Why was Yoda surprised by Force Lightning?

[awc825]

Not sure if this has already been discussed, but why did Yoda act so surprised when he was struck by Sidious's force lightning? Surely he knows about darkside powers, and I'm sure Obiwan would have mentioned Dooku's lightning (from Ep 2) to Yoda.

[pinata242]

I'm pretty sure Yoda knew of Dooku's lightning since he deflected and absorbed it himself. Don't know why he got caught by Palp's lightning unless he was just playing weak.

[Josh H]

That bothered me when I saw it a second time as well.

He stopped Dooku's no problem, when that should have been more of a surprise as he didn't know he was a sith until he faced him.

But with the emperor, he wasn't ready at all and got nailed when he knew he was the dark lord of the sith and should have been expecting it.

[buckee1]

Maybe he mis-read the emperor's abilities and figured on the emperor not being quite as powerful as he was?

[Jackskeleton]

it caught him off guard.. even though the emperor really makes it obvious by sticking his hands out for a good couple minutes before shooting lightning. :p

[Softkore]

Yoda only seemed surprised only when they were looking at each other but when Sidious couldn't see Yoda's face Yoda was peeking at him , so Yoda apparently was just testing out Sidious's force power which doesn't seem like alot :consume:

[Fok]

Yeah this didn't sit right with me either, oh well another question added to the list

[Cusm]

Maybe he was surprised at the power of it. Perhaps Palpatine was MUCH more powerful than Dooku and it really caught Yoda off gaurd.

[HN]

i'd say he looked more shocked than suprised.
ah hahah..eheh..eh..er...*ahem*

[Obey The D]

i'd say he looked more shocked than suprised.


:rimshot:

[RoboDad]

i'd say he looked more shocked than suprised.
ah hahah..eheh..eh..er...*ahem*
Apparently he wasn't aware of the Emperor's current abilities.

[Josh H]

Maybe he was surprised at the power of it. Perhaps Palpatine was MUCH more powerful than Dooku and it really caught Yoda off gaurd.

Even that is iffy as he was aware of his power as he sent Obi-Wan off to fight Anakin telling him something like "Powerful enough to face Darth Sidious, you are not."

That was another dumb mistake the jedi made. Yoda and Obi-wan should have confronted Sidious together, and then dealt with anakin. They probably could have beaten him together and then could have tried to turn Anakin back.

[RocShemp]

Perhaps Yoda thought he was powerful enough to deflect the Force Lightning from someone like Sidious but was shocked (no pun intended) to find out that sidious was way more powerful than even Yoda had guessed. At least that's what I thought when I saw that seen.

Besides, if he'd known how powerful Sidious truly was, he would have immediately gone into hiding instead of trying to fight him. Yoda's hubris got the better of him. Another sign that the Jedi were not as wise as they had grown to believe themselves to be.

[Bluebomber]

I just write it off as a sloppy scene, I mean the emperor raises his hand super slow setting this up and Yoda just stares at him like this was his first day being a jedi , would have liked it more if Sidious simply overwhelmed Yoda's absorbtion with that first blast, which would have also tied into him making a run for it after losing his lightsaber.

[Goat3001]

I think it was done so Lucas could show just how powerful the emperor was. It was done to prove that Palpatine and Yoda were equal. Palpatine knocked Yoda out with the lightning and then Yoda went right back at him and knocked him out. Then they fought to a draw. Lucas just wanted to prove that they were equals. Its neither sloppy nor a tough question, its a simple device used to make a point.

[yoda1]

The Jedi seem to have a habit of underestimating people and just hoping for the best (Example:Anakin)

[dhmac]

Yoda seems to pretend that Force Lightning doesn't exist. He even claims that the Dark Side isn't more powerful than the Light Side. I mean, the Sith have Force Lightning, the Jedi don't - therefore (dot dot dot), the Dark Side is more powerful. But Yoda keeps telling everyone it isn't so.