Tales of the Jedi is all about fleshing out the prequel era of Star Wars. We see Ahsoka’s childhood and some overlooked parts of her post-Order 66 life, and a more detailed look at Padmé Amidala’s funeral. But one of the most exciting revelations is the fate of Yaddle in Episode 4, “The Sith Lord.”
While this story finally gave the former Jedi Council member her moment in the spotlight, it makes Yoda’s existence all the more confusing — and could affect Grogu’s future.
When Yaddle spoke, she sounded normal. Unlike Yoda’s strange dialect that inverts the subject/predicate structure, Yaddle sounds like every other Jedi. It’s long been assumed that Yoda’s speech pattern was a quirk of his species, but this proves otherwise.
So why does Yoda speak so differently? There are three notable theories. First, maybe Yoda has a speech impediment that makes him process language differently. It clearly doesn’t get in the way of being a respected Jedi master, but is just a different way of talking.
Another explanation has to do with the Jedi recruitment tactic. Because potential Jedi are generally taken from their families at a young age, maybe Yaddle was raised on Coruscant and adopted the Galactic Standard method of speaking. Yoda, however, could have been taken from his home planet at an older age, which would have left him with the dialect of where he was raised.
Or maybe Yoda is simply from a part of his planet that speaks differently. Our world has hundreds of languages and dialects, so it seems safe to assume that Yoda’s does too. Maybe he’s from a region with that linguistic quirk. It could be one of his society’s oldest and most respected dialects, or he could be the Star Wars equivalent of a valley girl.
Yaddle’s speech pattern may not seem important, but a very big (and very small) character is affected by it. If Yaddle speaks normally, it’s likely Grogu will too. After some time with the Jedi he’s being raised by Din Djarin, so as far as we know he’s only been around conventional language patterns. He’s still a babbling baby, but as he grows up we may start to see him speak, and he will presumably sound more like Yaddle than Yoda.
Granted, Grogu ages so slowly that it may take decades within the Star Wars galaxy for anyone to converse with him. But with this 11-minute glimpse at a background character, everything we know about their species has changed. Thank you for your service, Yaddle.
Tales of the Jedi is now streaming on Disney+.
