Yaddle’s disappearance between The Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars was one of the most persistent mysteries surrounding the Jedi Council’s history, and many looked to Legends continuity for an official explanation. However, we now know from Tales of the Jedi that this is not the case and that Yaddle’s disappearance had far more significance. Let’s look at what happened to Yaddle in Tales of the Jedi.
Did Count Dooku Kill Yaddle in Tales of the Jedi?
In Episode 4, “The Sith Lord”, Count Dooku finalizes his turn to the Dark Side by killing Yaddle while Darth Sidious watches. Dooku first attempted this by force-pulling a large bulkhead door on top of Yaddle, but the powerful Jedi, the same species as Yoda and Grogu, manages to hold the door up and falls to the ground, exhausted from the effort. In a faux act of mercy to give her “peace”, Dooku finishes her off with a lightsaber slash, ending her life.
Yaddle was a Force-sensitive female of the same species as Grand Master Yoda and Grogu, who first appeared in The Phantom Menace. During the final years of the Galactic Republic, she was a Jedi Master and member of the Jedi High Council, but she was never seen again in the movies or animated shows.
Before Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the only explanation we had of Yaddle’s disappearance came from the Expanded Universe content, which Disney has now relegated to “Legends” continuity and is no longer canon in the Star Wars universe.
In the young reader novel, “Jedi Quest: The Shadow Trap” by Jude Watson, which takes place prior to the Clone Wars, Yaddle goes on a mission to the planet Mawan with Obi-Wan and Anakin to restore peace to the lawless planet. She sacrificed her life to save the people of the planet by absorbing a bio-weapon. While a noble death, it was meaningless in the greater storyline of the Skywalker Saga, Palpatine’s rise, and the eventual birth of the Empire.
With Tales of the Jedi, Yaddle is given more significance in the story by showing that she, too, was beginning to distrust the Jedi Council, and when she confronts Dooku and Palpatine, she has already resigned from the Council. However, she wanted to make change happen as a Jedi on the Light Side of the Force and pleaded with Dooku to join her and denounce the Sith despite his sins. Dooku, already too far gone, takes her life and cements his fall to the Dark Side.
We hope this sheds some light on the question of what happened to Yaddle in Tales of the Jedi. Check out our other Star Wars related content, such as the mystery behind the Inquisitor in Tales of the Jedi, is Tales of the Jedi considered canon, and if there will be another season of Tales of the Jedi.
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