Last week on Jeopardy, there was a category called, "How'd they die?" and one of the clues was Yoda. The answer was apparently old age, although was that really it? Wasn't his death really just letting go and becoming part of the force since he did the whole vanishing act? Obviously it's just a game show looking for straightforward answers, but for some reason I just thought this one was a bit odd. I wonder if they would have granted it if someone had answered that he became part of the force.
I always thought he died of old age. "Becoming part of the force" was what happened to him after he died; it wasn't how he died.
I suppose there could be a case for saying they became one with the Force before they died. I wonder where the bodies went though, because Qui-Gon's stayed around.
The concensus seems to be that he died of old age but even the Star Wars wiki doesn't say that explicitly it's just people's speculation. I always took it that Yoda didn't die as most mortals do but moved onto a higher plane as we see his, Vaders and Ben's reapperancein the final film.
That seems to be at least a possible application of the ability, at least if we go by the perspective of the ROTS script.
yes he died of old age. "when nine hundred years old you reach..." "twilight is upon me..." "look I so old to your eyes?" "forever sleep... earned it I have."
This is the first time I've thought about the topic, but my gut instinct says "old age with a hint of hastening the end by no longer channelling the Force to sustain his advanced years".
Shame. He died of shame. He knew Luke would lose and the Sith would win, all because Yoda was a damned quitter who hid in a swamp for 20 years eating grubs and when a potential saviour comes along, nearly dismisses him a daydreamer too old to train. I'd like a alternate-timeline story where every year after ROTS, Obi-Wan sends someone for Yoda to train and they keep dying or turning evil. It would the One reveal in the Matrix Reloaded...you weren't the first or only One. Bigger question is how did Anakin know anything about becoming a force ghost?
"Death is a primitive concept, I prefer to think of him as battling evil in another dimension." To paraphrase a line from another 80s movie.
I always figured he died of old age as well, or more likely a medical condition exasperated by his old age. (He coughed and wheezed a lot.)