yoda question: what was yoda's knighting like? was he very old for a padawan, and therefore a little impatient, or maybe young for his species so still felt a little unprepared? did he go through the trials or did he fall into some dramatic trouble like Obi-Wan and Anakin and they kindof had to knight him after?
Ok, well, I saw this and my impulse was to go ‘back in Yoda’s day they Didn’t Do It Like That’ and this whole time he’s just been coasting along like...yeah I’m a master....master of disguise.
That aside, I think it really is tragic in the context of trying to raise a child that will always be older than you but also will live to see you die. Not to be a downer or anything but I really think his species shapes any character study/casual anecdote about his childhood. He’s GREAT at forming non-attached bonds with people because he HAS to let them go. Probably the first person he had to learn that lesson with was his (first) Master. I’m assuming that, as a traditionalist ‘9 is Too Old’ kind of councillor, he was adopted into the Jedi as a baby- or at least by his species’ standard. Judging by The Mandalorian, he would have still been in the creche at 50, probably. I was going to do a chart to figure out how old he would have been at milestones like knighthood, full maturity etc but honestly if I have to look at NUMBERS I'll spontaneously combust.
I’m going to guess that he had multiple masters, going with both long-living species (still nothing on 900 years) and some shorter lived (because the force said so). I reckon to avoid making this too sad, that at some point he just...became a knight. Like, at some point between Masters he just stopped feeling the pull in the Force to pair up with a new one and went..oh huh. I’m ready then I guess. Which is still sad, because well...he didn’t really get to have a ceremony and all that what with his dead masters, but it would reflect the almost unique nature of his relationship with the Force and himself, and how that shapes his bonds with others.
I would imagine that the way he was responsible for his own journey between Masters rather than having a single, reliable caretaker/teacher like most others would make him VERY good at following the will of the Force because it would be his only reliable authority in his way. And also, the independence made him wild enough to just....be willing to trust in the Force and GO FOR IT when he was ready without checking it was actually allowed. Like there wasn’t anyone overseeing to ask whether he’d done some form of trials (or, like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in many people’s headcanons, to keep him waiting for some grand test or approval when actually he’s been ready for a while), and after a few generations, people just forgot he just...decided to change his title one day.
Years later he wakes up, notices his first grey hair and says “huh...MASTER Yoda, I am”. By this point as a knight he is both wildly eccentric, but young enough that it is entirely insufferable, so everyone just goes with it. In another 50 years, no one knows any better. Well... the older Jedi (in their early hundreds, while he is still young enough for his elders to be elderly) DO remember. You thought Yoda was conservative? The REAL traditionalists HATE him.
So yeah, ancient for a normal Jedi, young for one of him. And more like....brushing loose strands from your hair, rather than cutting a braid; settling into himself and accepting the loss his position implies rather than an external trial and reward. Really not dramatic at all, exactly when it was due, and only traumatic in the quiet way.