George Lucas has finally explained why Yoda, one of Star Wars‘ most iconic characters, speaks in his famously unusual way.

First introduced in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back movie, the wise Jedi master has since become a beloved figure across the Star Wars film and TV universe. Known for his distinctive speech patterns, Yoda often delivers wisdom through reversed phrases like: “The greatest teacher, failure is.”

At a special Hollywood screening of The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas shared with the audience why he chose this unique voice for Yoda.

“If you speak regular English, people won’t listen that much,” Lucas explained, according to Variety. “But if he had an accent, or it’s really hard to understand what he’s saying, they focus on what he’s saying.”

Lucas added that since Yoda served as the film’s philosopher, it was crucial to find a way to keep audiences — especially younger viewers — paying close attention.

In more recent Star Wars lore, a 2022 behind-the-scenes book revealed Lucas’ early concerns when The Mandalorian introduced “Baby Yoda” (whose real name is Grogu), a character of the same mysterious species. Though Lucas was photographed lovingly holding Grogu on set shortly after the character’s 2019 debut, he had one important request for executive producer Dave Filoni: make sure the Child received proper Jedi training.

THE ART OF MANDALORIAN

Filoni recalled their conversation in The Art of the Mandalorian: Season 2, saying, “George’s main concern was that the kid has to have a proper amount of training.” Fans later saw Grogu’s training with Luke Skywalker depicted in The Book of Boba Fett. However, Grogu ultimately chooses to return to Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) rather than continue his Jedi path.

Lucas also reflected on his decision to sell Lucasfilm — and with it, Star Wars — to Disney. In a 2020 interview, he admitted that parting with the franchise he spent four decades building was “very, very painful,” even though he believed it was the right choice.

“I thought I was going to have a little bit more to say about the next three [films] because I’d already started them,” Lucas said. “But they decided they wanted to do something else. Things don’t always work out the way you want. Life is like that.”