[Thracozaag]

It's mentioned, I believe, in one of the Zahn books that the cave is the location of some sort of final stand that Yoda had with an enemy.  I assumed this had been when the Emperor "hunted down" the Jedi, before ROTS showed us that the hunt only took about 1 hour.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad someone mentioned this; yet another failing of the ROTS, I figured the entire movie would be dedicated to Anakin's destruction and downfall, the hunting down of the jedi, etc., not 7 minutes of screetime

koji

[Renegade]

Ya, i too thought Yoda/Emperor would never fight with sabers.

Also, thought the movie would be all around killing jedi (mostly through Anakin) rather than them all dying easily in a few minutes... though its not THAT unbelievable that they all/most die through a backstab

[civilian_number_two]

It's mentioned, I believe, in one of the Zahn books that the cave is the location of some sort of final stand that Yoda had with an enemy.  I assumed this had been when the Emperor "hunted down" the Jedi, before ROTS showed us that the hunt only took about 1 hour.

I'd always imagined that Dagobah became the way it did as the result of some sort of climactic Force battle between Yoda and a dark Force user (not a Sith lord, as Sith lords shouldn't actually exist outside of Darth Vader).  Yoda's own shortcomings as a Jedi master and his darkness helped make Dagobah the way it was in ESB which is why Yoda chose to stay there and meditate on what he'd done.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think if it said that in the Zahn book, then the Zahn book is lame.

I like to think Yoda became a powerful Force adept living in a swamp because the Force comes from all living things and swamps are teeming with life. That's how I saw it when I was 12 years old, and nothing since has made more sense than that. definitely don't like the idea that Yoda the reptile used to live on a planet that was completely covered by a city, and that Jedi used to hang out in a tower and talk all day about prophecies and politics.

The prequel Yoda is lame.

[Despondent]

The prequel Yoda is lame.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

so THAT's why he uses a cane. Kind of like Captain Marvel Junior.

[Vesuvius]

Chefelf's post was most accurate to what I've heard from a distant friend of mine. I assumed (from my friends knowledge of the subject) that Yoda was hiding on Degobah because the Emperor would not sense him because of the dark side that is in the cave. My friend even said that Yoda killed off this dark Jedi and his spirit saturated the cave. So while good Jedi become one with the force and vanish, dark Jedi remain in the area of their deaths to haunt and torment those that are sensitive to the Force.

[Sieve Boy]

So while good Jedi become one with the force and vanish, dark Jedi remain in the area of their deaths to haunt and torment those that are sensitive to the Force.

Exar Kun (MAJOR Sith Lord) died in the Yavin 4 Temple (where the Rebels were based in ANH) and later haunted Luke when Luke set up shop there to train new Jedis in the New Republic according to post-OT novels I've read. I suspect that the Dagobah "Dark Cave" would fall along the same lines, as far as a Sith Lord having died there and then having their spirit later haunt or impose an aura of darkness against light side Jedi...

[miladyblue]

I like to think Yoda became a powerful Force adept living in a swamp because the Force comes from all living things and swamps are teeming with life. That's how I saw it when I was 12 years old, and nothing since has made more sense than that. definitely don't like the idea that Yoda the reptile used to live on a planet that was completely covered by a city, and that Jedi used to hang out in a tower and talk all day about prophecies and politics.

Civilian number 2, you hit the nail on the head for my feeling on Yoda as well. I was 14 at the time, and that was my EXACT thought on the subject. Especially given Yoda's lecture to Luke about the nature of The Force. The choice of "nature" of the Force to me was revealing, because it seems to harken back to animist ideals of the symbiosis of people, animals, plants and the earth iself - forgive me, I am probably not accurate in the descriptions, but it is a general idea.

Obi Wan, as well, explained the Force to Luke, saying, "The Force is an energy field created by all living things; it surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together."

Alec Guinness absolutely OWNED his role as a wise old man, and "Brilliant" would have damned him with faint praise, when he gave that little speech.

To get back on track, one thing that also occurred to me with the cave was that perhaps Yoda deliberately CHOSE to live in the wilderness, and cast out any remaining darkness that was within him, much like the description of the Vulcans of Star Trek casting out their animal passions (emotions) into the sands of the deep desert, and giving themselves over completely to logic, through the Kohl Ih Nahr (sp?) ritual.

However, in the case of the Force that darkness has to go SOMEWHERE, and Yoda chose to cast it into the caves/tree, so that any Jedi aspirant that came along could have a more or less safe testing ground and actually experience the Dark Side of the Force first hand, without having to face down a Sith, or equivalent, and Yoda would be there to watch them, to see if they measured up to the Jedi ideals.

[Darth Player]

Vader being Lord of the Sith led me to believe that there was some master fighting race called the Sith, and well, Vader was master of them, or one of their upper echelon. Being master of a group in which you're the only member of is quite useless.

As for the cave, I merely accepted that it was part of the balance of things, and in a planet which ranged from neutral to good, there was one area (maybe others over the whole planet, but I'm going by what we see) where the dark side of the force or evil was predominant. It seems to leech out the things one isn't supposed to do, like draw a lightsaber first, on a person, instead of holding out and only using it for defense, extra points as it is a means of foreshadowing the information that's about to come, and the arch looking a lot like the one on Cloud City, making me think the results for whoever enters the cave are different for each one.