In each of the three acts of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker faces a monster in a cave, and in each case, he is endangered not only by the monster, but also by the cold.
In the first act, Luke is attacked by the Wampa on the ice planet Hoth and dragged to the monster's icy lair. Luke manages to get free and cut off the Wampa's arm, but after he climbs out of the cave, he nearly freezes to death in the snowy wasteland before being rescued by Han Solo.
In the second act, while training with Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah, Luke approaches a cave and senses that something is wrong: "I feel cold." Yoda tells Luke what the unnatural cold emanating from the cave means: "That place is strong with the dark side of the Force." The danger this time is spiritual, not physical. When Luke goes down into this cold cave, he encounters another monster: a frightening vision of Darth Vader. Luke cuts off the nightmare figure's head and, chillingly, sees his own face inside Vader's helmet.
In the third act, the real Darth Vader lures Luke into the carbon freezing chamber on Cloud City. Although it is not a literal cave, the dark, enclosed chamber fits the motif. During their confrontation, Vader forces Luke down into the machine meant to freeze him in carbonite. In this case, the danger is both physical and spiritual: if Luke is incapacitated, he will be taken to the Emperor, who means to turn him to the dark side. Luke manages to leap up and out of the machine, but after he narrowly escapes being frozen, Vader cuts off his arm and he must be rescued by Leia Organa.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Darth Vader / Luke Skywalker
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: ascent and descent / caves / cold and heat / ice / monsters
READ MORE ABOUT…
Follow The Jedi Archives on…