Confrontation in the Caverns of the Hidden One

In 43.5 ABY, Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker, accompanied by his son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, made their way to the planet Dorin. This journey followed Luke's trial and subsequent exile from both the Jedi Order and the galactic capital of Coruscant. These events stemmed from his failure to prevent Jedi Knight Jacen Solo's descent into the dark side of the Force and his subsequent reign of terror as the Sith Lord Darth Caedus. Their intention was to converse with Koro Ziil, the Master of the Baran Do Order, who had briefly mentored Solo during his travels following the Yuuzhan Vong War, in hopes of uncovering the reasons behind Solo's turn to the dark side. The Skywalkers engaged with the Baran Do Sages, the Kel Dor Force-based organization, only to discover that Ziil had recently died. Unable to speak with Ziil directly, they opted to remain in Dor'shan and undergo training with the Sages for a brief period.

Several days after the Skywalkers' arrival, one of the Sages—senior combat instructor and a former student of Ziil, Charsae Saal—determined that it was his time to pass on. In accordance with Baran Do customs, when an individual decided it was time for their end, they would simply surrender themselves to the Force. Luke and Ben attended Saal's funeral alongside the other Baran Do Sages. However, Luke remained unconvinced that Saal had genuinely died; he suspected that Saal had concealed his presence in the Force and made a swift exit through a concealed passage. He later investigated the area with Ben, discovering that the platform where Saal had supposedly "died" concealed a door leading to an underground chamber. There, the Skywalkers found Saal alive and well, accompanied by the current Mistress of the Order, Tila Mong, and two other Sages. The Skywalkers confronted them and were permitted to accompany Saal in rolling carts that descended a long passage leading to the system of caverns that served as the home of the Hidden Ones, a secretive sect within the Baran Do dedicated to preserving the Order's accumulated knowledge.

Upon arrival, Saal adopted the name "Chara" and informed the Skywalkers that to protect their secrecy, they could never leave and must assume new identities. Saal also revealed that Ziil had joined the Hidden Ones and risen to become their leader, now known as "The Hidden One." Luke and Ben met with Ziil and discussed Solo, but Ziil offered little insight into the reasons behind the former Jedi's transformation into a Dark Lord of the Sith. During their conversation, Luke and Ben found Ziil to be paranoid and corrupt, and they realized that he was feeding the Hidden Ones with falsehoods. The Skywalkers were instructed to begin excavating caves, where they would reside and spend the remainder of their days.

A few days after the Skywalkers' arrival, the female Kel Dor Ithia—formerly the Baran Do Order's most skilled fighter—engaged in a series of three duels with Chara. Chara emerged victorious in each encounter, a feat he had never accomplished before. Luke began to suspect that in embracing their own deaths and turning away from life, energy, and the will to fight and survive, the Hidden Ones had turned their backs on the Force. Luke resolved to demonstrate that with every minute they remained confined to the caverns, accepting their "deaths," their power was diminishing.

Luke gathered all the Hidden Ones into Koro Ziil's throne chamber by disseminating the information that he and Ben were finally going to adopt new names. Luke, however, had no such intention. Instead, he elucidated his theory to the Hidden Ones and proposed that Ben—who was still a relatively inexperienced Jedi Knight—should duel Chara, the Hidden Ones' most accomplished fighter and newest member. Luke pledged that if Ben were to lose, he would accept their fate and remain in the caverns. Ziil permitted Chara to accept the challenge, and both combatants were armed solely with hardwood staffs.

Chara immediately seized control, landing the first blow on Ben's ankle. Ben quickly recovered, but as the duel progressed, Chara clearly held the advantage, slamming Ben into a pillar with the Force and striking Ben's ankle once more, causing the young Jedi to limp. However, Ben managed to strike Chara's head, and the elder combatant began to lose his resolve to fight. After the two exchanged a series of glancing blows, a kick from Ben connected squarely with Chara's chest, knocking him to the ground. Now holding the upper hand, Ben intentionally allowed Chara to disarm him; surprised, Chara lost his balance, and Ben capitalized on the error with a series of punches. Finally, Chara's attempt to attack with his staff was met with an open-hand strike from Ben that shattered the weapon into two pieces; the follow-through landed squarely on Chara's chin, and the defeated Kel Dor collapsed to the ground, unable to rise immediately.

Chara and other Hidden Ones began to accept that Luke was correct; they were growing weaker, not stronger. Ziil, however, refused to acknowledge this revelation. He became enraged at the Skywalkers, as well as at the other Hidden Ones who began to voice their agreement with the Jedi. When his former apprentice, Chara, admitted that he believed the Skywalkers might be right, Ziil declared that the Skywalkers were too dangerous to remain among them. Ithia and a very old Kel Dor named Burra spoke out against his statement, but the Hidden One revealed that he had already informed those on the surface that the Skywalkers had perished in a cave collapse, and that sending any more oxygen-nitrogen canisters would be unnecessary. Without the canisters, the Skywalkers would succumb within a day or two to the helium-rich atmosphere of Dorin, which only the native Kel Dor could breathe. Several of the Hidden Ones implored Ziil to reconsider, but he refused. As the Hidden Ones continued to protest, Ithia declared to Ziil that the Hidden Ones—which she referred to as the "experiment"—had failed. Ziil demanded that the assembly remain silent and obey, but Ithia refused, and the Hidden One was finally pushed over the edge.

Ziil proclaimed that because their influence over the Hidden Ones was too great, the Skywalkers could not be permitted to remain in the caverns, even for the brief time before their inevitable deaths. He then stepped forward and unleashed a blast of white Force lightning upon Luke. Luke absorbed the attack with his lightsaber, but the force of the lightning propelled him backward into a pillar. Managing to deflect the lightning, Luke rose to his feet and began advancing slowly toward Ziil. Ziil conjured a Force whirlwind, but it proved insufficient to halt Luke's progress. Many of the other Hidden Ones fled from the throne chamber as Ben directed them toward a blast door.

Ziil ceased the lightning attack and amplified the power behind the whirlwind, directing it straight at Luke. Luke deflected it to the side, where it slammed into a pillar. Deactivating his lightsaber, Luke resumed his advance. The whirlwind began circling the room until it paused directly behind Luke, and it relentlessly hammered at a pillar until the pillar crumbled and toppled toward Luke. Luke caught the pillar in midair and redirected it, dropping it to the ground. Ziil then used the Force to lift his throne and hurl it at Luke. To counter the blow, Luke hurled the fallen pillar toward Ziil with the Force. They collided in midair; the throne shattered, and the pillar fell to the floor. Luke rolled the pillar forward with the Force, forcing Ziil to leap over it. Luke charged forward and kicked the unprepared Hidden One in the stomach, sending him flying. Ziil attempted to rise, but he was unable to maintain his balance and collapsed to the ground.

Even in defeat, Ziil attempted to enforce his authority. He declared that he would inform those on the surface that his earlier message regarding the Skywalkers' deaths was a mistake, and he pledged to release his servants and appoint a board of advisors, and in a couple of years they would reassess the situation. However, the Hidden Ones had turned against him. When Ziil continued to refuse reason, Ben detonated a secret explosive that collapsed what Ziil had claimed was the only exit from the caverns. Ben continued to expose all of Ziil's lies to the Hidden Ones; Ziil, however, still refused to acknowledge the existence of another way out of the caverns. Finally, Burra relented, revealing that he knew of a secret turbolift chamber that led to the surface. The Hidden Ones departed the caverns, returning to the Baran Do on the surface, and the Skywalkers left Dorin shortly thereafter.

The showdown appeared in Fate of the Jedi: Outcast, a 2009 novel penned by Aaron Allston as part of the Fate of the Jedi series.