Luke or Yoda: Who Was the Better Teacher?

Two Jedi that represent two different eras of the Jedi Order are Yoda and Luke Skywalker. Yoda was the experienced 900-year old Jedi Grandmaster that has seen thousands of different Jedi throughout his entire lifetime. Meanwhile, Luke became the new Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order when he rebuilt it after the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi. But who is the better teacher between the two?

Yoda is by far the better teacher between the two because he has the experience and the track record to support his claim. As such, even though Luke at his peak might have been the more powerful Jedi, Yoda’s wisdom and centuries of experience as a teacher give him the edge over Skywalker.

The thing about Yoda is that it was always his experience and wisdom that allowed him to become as great as he was. It might be true that some Jedi may have surpassed him in power, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t the best teacher. Some of the best Jedi have trained under Yoda, and that means that he is by far better than Luke as a teacher.

Experience

Experience-wise, we cannot think of any other Jedi more experienced than Master Yoda himself. His species get to live for centuries due to the fact that they mature a lot more slowly compared to other species, as evidenced by the fact that Grogu is still in his toddler stage despite being at least 50 years old. Yoda got to live to be 900 and has trained countless Jedi throughout the 800 years he spent as a teacher. That means that, as a teacher, no other Jedi comes close to his experience.

Luke Skywalker’s experience as a teacher is yet to be fully explored by the current canon because there was a significant hole left in the timeline between Episodes VI and VII. In the 30-year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, it was never told how many Jedi Luke trained and how many students learned under his wing throughout the relatively short period of time that his Jedi Temple existed. But what we can be sure of is that he did train a good number of Jedi that ultimately fell at the hands of Ben Solo before he turned into Kylo Ren.

As mentioned, there is no Jedi more experienced as a teacher than Yoda. The centuries he spent teaching and training Jedi in the ways of the Force are unmatched. And that means that Luke is severely outmatched in this department.

Points: Yoda 1, Luke 0

Wisdom

Master Yoda has, due to his centuries of experience, is also the wisest Jedi we have seen thus far. Probably the only Jedi that came close to his wisdom was Qui-Gon Jinn, but not even he was wiser than Yoda. As such, people constantly ask Yoda for advice because his wisdom has surpassed any other Jedi in recent memory. And some of the best Star Wars words of wisdom were quotes from Yoda himself.

Luke Skywalker was shown to be quite wise during his time with Grogu in The Book of Boba Fett. That wasn’t the case in Episode VIII: The Last Jedi because he seemed like an angry old man at that time. Nevertheless, there was a time in history when Luke was very wise in his own right, especially when you consider the fact that he got his wisdom from Yoda.

The fact that The Last Jedi shows how Luke was still asking for advice from Yoda’s spirit speaks volumes of how wide the gap between the two Jedi Grandmasters is. That is why Yoda takes this round once again.

Points: Yoda 2, Luke 0

Power

Throughout the 900 years that he lived, Jedi Master Yoda was the strongest Jedi at several points in time. His connection with the Force was outstanding and was probably outmatched before Anakin’s rise as a Force user. Yoda is so powerful that he was able to match Sith Lord Darth Sidious in battle and was able to put Count Dooku on his heels. Despite his age, he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Luke was said to have more potential than even Anakin, whose potential surpassed Yoda. In many ways, Luke was what Anakin could have had he not fallen to the dark side. That means that Luke is powerful enough to stand toe-to-toe with some of the strongest Force users in the galaxy and was the strongest Jedi in history before he went into exile. Of course, you can credit the Skywalker’s unusually insane connection with the Force for Luke’s power and potential.

In a straight-up battle, Luke could probably win over Yoda in their respective prime years. Then again, old Yoda might be slightly stronger than an old Luke when he went into exile. Still, we are going to give the slight edge to Skywalker here.

Points: Yoda 2, Luke 1

Track Record

Yoda’s track record as a teacher is unparalleled. Throughout his time as a Jedi Master, we never saw him taking on a padawan, but he took an active role in training younglings over at the Jedi Order. That means that his role was to provide basic training to Jedi younglings before they become padawans. As such, Yoda has trained some of the best Jedi in history, such as Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Luke’s track record is yet to be fully explored because we are only aware of three Jedi that learned under him (we don’t count Grogu because we are yet to learn what his decision will be). The first is his sister, Leia, who became a Jedi after the events of Return of the Jedi but was quick to ditch that life when she took an active role with the Resistance. Meanwhile, we know that Ben Solo is quite powerful himself and eventually returned to the light side. But Luke’s best student was perhaps, Rey, who he wasn’t able to teach for a long time but was still her student.

Despite the fact that Luke has a pretty good track record in terms of the Jedi he taught, especially when we consider that Rey and Ben were some of the strongest Force users in history at the end of the sequel trilogy, we cannot argue against Yoda’s track record as a teacher because he was able to produce great Jedi, albeit the fact that some of them turned to the dark side.

Points: Yoda 3, Luke 1

Mistakes

Mistakes will always be a part of a teacher’s life, and that is where we will see how Yoda failed a few students, such as Count Dooku and Anakin. The reason why he made such mistakes was the leeway he gave his students when it came to their desires. Yoda was never too strict with Anakin in counseling him about his attachments in life, such as his mother and Padme. The fact that Yoda wasn’t too stringent with the code that Jedi should follow led to the fall of the Order.

Luke, on the other hand, made mistakes because he was too stringent with the way he approached the code of a Jedi, and we saw this in The Book of Boba Fett when he made Grogu decide only one life to lead. He was also too stringent with Ben Solo that he immediately wanted to kill him and didn’t even give him time to explain or redeem himself the moment Luke sensed the darkness in the former Kylo Ren. We even saw Yoda’s spirit telling Luke that he was too uptight. In fairness to him, Luke was probably just trying to avoid what happened to his father, who was full of attachments.

We both know that both of their mistakes ultimately led to the destruction of their respective Jedi Orders. Yoda was a bit too lax in his approach with his students, while Luke was too stringent. As such, both of their mistakes are equal in our eyes.

Points: Yoda 3, Luke 1

Luke Or Yoda: Who Is The Better Teacher?

Even though Luke, at his prime, was probably the stronger Jedi, strength isn’t the factor that ultimately decides who the better teacher is. In that regard, Yoda’s wealth of experience and wisdom and the fact that he has a better track record as a teacher makes him the better of the two. And if Yoda wasn’t the better teacher, Luke wouldn’t have sought wisdom from his spirit during the events of The Last Jedi.