Why was Yoda chosen to learn to become a Force spirit?

Question

In The Clone Wars season 6, Qui-Gon Jinn told Yoda that he was chosen to learn how to retain his consciousness after death. He was brought to the Force Priestesses to pass the trials before his training could begin. There, when the Priestesses were debating among themselves why he should be trained, Serenity mentioned that "his destiny was already set, it is not for us to decide...He is to teach one who has to save the universe from a great imbalance. For this, the great gift will be his".

I assume that this is in reference to his future role in training Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi, so that Luke may play his part in the defeat of the Sith, thus bringing the Force back into balance. I would also assume that the "gift" of consciousness after death was granted to enable Yoda to fulfil his destiny, not merely as a reward for success. Promising Yoda with greater power would be counter-intuitive of the Force, since that is the way of the dark side, the entity in question that the Force is trying to bring into balance here. It would also have been unnecessary for setting Yoda down this path - something like a vision would have sufficed.

Based on those assumptions then, why is the ability to retain consciousness after death necessary? When Luke returned to Yoda before his death, Yoda told him "No more training do you require." So I assume Yoda wouldn't appear before Luke after dying to give further training, in the maximum possible span of a few months between his death and the Battle of Endor. I doubt Yoda was taught this ability just so he could pass it on to Obi-Wan, the one person who actively used his retained consciousness to guide Luke. This reason sounds too roundabout to me, not to mention that it was Qui-Gon, not Yoda, who trained Obi-Wan during his exile. If Obi-Wan was the intended beneficiary, and he was strong enough in the Force to communicate with Qui-Gon during his exile, including Yoda in this is completely superfluous.

So, exactly how was the gift of retaining consciousness after death intended to serve Yoda's destiny of training one to save the universe from this great imbalance? Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely, and Yoda's destiny spoken of by the Force Priestesses is to make a comeback in Episodes VII-IX, a time when there are still new Jedi to be trained and when Yoda is well and truly dead?

Answer 1

We have limited information on the Force Priestesses, most if not all coming from Season 6 of The Clone Wars.

To answer the question in title, Yoda was chosen because:

"He is to teach one who has to save the universe from a great imbalance."

For that, the Priestesses decided to grant him the gift of knowledge of becoming a force spirit.

"Promising Yoda with greater power would be counter-intuitive of the Force, since that is the way of the dark side, the entity in question that the Force is trying to bring into balance here." - OP

Power itself is not the way of the Dark Side. Neither is the promise of Power. It is the quest for power that corrupts. Remember that Yoda is quickly approaching 900 at this point in time (877 if my math is correct). He has been a Jedi Master for something like 800 years, and was the Grandmaster of the Order several times. He is probably the least corruptible being in the entire galaxy.

In addition to that, this was not a "promise of power". It was a gift. Yoda's destiny was set, he would train Luke. As almost a way of saying "thank you for playing this major role in restoring balance to the force" they gifted him the knowledge to become a force ghost when he died.

The gift had little to do with the role itself. I suppose it could have been a backup plan to ensure their future they saw came to be (in case of death, break glass, become a ghost, train Luke anyway).

So in short, Yoda was chosen because the Priestesses wanted to both ensure the future, and thank Yoda.

"He is to teach one who has to save the universe from a great imbalance. For this [service], the great gift will be his" - Serenity

Answer 2

There were no other Jedi worthy of training except him and Kenobi.

Yoda is far from perfect - he makes a lot of mistakes in Clone War, he doesn't see Sidious in front of his very eyes - yet, he is the best the Jedi have, the wisest and most powerful in the Force. He was also very close to Qui-Gon Jinn and this personal connection is required to communicate with him.

As for rest of Jedi Masters, Kenobi is also very wise, although he is not that powerful. He also has a personal connection with Qui-Gon Jinn. Windu is perhaps more powerful than Kenobi, but he is too attached to the doomed Republic. The rest of them are well ... chaff in the wind ... they do not stand a chance against the Sith.

Note that Force Priestesses have the ability to foresee the future, and that they probably discerned that Luke would need two living teachers (as Kenobi would die on Death Star 1) while his connection with Force was still too weak to communicate with Force Ghosts. But they also perceived that in the latter part of his life, Force Ghosts of both Kenobi and Yoda would be useful to him. Luke still didn't know many Jedi teachings when Palpatine died on Death Star 2. Also, the ability to become a Force Ghost was described by Yoda as "victory for all times." With this ability, the Jedi Order could never be totally destroyed, as Force Ghosts would find a way to intervene in the physical world .

Finally, out-of-universe, there were only two "older" Jedi in original trilogy, Yoda and Obi-Wan. Both of them became Force Ghosts, so naturally they had to be chosen for training before that.

Answer 3

I believe that, or at least I like to believe that despite their mistakes they were true Jedi at their cores. Obi-Wan Kenobi may not be the most popular Jedi in the order, or even the most powerful amongst them. I personally though, believe he is the most noble of them all, as his trust power didn't come from his abilities or even knowledge, his true power that manifested itself through his force connection came from within his heart and true self despite all that had happened to him, that to me is a Jedi who is truly strong and powerful. Yoda while perhaps an elitest, he is humble and has a deep desire to learn from anyone or anything with knowledge or better a wisdom to share. He too had a noble heart like Obi-Wan Kenobi but his truest power came from his compassion as even when someone has sunken to their absolute worst, Yoda still desires to help them back to the path of the light and find peace. That to me spoke true wisdom, and this is why I love these characters. It is also why, or at least these factors were part of the reason they were chosen for this ability, especially if Qui-Gon Jinn is anything to go by.