Dark Side Cave

"That place&hellip;is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go." "What's in there?" "Only what you take with you."

- Yoda and Luke Skywalker

The Dark Side Cave was a cave on Dagobah corrupted by dark side energies.

History
"You know what I'm looking for.''" "''Something lost. A part of yourself perhaps. That which you seek, inside, you will find."

- Galen Marek's clone met by Yoda at the entrance to the cave

Hundreds of years before the Clone Wars, the Jedi Minch battled and killed a powerful Bpfasshi Dark Jedi leader, and his energies absorbed into its surroundings, first tainting the passage with the dark side.



Later during the Clone Wars, Yoda had a vision of the Dark Side Cave during one of his meditations. In this vision, Qui-Gon Jinn guided a nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker into the cave to face his fears, telling him the same thing Yoda would tell Anakin's son Luke years later.

During the Great Jedi Purge, Yoda realized that proximity to the Dark Side Cave could help neutralize his strong light side Force signature and took up residence near the cave and lived there for the next two decades, through the reign of the Galactic Empire.



When Luke Skywalker traveled to Dagobah to train with Yoda in 3 ABY, the elder Master tasked him to enter the cave. Luke confronted an illusion of Darth Vader within and defeated it in a lightsaber duel, dipping into the passion of the dark side in the process. It was there that he realized what would happen if he turned to the dark side of the Force. Behind the mask of Darth Vader, he saw his own face. It also presaged the revelation that Vader was, unknown to him at the time, actually his father, Anakin Skywalker.



Five years after Yoda's death, Luke Skywalker returned to the cave. This time, he had a vision of a possible past, one where Mara Jade accompanied Jabba the Hutt's retinue to the Sarlacc. She was able to pull Luke's lightsaber away from him, and Luke was pushed towards the Sarlacc when his vision suddenly ends. While in the cave, he found a beacon left behind by Jorj Car'das.

In 14 ABY, the dark side power of the cave was siphoned by the Disciples of Ragnos. This supposedly removed all of the dark energy, but it presumably returned to its source when the Scepter of Ragnos was destroyed or otherwise somehow regenerated itself. In 22 ABY, Anakin Solo, Tahiri Veila and Uldir Lochett entered the cave after Anakin had a recurring nightmare of becoming the infamous Darth Vader. There, Tahiri encountered a vision of her parents and grandfather, and Anakin faced the manifestations of his own doubts. The two both emerged victorious. Uldir, however, encountered nothing in the cave but vast emptiness.

Other Force-sensitive beings to enter the cave include Tash Arranda and Zak Arranda.

Behind the scenes


Heir to the Empire describes how Jedi Master Yoda battled and defeated another powerful Bpfasshi Dark Jedi inside the Cave. But, in Star Wars Insider 98 Leland Chee writes that this is no longer considered part of continuity because Yoda had never been on Dagobah before his exile.

In Battlefront II's Dagobah map, the cave is one of several command posts; inside it, players can hear Darth Vader's distinctive breathing sound.

Appearances

 * Heart of Darkness
 * The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Hunger
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars 43: The Empire Strikes Back: Betrayal at Bespin
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Light and Dark
 * The Courtship of Princess Leia
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Star Wars: Union
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Anakin's Quest
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Vader's Fortress
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Kenobi's Blade
 * Omen
 * Omen

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Visions of the Blade
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back