Star Wars: Why Yoda Hid On Dagobah

Yoda was originally introduced to Star Wars as an eccentric former Jedi tutor on the swampy world of Dagobah, but the original trilogy never explained exactly why he was there. While there were many reasons Yoda might choose such a place, including the fact that he simply liked it there, he had actually visited Dagobah before. The reason he chose to return there to take refuge is, in short, because of the planet’s exceptionally pure connection to the Force.

Yoda first appeared in the Star Wars universe in 1980 during Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In the movie, Luke Skywalker heads to the swampy planet of Dagobah, looking for the wise old master to teach him the ways of the Force. While Luke and R2-D2 evidently don’t find Dagobah pleasant at all, Yoda seems perfectly at home on the humid little world. But then, he has to be, having hidden there since fleeing from the Empire at the end of Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith. However, Yoda’s first journey to Dagobah happens well before the Sith coup and the infamous Order 66. Late into the story of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Yoda is guided to Dagobah by the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn. What he finds is a planet with the purest connection to the Force of anywhere he’s ever been.

This is the main reason why Yoda chooses this as his hiding place. Dagobah is a Force vergence — the whole planet is rich in the Force. In Star Wars history, places like these are where both Jedi and Sith built their temples. Dagobah, however, is a pristine world, free from the influence of any other Force users. Like any true master, Yoda would know well that he still has much to learn. He could find no better place than Dagobah to study the higher mysteries of the Force. It’s here that Yoda learns how to forge a deeper connection with the Force, allowing him to return later in the saga as a Force ghost.

The Force permeates the entire Star Wars galaxy, pooling in certain places like rainwater on a forest floor. The remote world of Dagobah, located in the Star Wars galaxy’s Outer Rim territories, is just such a place. The entire planet is blanketed by forest, growing lush and dense in the Force energy. While it’s home to a variety of strange animal life, Dagobah has no indigenous population of sentients. No civilizations or societies have ever lived here. There are no ruins or histories. Just the unending swamp. With all of these things combined, it turns out to be the perfect place for Yoda to go into hiding, spending his days in isolation and meditation, communing with the Force itself.

The swamps of Dagobah are full of so-called “gnarltrees” with twisting roots, not entirely unlike mangroves here on Earth. The gnarltrees grow to huge proportions, with their roots growing into living caves all across Dagobah. Yoda takes refuge near one particular living cave, richly infused with the power of the dark side. It’s here that Luke has a Force vision during The Empire Strikes Back. While not confirmed in canon, it’s hinted that Yoda stays in the shadow of this dark side cave to hide his light side power from Emperor Palpatine. During Star Wars: The Last Jedi, another dark side cave on Ahch-To probably serves a similar purpose to keep Luke hidden.

Dagobah may seem a strange place for one of the wisest and most powerful Force users in Star Wars canon to spend the last of his days, but Yoda chose it for good reason. Had Qui-Gon Jinn not led him there, both he and Obi-Wan Kenobi might never have learned how to become Force ghosts. Star Wars Legends did also suggest that Dagobah was a comfortable place for Yoda to live, largely due to his notoriously disgusting taste in food. The novel Yoda: Dark Rendezvous describes him as “fond of hot, swampy stews that smelled like boiled mud,” which he would enjoy often on Dagobah. After all, to spend so long living on Dagobah, it would certainly help for Yoda to like it there.

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