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| This pretty much sums him up |
Getting things wrong:
Yoda said a lot of things that turned out not to be true. Here's a list:
"If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”
“If you end your training now — if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did — you will become an agent of evil.”
Yoda says these to Luke, who decided not to ignore him, and lo and behold did not turn out as an agent of evil.
Luke: I've got to go to them.
Yoda: Decide you must, how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could; but you would destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered.
Leave now Luke did, help them he may have a little, but destroy all for which they have fought and suffered he certainly did not.
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
As many have pointed out, this is complete bunk. There is very little in this galaxy or the one far, far away that we can't accomplish without trying and failing and trying again regardless.
“At an end your rule is, and not short enough it was!”
This is Yoda's pre-ass-kicking-one-liner before taking on (and losing badly to) Darth Sidious, who then proceeded to rule the galaxy for another 3 movies. And shortly before this:
Darth Sidious: I have waited a long time for this moment, my little green friend. At last, the Jedi are no more.
Yoda: Not if anything to say about it I have!
Wrong again Yodi.
General Ineffectivenes in Battle
After all this, you would think at least Yoda could redeem himself by doing something awesome in battle. Well the first time you see him fight ever (4 movies in) against Count Dooku, it is pretty impressive. However it's not long before you realise that he's not actually doing anything but jumping around like a rabbit on steroids. He probably could have cut Dooku's legs clean off at least 5 times. Then Dooku manages to leave by toppling a large piece of scenery on Yoda's friends. Yoda takes an inordinate amount of time and straining to stop and move this - clearly he had not yet taken his own advice that "size matters not".
The only other time he fights is against Darth Sidious, and fairly ineffectual he is. Admits his failure later he does.
"Go into exile I must ... failed I have."
It's especially wall-banging as Yoda stands there while Darth Sidious essentially calls his attack...
Darth Sidious: Your arrogance blinds you, Master Yoda. Now you will experience the full power of the dark side.
... before blasting Yoda with force lightning that inexplicably catches him completely off guard.
Stupid Decisions
OK, OK, so maybe Yoda can't predict the future, or do well in battle, but he's at least wise, right? Or not...
BAIL ORGANA: My wife and I will take the girl. We've always talked of adopting a baby girl. She will be loved with us.
OBI-WAN: And what of the boy?
YODA: To Tatooine. To his family, send him.
I'll leave it to The Editing Room to lampoon this bit:
EWAN MCGREGOR
Wait, really? You mean, to hide him from Hayden and Ian, we're going to allow him to keep the last name Skywalker, bring him to Hayden's birth planet, and put him in the care of his actual relatives? It would take like an hour of research to track him down if the Empire wanted him.
YODA
Well, go watch over him from really far away to make sure he's safe.
Conclusion
I have no idea how Yoda became so esteemed a player on the Jedi council, and he certainly hasn't shown any reasons how he got there. Perhaps so wise because of his speech patterns he does seem.
