Star Wars: 50 Greatest Moments - Ranked

11. That Is Why You Fail (The Empire Strikes Back)

The Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker And Yoda
Lucasfilm

"Do, or do not, there is no try."

When Luke heads to Dagobah to learn from Jedi Master Yoda, his head - and ours - is filled with ideas of what it'll be like, and it's safe to say there are in no way met.

It turns out Yoda is a tiny, old green creature, who has little interest in training a would-be Jedi. Eventually though he does come round - after stealing Luke's food and beating Artoo over the head with his stick - and teaches him the ways of the Force.

The high-point of this is when he instructs Luke to lift his X-wing out of the swamp. His words to Luke encapsulate fear and doubt, and just what it takes to be a Jedi. And then when Luke fails, Yoda himself steps up, in an awe-inspiring display of power lifting the spaceship up into the air. It's an unbelievable display of power, the stuff of legend becoming reality, and the sorrow-tinged exchange that follows - " "I don't believe it."/"That is why you fail." - speaks volumes of the power of faith across the saga.

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Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.