If we go with the “he’s already wearing the suit” option, perhaps he fought the other pupil and they both sustained substantial injuries before Palpatine intervened. With it left ambiguous who truly lived, Vader would seek out Obi-Wan
Yep, that’s pretty much how I’ve always wished it had gone.
I don’t think it ever would have been possible to do the prequels while keeping Yoda’s appearance a secret, though. And that’s not a big enough reveal in Empire that the audience knowing who Yoda is before Luke causes that much of a problem IMO.
Indeed. It gives the whole scene a nice bit of situational irony, as we know that it’s Yoda but Luke doesn’t. Had the Prequels preserved Yoda’s sense of humor and general OT characterization, it’d be kind of funny.
However, I’ve still thought of ways to do the Prequels without Yoda appearing (he’d be mentioned a bunch, but never manifest in the flesh). These include:
-he’s exiled himself away from a corrupted Jedi Order, with Obi-Wan as his last pupil
-he was exiled by the Jedi Order for not siding with their current policies (which, if we’re talking release order viewing, should give viewers a perspective on the latter days of the order), with Obi-Wan taking his side in policy matters (a la Qui-Gon/Dooku in the Prequels)
Of course, have it be so that only Obi-Wan knows where he is. That way he can call him up via Force skype.