are? So certain this is right?” The wrinkled face tightened. “Clouded, this boy’s future remains, Obi-Wan. A mistake to train him, it is.”

“But the Council-”

“Yes, decided.” The sleepy eyes lifted. “Disagree with that decision, I must.”

There was a long silence as the two faced each other, listening to the sounds of the funeral preparations taking place without. Obi-Wan did not know what to say. Clearly the Council had decided against the advice of Yoda. That in itself was unusual. That the Jedi Master chose to make a point of it here emphasized the extent of his concerns about Anakin Skywalker.

Obi-Wan spoke carefully. “I will take this boy as my Padawan, Master. I will train him in the best way I can. But I will bear in mind what you have told me here. I will go carefully. I will heed your warnings. I will keep close watch over his progress.”

Yoda studied him a moment, then nodded. “Your promise, then, remember well, young Jedi,” he said softly. “Sufficient, it is, if you do.”

Obi-Wan bowed in acknowledgment. “I will remember.” [The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks]

And maybe because Obi-Wan tried so much to train Anakin as Yoda would - or rather wanted - he blamed himself for Anakin’s fall in the Original Trilogy?

“With foolish pride I took it upon myself to train Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. My mistake was thinking I could be as good a teacher as Yoda. I was not [...]”

I strongly believe if Yoda wasn’t such a coward about facing an uncertain future and with that, (subconsciously?) fearing losing control over the situation ( his Jedi Order), things wouldn’t get so ugly in the most critical time for the Republic.

There are plenty of things that Jedi did wrong - separately, these wrongs were uncomfortable yet to survive but together build an unsafe, toxic environment. Starting with not providing any proper psychological help to unpack all the stress and traumatic experiences that no child should ever be forced to face in the first place (and Force knows, Kenobi too deserved some therapy). Then there is the whole double-standard apparently employed for Skywalker, seen when one compare how Yoda (or Jedi Council) treated Anakin and other Jedi in similar situations, for example how Grandmaster showed concern for his subordinates when the mission demanded from them to work or interact with people with whom they already had personal conflict (from minor aminosy to even serious matter of facing killer of family) but doesn’t seem to give a damn for putting Anakin on missions that directly make him face slavers and even makes him work for Jabba out of all possible people. All because he has the needed experience or whatever the excuse was. Or how there is plenty of Jedi who in fact are family members and can live in the same Temple and no one makes fuss about that (Plo Koon and his niece, Nico and Tae Diath) or can speak openly about their ties to / honoring parents (Adi Gallia, A’Sharad Hett) but when Skywalker mentions Shmi he was either silenced or told “the dreams pass” when Jedi have enough experience to know special dreams / visions may happen thanks to strong connection to the Force. Or giving totally different advice to Anakin and Ahsoka in regard to dreams about someone close to them in danger of dying, in which Anakin heard “The fear of loss is a path to the dark side. [...] Train yourself to let go… of everything you fear to lose.” [RotS] while Ahsoka was told “Visions they are. Underestimate them, You must not. Meditate to see clearly. [,,,] Choose, you must, how to respond to your visions. But remember, always in motion is the future, and many possible futures there are.” [TCW S03E07 - Assassin]. Even if the last one was the creators attempt to present Yoda in more kindly light, it spectacularly backfired by only building more the contrast how Anakin Skywalker was treated by the so called wisest Jedi Master and how Yoda’s personal opinion (fears) affected everyone involved in Skywalker’s training. To the point when Yoda showed support for young Anakin, Kenobi was actually surprised by that. Which speaks a lot about the issue, isn’t it?

And this is even more frustrating to me, because Yoda was presented as a kind mentor to so many padawans and full-trained Jedi alike. Even when he acknowledged that there was darkness in Quinlan Vos and the man had a lot falling with Dark Side through the course of his adult life, when Vos was fighting for his life during Order 66, it was memory of Yoda’s teaching that greatly helped him survive [Star Wars Republic #83]. In contrast, when Anakin hits the worst time in his life to the point of actually seeking Yoda’s advice on his own, he is surprised by old master’s willingness and patience to actually listen to him:

“He’d been surprised by how graciously the ancient Jedi Master had invited him into his quarters, and by how patiently Yoda had listened to his stumbling attempts to explain his question without giving away his secret; Yoda had never made any attempt to conceal what had always seemed to Anakin to be a gruff disapproval of Anakin’s very existence.“ [RotS novel by Matthew Stover]

The different treatment mixed with high exceptions based on some mistic not fully understable ancient prophecy was a dangerous mix that couldn’t lead into a good direction. And this is not even about Anakin as a main hero, this is generally speaking unfair, hurtful approach to any kid, especially ex-slave child that come there to learn Jedi Ways but through the years was made feel unwanted, isolated, frustrated and doubting his own worth (x)(x) and yes, there was a youthful pride but also a constant fear he is and never will be good enough. This is not how you make a functional human being and definitely not a human being with enough proper control of emotions to keep in check an unnatural connection to the Force. The training, no matter how hard and difficult, was only part of being a Jedi, the other important matter was the person's psyche. By different, incomprehensible treatment, teaching a child with clear signs of PTSD to deeply bury inside himself all his traumas, fears, stress rather than help to unpack the emotional burden and teach him proper control is not only cruel and inhuman but also asking for disaster. Hell, even Darth Sidious could see that coming but not the Jedi.

And to be honest, after so many years I do not ask myself anymore how Anakin’s Fall to Dark Side could have happened. Only, how he managed to keep so long to the Light Side / Jedi mindset?

So for me, all the problems and great Jedi errors were rooted in Yoda and his fear of change, of the unknown that Force did not feel like sharing with him. It is Yoda and his openly said reservations about ex-slave child that was brave to leave everything he knew, everyone he loved behind to become Jedi but was casted away, as too old, too angry, too dangerous. A reservation that most Jedi masters took into their hearts because one green old, immutable gremlin happened to be seen as the wisest Jedi and if he said there was something wrong, they all looked for the wrongness and focused on that. Because Yoda’s fears made others beware too and in result, made Anakin’s life in Jedi Order more hardship than it was necessary. I really think if Jedi masters (Yoda) give him a fair chance, things would look much better. Not giving Skywalker any privileges because of the Chosen One status? Completely understandable. But treating him differently, harsher than other students, because he could be dangerous? Total failure on their part. The more so because every child with connection to Force and every adult Jedi was a potential a threat to others. Anakin was not an exception in that matter.