We all know that Palpatine never made an effort to find Yoda because he wanted Yoda to witness the galaxy being ruled by the Sith.
Palpatine relished the idea of Yoda watching, just as the Sith had once watched the Jedi from the shadows.
But there’s a more intriguing reason why Palpatine never sent Vader after Yoda.
So here is why!
Table of Contents
The True Reason Why Palpatine Never Send Vader after Yoda
After the intense battle with Yoda, Palpatine initially believed that the Jedi Master might have been killed during their confrontation.
The fight ended with Yoda falling from a significant height, and Palpatine, assuming Yoda was either dead or gravely injured, ordered his clone troopers to search for Yoda’s body.
Despite the search, they couldn’t find Yoda because he had survived and managed to escape.
Even after realizing Yoda was still alive, Palpatine didn’t send anyone else to pursue him further.
In the movie, we see Palpatine ordering his Clone Troopers to intensify the search, saying, “Double your search.”
But after that, Palpatine never sends anyone, not even Vader, to hunt down Yoda.
They even created the Inquisitors, a group of Force-sensitive individuals trained by Darth Vader with the sole mission to find and kill every single remaining Jedi.
At this point, the Empire had multiple priorities, ruling the galaxy and hunting down the remaining Jedi were at the top of the list.
However, we never see or hear Palpatine showing any desire to find Yoda.
The reason for this is that Palpatine understood just how powerful Yoda was, especially after their battle.
A clear sign of this is when Palpatine, after being hit by Yoda’s Force Push, actually tried to run away.
Additionally, Palpatine knew that Darth Vader, after his defeat on Mustafar, was not as strong as he once was. With his severe injuries and loss of limbs, Vader was no longer in the condition to fight against the most powerful Jedi.
Palpatine recognized that if he sent Vader to confront Yoda, the odds were high that Yoda would defeat him.
The Time Vader Discovered Yoda on Dagobah (Non-Canonical)
You can dive into the story where Vader discovers Yoda on Dagobah in the Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Infinities comic series.
This series is a ‘what if’ scenario, separate from the main Star Wars canon.
In this alternate storyline, Luke doesn’t receive Yoda’s training because he dies on the icy planet of Hoth.
Instead, Princess Leia steps in to fulfill the training. In this version, Vader tracks down Yoda on the remote planet of Dagobah.
However, in a dramatic twist, Vader kills Yoda, but he doesn’t escape unscathed, ultimately sacrificing his life to Han Solo and Leia.
For the full story, check out our article here.