This showdown, occurring on Yavin 4, involved a lightsaber battle between Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Padawan, and Asajj Ventress, a Dark Jedi. The event transpired in 22 BBY on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 amidst the Clone Wars. Count Dooku, a Sith Lord and Ventress's Master, dispatched her to prove her worth by assassinating Skywalker. At that time, Skywalker was leading his clone forces during the Battle of Muunilinst. While piloting his Jedi starfighter in space above Muunilinst, Skywalker sensed Ventress's presence through the Force, as she navigated her own starfighter.
Against the explicit instructions of his Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker pursued the Dark Acolyte to Yavin 4. Kenobi, in response, dispatched a squad of clone troopers to aid his apprentice. Upon landing, Ventress swiftly annihilated the squad, also destroying Skywalker's starfighter and astromech droid. The assassin then revealed herself to Skywalker, initiating their duel. As they fought through the forest, Ventress taunted Skywalker, drawing him towards an ancient Massassi Temple, where their battle continued. After losing his lightsaber and taking one from Ventress, Skywalker tapped into his hatred for her and launched a powerful assault. His attacks caused the cliff Ventress stood on to collapse, sending her into the ravine below.
Believing himself victorious, the Padawan assumed her death and seized her ship to leave the planet. However, Ventress survived and continued to fight in later Confederate campaigns.
Upon his immediate arrival, Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker briefly surveyed his surroundings. Following the arrival of a platoon of clones, delivered via a CR-20 troop carrier under the orders of his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, he set out to confront his mysterious challenger. Ventress, however, ambushed and eliminated all the clone troopers, destroying their transport and Skywalker's starfighter, the Azure Angel, along with R4-P22. She then revealed herself, approaching the young Jedi amidst the flaming wreckage and activating her weapons.
Despite Ventress's mastery of the dark side of the Force, Skywalker demonstrated his ability to hold his own as the duel commenced. As Skywalker prepared to strike, Ventress used a Force push to evade the attack. Skywalker retaliated with his own Force Push, to which Ventress responded by hurling a tree at him. Skywalker executed sun djem, successfully disarming Ventress of both lightsabers. However, as he moved in for the final blow, she leaped into the treetops and retrieved her swords. Skywalker quickly pursued, but lost sight of her. Ventress used the Force to break the branch Skywalker stood on, but he managed to grab onto a vine as he fell, which Ventress then severed. The two duelists traversed the jungle, venturing deeper into the forests of that moon, using the Force to hurl entire trees at each other, leaping from tree to tree and cutting the vines they swung on. Eventually, they reached a raised walkway where Ventress attempted to use Dun Möch to unbalance Skywalker.
Skywalker attacked, forcing Ventress to retreat. He eventually drove her into a Massassi Temple; inside, their battle intensified as they ascended to the higher levels. Skywalker, aggressively using the Force against Ventress, hurled her backward. She attempted to retaliate by throwing loose boulders at him, but he deflected them, Force pushing her against a wall with such force that it shattered. The battle, which had devolved into an all-out brawl, spilled outside onto the rain-slicked ledges and stairways of the temple. Both combatants, their robes torn and soaked, paused and assessed each other.
The lightsaber duel resumed with renewed intensity. Ventress managed to knock Skywalker's lightsaber from his grasp, but before she could capitalize on the opportunity, he seized her wrists. Driven by his anger, he crushed her left wrist with his mechanical hand, causing her to drop her lightsaber in shock. Taking up her lightsaber, Skywalker relentlessly attacked her with forceful slashes and lunges, pushing her back to the edge of the temple peak. His increasingly powerful attacks caused the stone beneath her to crumble, sending her falling into the jungle depths. Skywalker then roared in rage. Succumbing to his anger once more, Anakin took another step toward the dark side of the Force.
Assuming Ventress was dead, Skywalker discarded the lightsaber he had taken over the edge. He then commandeered Ventress's Ginivex-class starfighter and returned to Muunilinst where, after the battle, Obi-Wan reprimanded him for disobeying orders and expressed his concern regarding the Sith's interest in Skywalker. In reality, Ventress survived the fall and left the planet. She rejoined her Confederate allies and continued to fight against the Republic. Sometime later, Palpatine dispatched Mas Amedda to the moon to collect piranha beetles and a Massassi frieze.
Nearly 22 years later, as Palpatine's new battle station approached Yavin 4 to destroy the Rebel Alliance, Skywalker, now the Sith Lord Darth Vader, recalled his duel with Ventress on this moon.
This duel was conceived for the Star Wars: Clone Wars television series, which aired from 2003 to 2005. It was featured in three episodes of the second season, 17, 18, and 19; all from 2004. In episode 21, Obi-Wan Kenobi cited this duel as evidence that Skywalker had passed the Trial of Skill and was ready to become a Jedi Knight. The duel was illustrated in Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force by Chris Trevas
This duel was ranked fourth on the list of the 20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe in Star Wars Insider 83. It was promoted as the encounter of the "Heirs of the Sith."