000-1The dark road of trials

Midway through the hero’s journey comes a long and perilous path of trials, test, and ordeals that bring important moments of illumination and understanding. Again and again along the way, monsters must be slain and barriers must be passed. Ultimately the hero must undertake the fearful journey of the descent into darkness.

Although the Death Star has been destroyed the powers of darkness have not been conquered. The Empire has pursued the Rebels to the ice planet of Hoth, where the heroes face new dangers from predatory creatures and the harsh climate and are forced to flee during an Imperial attack.

001-1Into the belly of the beast

One particular mythic motif is the ‘swallowing up’ of the hero by a large monster. This represents the entry into a mystical world where transformations occur, and the eventual escape represents a spiritual rebirth.

Han and Leia are pursued by Imperial Star Destroyers and TIE fighters as they leave Hoth. To escape, Han flies the Millennium Falcon into an asteroid ‘cave’, which turns out to be the mouth of a huge space slug. Here Han and Leia at last open their hearts to love.

Vader also undergoes a change at this point, when he emerges from an egg-like meditation chamber. The Emperor appears to his through a holographic message, and Vader is revealed as a slave to the evil forces of the Empire, rather than as their master.

002-1The sacred grove

The ‘sacred grove’ is another mythic motif; it represents an enclosure where the hero is changed. Ancient peoples widely believed the tree to be infused with creative energy. Forests came to symbolize mystery and transformation and they were home to sorcerers and enchanters.

When Luke leaves Hoth, he travels to the planet Dagobah to undergo training with the Jedi Master, Yoda. The hallmark of Dagobah is its large, oddly shaped trees.

Forests can also symbolize the unconscious mind, where there are secrets to be discovered and perhaps dark emotions or memories to be faced. In this forest, Luke battles an image of Vader, prefiguring his combat with the Dark Lord later in the story.

003-1Sacrifices

The opening of the mind and heart to spiritual knowledge requires a sacrifice from the hero. At this difficult and dangerous place on the hero path, Han and Luke both reaffirm the meaning and importance of their lives by their willingness to sacrifice themselves.

The danger of illusion is symbolized by Cloud City above the planet Bespin. At first, the city appears transcendent as it floats among the clouds, but it has a dark underside that becomes a crucible of pain and betrayal for the heroes.

Vader follow the Millennium Falcon to Bespin and then lures Luke there to entrap him. Han is captured, put into hibernation in the carbon freeze chamber, and taken away by bounty hunter Boba Fett to be delivered to Han’s former employer, Jabba the Hutt. Han’s friend, Lando Calrissian, who betrayed Han to Vader, will undergo a life change and begin his own hero journey.

004-1The path to atonement

The hero’s journey sometimes includes a ‘father quest’. After many trails and ordeals, the hero find his father and becomes ‘at one’ with him. This process is call ‘atonement’.

Luke has tried to follow in his father’s footsteps as a heroic pilot and Jedi Knight. The dark, unknown side of his father, and of himself, is now unveiled as Luke confronts Vader in the dark byways of Cloud City. Vader reveals to Luke that he is his father. Luke realizes that he must sacrifice himself, rather than become a tool of evil like Vader.

Leia rescues Luke as he falls from the underside of Cloud City, and when Vader calls to Luke through the Force, Luke acknowledges his as ‘Father’ – they have begun to move toward reconciliation, Luke has recognized the dark side of himself as part of his destiny, and Darth Vader has begun his own journey toward transformation.