Star Wars’ Best Jedi Just Proved Yoda Was Totally Wrong About the Dark Side

December 20, 2025, 3:30pm

Generally considered the wisest Jedi of the entire Star Wars franchise, Master Yoda was nonetheless a deeply flawed individual. He was Grandmaster of the Jedi Order during the prequels, and his guidance failed to protect the Jedi – or, indeed, the galaxy itself – from the Sith. In the end, when he finally faced Palpatine he realized he was outmatched. The Sith had changed and evolved, becoming something so much danger, whereas he had been steeped in tradition. Under Yoda’s watch, the Jedi failed.

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Yoda was one of the few Jedi to survive Order 66, and he exiled himself to the swamp world of Dagobah. In the end, he became mentor to the Jedi who would cast back the darkness, Luke Skywalker, who he taught to fear the dark side. “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny,” Yoda warned Luke. “Consume you, it will.” To Yoda, a single moment of darkness would decide your entire future, and would lead to your fall. But, ironically, the best Jedi he had ever known had already proved him wrong.

Qui-Gon Jinn Was the Best of the Jedi

Qui-Gon Jinn was undeniably the greatest Jedi of his age. Although he had a reputation of being something of a maverick, Qui-Gon was nonetheless greatly respected by the Jedi – especially by Mace Windu, Master of the Order, who considered Qui-Gon a valued friend. The Jedi Council may not have always agreed with Qui-Gon, but his advice was always listened to, and he seemed more aware than most of the darkness rising across the galaxy by the time of The Phantom Menace.

Qui-Gon was one of precious few Jedi who had studied the ancient prophecies, and he had noticed the patterns that indicated the Chosen One would come soon. He was unusual among his fellow Jedi because of a willingness to learn from other Force traditions, and these lessons ultimately taught him how to become a Force Ghost. This is only possible when a person has fully surrendered to the light side, becoming characterized by all that is good and shunning darkness.

Yoda knew this. Qui-Gon appeared to Yoda himself in Revenge of the Sith, and he’d spend the next two decades teaching Yoda how to become a Force Ghost as well. And yet, for all that’s the case, Yoda never considered the one shocking truth; that this apparent avatar of the light side of the Force had once taken a step down the dark path himself, and yet had turned aside.

Qui-Gon’s Moment of Weakness Explained

Qui-Gon had originally been Padawan to Yoda’s own apprentice, Dooku, who went on to become a Sith Lord. Star Wars: Jedi Knights #10, by Marc Guggenheim and Madibek Musabekov, reveals that Dooku had influenced Qui-Gon profoundly during his apprenticeship, even encouraging Qui-Gon to give in to his anger. This culminated in a crisis point during a duel on the planet Sinsara, where Qui-Gon used the Force to hold an opponent in place before lashing out with his lightsaber. It was absolutely forbidden for the Jedi.

Qui-Gon took his first step down the dark path. He did not, however, fall to the dark side; instead, that brief taste of the darkness served as a warning to him, and he chose a higher path, rejecting the darkness once and for all. It’s entirely possible Qui-Gon would never have become so great a Jedi had he not taken that first faltering step along the dark path and turned away. Qui-Gon’s example immediately casts doubt upon Yoda’s famous maxim, hinting at the possibility of redemption.

Yoda would, of course, be proven wrong in even more spectacular fashion – by Luke Skywalker himself. Luke believed in the possibility of redemption, even for Darth Vader, and he was proved right when his father turned upon Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. But, had Yoda just reflected on Qui-Gon’s life, he would perhaps have learned better long before Luke’s moment of triumph. It seems even the wisest of Jedi sometimes misses something – but how different would the Star Wars galaxy have been had Yoda noticed it, and not feared the dark during the prequels?

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #10 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

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