On a journey to discover how to live in the Force after death, Yoda travels to the birthplace of the Force on the instruction of Qui-Gon Jinn. He leaves his lightsaber with R2-D2, before encountering a group of strange creatures known as the Five Priestesses, who explain the relationship between the Living Force and the Cosmic Force. They make it clear to Yoda that he must go through even further training to understand how to manifest after death, and give the Jedi a series of trials.
First, Yoda is sent to master his Dark Side, which he scoffs at. After all, as a Jedi Master, he fought his Dark Side centuries ago. In spite of this, a dark, monstrous version of Yoda appears and battles his good counterpart. Yoda continues to deny that evil lives in him, and eventually realizes this is only making Dark Yoda stronger. Humbled, Yoda accepts his Dark Side is a part of him and finally finds the power to control it through the Force, passing the trial.
Second, Yoda has a vision where he sees Ahsoka Tano die in the ruins of the Jedi Temple, before accepting an offer to see a version of the Temple where the war never happened. He sees a pristine version of the Jedi Temple with a living Qui-Gon and a good Jedi Master Dooku, and Yoda is tempted to stay in this world. However, he comes to his senses and rejects the fantasy to pass the trial.
Upon waking up, one of the Five Priestesses takes off her mask to reveal nothing behind it, revealing that all of the Priestesses are dead beings living through the Force. With a greater appreciation of their knowledge, Yoda hears the final task he must complete to discover immortality: travel to Moraband, the home planet of the Sith, and be tempted by the darkest forces in the universe.
Tropes:
- Anthropomorphic Personification: The Five Priestesses are depicted like this, in a sense, since their names, voices, and the expressions of their masks all represent a particular emotion—Serenity, Confusion, Sadness, Anger, and Joy. In this case, it seems as if they are personifications of what Yoda must resist on his Force journey (and they even say as much, when he is to travel through the Valley of Extinction).
- Back for the Finale: Yoda sees a vision of the Jedi Temple in a time of peace. The Jedi appearing in this scene include Quinlan Vos, Saesee Tiin, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, Gungi, Tera Sinube, Aayla Secura, Anakin Skywalker, Kit Fisto, Eeth Koth, Ganodi, Ran Deezy, Zatt, Byph, Tiplar, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Shaak Ti, Adi Gallia, Barriss Offee, Knox, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Count Dooku.note
- Bus Crash: Not in reality, but in Yoda's visions, Petro and Katooni (from the Youngling arc) and Ahsoka return to remind Yoda of a Jedi Temple without war and provide him fear of the Jedi Temple's failure.
- Call-Forward: As if the sight of the Jedi Temple littered with Jedi corpses isn’t enough to remind viewers of the future, when Yoda first sees the dead, the somber, tragic leitmotif of "Battle of the Heroes" is heard to remind you of who will be responsible for the horrors to come.
- A Day in the Limelight: Yoda is the sole focus of this episode and two of the other episodes associated with this story arc.
- Dead All Along: When Yoda asks to see Serenity's face, she removes her mask to reveal nothing but glowing Living Force energy, and reveals that she and the other Priestesses have already achieved what Yoda seeks: the ability to retain their identities after death.
- Doing in the Scientist: When introduced, the bacteria called Midi-chlorians seemed to make the Force a purely physical phenomena, but the Five Priestesses explain that the Midi-chlorians are merely a means of connecting the "living Force" with the overtly spiritual "Cosmic Force".note
- Eldritch Location: The Wellspring of Life has many similarities to Mortis, including the implication that it can only be accessed by Force users.
- Enemy Without: Yoda encounters a manifestation of his Dark Side, "Dark Yoda", as the first of the tests he must face. He initially denies that it's part of him, prompting Dark Yoda to gleefully beat the crap out of him. He eventually vanquishes it by acknowledging that, while it is a part of him, it's a part that he's learned to control, and it therefore has no power over him.Yoda: You are my Dark Side. Reject you I do.
- Environmental Symbolism:
- The darkest place in the Wellspring of Life is the island where Dark Yoda appears, which is fittingly a dark and shadowy place.
- Yoda's vision of Ahsoka's death is red-tinted, calling blood to mind.
- Fisher King: The first masked being Yoda encounters creates a burst of plant-life when it touches down briefly on the floating island he's standing on.
- Good Costume Switch: In Yoda's vision, Dooku's Jedi robe is colored reddish-brown rather than his normal black outfit.
- I Am What I Am: To defeat Dark Yoda, Yoda must acknowledge that he has a Dark Side and humble himself.
- "Leave Your Quest" Test: After seeing a vision of the Jedi Temple littered with bodies, Yoda agrees to leave his quest to live in an idyllic version of the Temple where the Clone Wars never happened. It doesn't take Yoda long to regret his choice and reject the utopia for reality.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: The Force Priestesses give Yoda a vision of what the Jedi Temple would be like if the Clone Wars never came, to test Yoda's resolve.
- One-Word Title: "Destiny".
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: In the fake vision of the Jedi temple, we see Dooku telling a story of Yoda. At first, Yoda puts up his guard upon seeing Dooku but calms himself when he remembers that story. Dooku is cheerful saying proudly that he and Yoda shared many adventures when he was a padawan. It's not easy for Yoda to realize this vision isn't real.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The vision of Dooku's eyes turn red when Yoda states that the real Dooku is a traitor who fell to the Dark Side.
- Vision Quest: "Destiny" is part of Yoda's attempts to better understand the Force and come to terms with the horrors of the Clone Wars by journeying to the most spiritual planets in the galaxy.
- Worldbuilding: This episode properly explains the nature of the Force, the role of the Midi-chlorians, and the afterlife of the Jedi. It then ends with introducing the birthplace of the Sith Lords, Moraband.
- World in the Sky: Yoda travels to the Wellspring of Life, where the Force may have originated, which is covered with small floating rocks and islands, including a large one where Yoda faces a personification of his own evil. Ironically though, this is all inside the planet, with the actually surface being completely barren.
