How could/did Luke's rescue attempt destroy what his friends fought for?

Question

While there are good reasons for Luke not to fly to the city in the clouds (according to Jedi doctrine -- e.g. patience, detachment, and so forth), Yoda explains that although his friends could die if Luke stays at Dagobah, he would destroy everything they fought and suffered for if he departs to help them.

Frankly, I don't see how he could have made their situation any worse. However, what did Yoda mean? What exactly did Leia and Han fought and suffered for that could be jeopardised by Luke flying to the city in the clouds?

Answer 1

There are two things Yoda fears from Luke's departure.

1. He is not ready and gets killed.
2. He gets captured and then he is either killed or converted to the dark side.

Luke's friends, especially Leia, fought the Empire so hard it was their only occupation. Even Han was too busy to go back to Tatooine and pay Jabba. Their goal is to destroy the Empire, but all this may be in jeopardy if Luke leaves: if either happens, there is no one left to beat the Emperor, except maybe Leia, but no one other than Yoda knows that at this point. When Yoda talks about their suffering, he is not referring to their torture at the hands of Vader, but all the hardship they went through in the recent years.

Answer 2

The reason Leia, Han and Chewbacca were being tortured was to draw Luke out. Luke was the prize, as he was the only remaining threat to the the Emperor not already in Vader's hands. Luke should have stayed away and continued his training and let his friends' sacrifice be worth something. As it was, their agonies were for naught. With Lando's help they saved themselves, and ended up having to rescue Luke.

Answer 3

Yoda knows that the ONLY way to defeat the Emperor is not via starfighters, but by a Jedi from the New Order (this is a realization he had when fighting Sidious in the Senate Arena at the end of Revenge of the Sith).

As such, if Luke fails and gets killed, or worse yet, falls to the Dark side, he - as the last real hope of defeating the Emperor - will ensure that the Rebellion will not win.

Answer 4

Something that has been overlooked, Yoda may have had in mind Uncle Owen and Aunt B, they worked hard to keep Luke safe and sound. They all lost their lives, if Luke had died or been turned, their deaths, their efforts, their suffering (Think back to the burned bodies on Tatooine...) would have been pointless. The same can be said of Obi Wan. We could also bring up, though to a lesser degree, members of Red squadron. Yoda may well have NOT had them in mind though.

Answer 5

It may have also been that Yoda was looking far into the distant future relating to the effects of

Han and Leia's offspring

i.e. the rebirth of the dark side and the galaxy's next largest threat... That being said, this is all opinion and it was never officially explained so it is anyone's guess as to what he actually meant. Also, it is possible as Yoda said "Always in motion is future." It may be that certain things that were meant to happen didn't and that many events were changed (as examples... Mara Jade, Kyle Katarn, and in fact all the extended universe as it was told may have been altered in that moment...), this would explain many of the offshoot stories of the Star Wars franchise without creating so many of the contradictions so many fans fuss over.

For that matter it is implied that in several ways the force binds all across all time and there fore changes in the now or future could even effect the past... which if you want to appreciate the new versions is probably the way to do it. This perspective is likely not what Lucas meant as there were little to no plans beyond these first three movies, but as far as accidents go it may very well be the one unintentional meaning that binds the Star Wars universe (entire collection) together.