A Thousand Stars: Episode V, Part 15

So Luke arrives at Dagobah, prepared to meet a great Jedi master. He finds a planet with no signs of technology, engulfed in fog. As I've observed in many previous entries, fog and mist is an excellent symbol for mystery, uncertainty and other stuff that messes with your expectations.

In fact, the fog is so thick that Luke loses all sensor control and ends up crashing into a swamp. This can be seen as foreshadowing for Luke's failure to see beyond his ordinary senses and perceptions, how being too caught up in something's external trappings will lead him to miss the truth.

Dagobah is a planet rife with imagery of the subconscious. There are things lurking in deep, dark waters. Luke has odd, inexplicable twinges during his initial exploration. He even mentions that it feels like something out of dream. And though the world is covered with vegetation and animal life, it's also a place of death -- where Artoo is nearly devoured, where creepy crawlies hide in every corner, where you can never let your guard down if you want to survive. This is the place where Luke will have to come to terms with his hidden, unexplored self. The self that dwells in darkness.

Next, a private moment interrupted....