Dark energy trap

"Stop. Energy trap ... Concentrations of dark power. They are capable of immobilizing a Jedi ..." "I don't see anything," Ferus said. "Look away, then look back. Use the Force," Siri instructed. "I see it," Darra said. "There will be more," Obi-Wan warned. "The Padawans must be very careful. You most likely won't be able to escape alone. Stay close to your Masters."

- Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Siri Tachi instruct their Padawans on how to avoid the Sith-set dark energy traps deep within an ancient mausoleum in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban.

A dark energy trap was a dark side Force power, conjured through Sith magic by a Sith sorcerer. Dark energy traps resulted from intense concentrations of dark-side power. To a trained eye, they appeared as faint shimmers of purple in the air and, under the Sith practitioner's spell, could immobilize even a skilled Force-sensitive being for a time. They could, on the other hand, entrap indeterminately in duration a being who was unskilled.

History
"Master! ... I just need the Force. Obi-Wan said a Master can summon the Force and fight this. I am as good as a Master. I can do this."

- 18-year-old Anakin Skywalker is caught by a Sith-set dark energy trap deep within an ancient mausoleum in Korriban's Valley of the Dark Lords.

In 23 BBY, Darth Tyranus employed dark energy traps against the Jedi Order coalition team sent to Korriban to track down galactic criminals Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor. As the eight-member Jedi team entered the Valley of the Dark Lords, assaulting them on all sides were waves of darkness, the oppressive effects of which required great effort to wade through and overcome. Entering the Valley's ancient mausoleums, the Jedi were simultaneously assaulted by dark-wave whispers and corpse visions amidst the tombs of the Sith Lords. The traps were set by the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus in an effort to fend off the Jedi intrusion into the Valley, where he planned to rendezvous with Omega and Zan Arbor, to establish an 'alliance' with them.

While the Jedi were able to survive their encounter with an undead-platoon of Korriban zombies and, with Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's advance warning, stay clear of the dark energy traps, Padawan Anakin Skywalker was not so fortunate. Although he overcame the zombies, Skywalker, racing after his Master who was pursuing Omega and Zan Arbor, blundered into an energy trap, which immobilized him for a time. Frustrated and enraged, he slashed at the invisible cage with his lightsaber, but could not free himself. Skywalker then kicked and hammered at the energy walls, to no avail—altogether astonished that he had encountered a power greater than his own. Impossible! Attempting to call out to his Master, Anakin's voice was silenced as it was sucked out of the air and imprisoned by the energy trap: and even if he Kenobi had been in close proximity, he simply would not have been able to hear his ensnared Padawan. Moreover, Skywalker's own visions of what had just happened to his dear friend Darra Thel-Tanis (who had been shot and fatally wounded by Omega) got in the way of his accessing the Force to free himself. But eventually, the prodigiously Force-talented Skywalker managed, like a Jedi Master, to remove himself from the energy trap on his own—a feat which greatly impressed his Master.

Appearances

 * Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown