Before Grogu took the world by storm in The Mandalorian, there was only one other member of Yoda’s species that we knew of: Yaddle, who sat on the Jedi High Council in The Phantom Menace. And she is finally getting the attention she so richly deserves.
She’ll be appearing in the upcoming Tales of the Jedi animated series, and she’ll also be appearing in phase two of The High Republic as well. It was revealed on the latest episode of the Star Wars: The High Republic Show, and in an accompanying article on the Star Wars website, that Yaddle will “play an important role by the end of Phase II.”
Despite being a member of the Jedi Council at the start of the prequel trilogy, and being of the same species as Yoda, Yaddle hasn’t received a ton of attention in Star Wars storytelling. That hasn’t kept her from becoming a cult favorite amongst Star Wars fans, and I think it’s exciting that she’s appearing in a few different upcoming stories.
It also makes a lot of sense for The High Republic to pull her into some of these stories in bigger ways too, since she is one of the few characters at this time period that we’d actually be familiar with from the Skywalker Saga. That’s one of the strengths of this era, as it’s introducing brand new characters in a brand new time period, but I also think that it’s helpful to maintain some of these connections as ways of engaging fans. If done well, they can add to the story and not take away from them as some sort of forced fan service inclusion. I think Yaddle can do just that, but that this also will provide a chance of adding some backstory to her character. It’s a win/win.
Star Wars Thoughts 