In The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda complained to Luke and Obi-Wan that he trained Jedi for “800 years.” When he passed away in Return of the Jedi, Yoda was 900 years old, which means he was training Jedi since he was a spry 100. But how old is Yoda when The Acoylte shows him during the High Republic era of Star Wars?
Yoda was younger during The Acolyte, but by the standards of his species, he was still quite old. Despite his next appearance coming a century later in The Phantom Menace, Yoda is already over the space hill. Here’s what’s going on.
How old is Yoda in The Acolyte?
While showrunner Leslye Headland claimed Yoda wouldn’t appear in The Acolyte, he sneaks in at the last minute. After the topsy-turvy events of the finale, Vernestra visits Master Yoda in Season 1’s final scene.
The Acolyte takes place 132 years before A New Hope, and Yoda was born 896 years before Luke left Tatooine, which makes him a ripe old 764 in The Acolyte. But in terms of live-action portrayals, this white-haired, wrinkled Yoda is still the youngest Yoda we’ve seen on TV or film.
Fans of the High Republic books and comics will know that Yoda had adventures as early as 384 years before A New Hope, which would make him 512. Apparently, for Yoda’s species the 400s and 500s are right on either side of middle age. Prior to this cameo, the youngest Yoda we’ve seen was in the aptly named animated kids' show Young Jedi Adventures, which takes place exactly a century before The Acolyte. Debuting in 2023, Young Jedi Adventures shows Yoda helping out various younglings when he’s 664. That, technically, is the youngest we’ve seen him on-screen.
Canonically, we know almost nothing about Yoda before he turned 500. As established in The Mandalorian, members of Yoda’s species age very slowly. Grogu, dubbed Baby Yoda, is 50 years old and still very much a child. Yoda himself would have grown up and become a Jedi Master between 50 and 100. He may have been truly wizened by Return of the Jedi, but for 700 years or so he was apparently a steady presence among the Jedi. He may be a century younger in The Acolyte, but for Yoda that probably feels like a few weeks. And if we ever see Yoda’s youthful adventures, the Star Wars galaxy will look very, very different.
