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SPECULATION If Leia was looking for Luke, why did she send Rey at the end of TFA?

Discussion in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' started by Darth Walt, Feb 8, 2017.

  1. Darth Walt

    Darth Walt Rebel General

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    (This is my first thread, and I'm hoping I'm not opening a duplicate thread. I searched the forums for this topic and didn't find it).

    One of the key driving forces in TFA plot was the effort to find Luke, and all this effort was being led by his sister Leia. We knew this from the very beginning (it's mentioned twice in the opening crawl). So, at the end of the movie, when they had all the pieces put together, and they know exactly where to find him, why didn't Leia go herself to find his brother? Instead, she sent an apparent stranger, Rey.

    If she was desperate to find his brother, why didn't she at least accompany Rey? Or arrange for a squadron to escort the Millennium Falcon on this trip? She knew the First Order is after Luke too, and how Poe was intercepted, kidnapped and tortured just for discovering a clue to Luke. Why didn't she take extra precautions? OK, the Starkiller base was destroyed... but not the First Order. Snoke is still after Luke.

    So, it didn't make much sense at face value. And I hope this is explained in The Last Jedi.

    Here's my speculation. Leia and Luke were not in good terms. As a General, Leia's main responsibility is the resistance. She wants to find Luke, mainly to gain his support to achieve her goals (TFA opening crawl). However, Ben's fall to the Dark Side is still an open wound for both of them. Luke is pissed off at Leia's son for destroying everything he has built from scratch. Leia still resents Luke for allowing this to happen and the role he played in the loss of her son. She must have doubts of Luke's ability to lead/teach/guide Ben. When Han told her that he wished Luke was here to help in bringing their son back, Leia responded: Luke is a Jedi, you are his father. That gave me a hint that Leia lost faith in Luke as Ben's mentor.

    That's why Leia prefers to send an emissary instead of herself. She needs to know first whether Luke is ready to come back. Siblings fights/discussions can get ugly when old family wounds are still open, and all the effort can be wasted in seconds because one of the two is simply not ready to make peace.

    Why she chose Rey and not Poe as the emissary? Leia must have her reason. Perhaps this is linked to the Rey Skywalker theory.

    Why no escort? Leia must be counting on Snoke's being in damage control mode. And of course, she must be also very busy with the evacuation plans for D'Qar base. The First Order already know that the Resistance base is in D'Qar, so they must move and find another planet right away.

    What do you think folks? Do you think Leia should have gone to meet Luke directly?
     
    #1 Darth Walt, Feb 8, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2017
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  2. PrincessLeiaCB3

    PrincessLeiaCB3 The Princess that was Promised
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    First of all, congratulations on doing your first thread!

    Here are my thoughts about it:

    I agree on your speculation about The First Order being in damage control mode. Also we need to take into account Hosnian Prime and the Republic Fleet are no more, so they have to evacuate D'Qar ASAP and look for another base.

    Because Rey is a strong Force-sensitive and Poe is not - as far as we know. It might be also because the lightsaber called to her.

    And yeah, there might be a lot of hidden conflict between them - Luke and Leia. Even in the book Bloodline, you could get this feeling that even Luke training Ben was in some way detached from Leia, and her detached from him. Of course I expect to learn more about the reasons behind the status quo of their fraternal relationship on the material released about TLJ and additional information we can get.
     
    #2 PrincessLeiaCB3, Feb 8, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2017
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  3. AstromechRecords

    AstromechRecords Jedi General

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    Also another reason as to why she wouldnt send a squadron with the mf is because it might draw attention from the first order/republic
     
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  4. FN-3263827

    FN-3263827 First Order CPS
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    i agree with @PrincessLeiaCB3: we don't know the state of the relationship between Leia and Luke.
    yes, she is desperate to find him, but how did they feel about each other when he left?
    if Han's reaction to hearing Luke's name from Finn and Rey on the Falcon is any indication, there might have been a lot of grief involved.

    also, Leia needs to stay with the Resistance. it's her operation and in light of the loss of the Senate and their fleets, they may be the last bastion against the FO.
    Leia can see that Rey is "called" to this mission through the lightsaber and through her trials on Starkiller, so it makes total sense to send her as an emissary--and yes, alone; the last thing they want to do is attract attention to themselves.

    if anything, i would ask the question why send her in the Falcon, when you know Ren Ben is just as likely to be scouring the galaxy for it once he knows Rey and Finn escaped.
    but even that isn't too much of a big deal.
     
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  5. Righteous Smoke

    Righteous Smoke Clone Trooper

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    Leia is obviously a lot more important to the Resistance than Rey is and I'm sure that Leia is able to feel Rey's strength in the Force and she would rather send Rey instead showing Luke that there is some potential for the light side. Who knows? Luke and Leia may have ended things on bad terms before his exile. It would be understandable for both parties considering what they lost.
     
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  6. Jedi 1138

    Jedi 1138 Clone

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    I believe to have Rey do something at the end. Because since she's supposed to be like the main character of the new trilogy, they don't want to just have her standing around. And I don't really know why Leia didn't go with them to find Luke at the end. Then again, why didn't Leia use the force to contact Luke? It's like she didn't have the force at all or something in this film, until the end when she felt Han die.
     
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  7. Rogues1138

    Rogues1138 Jedi Sentinel - Army of Light
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    I'm a big comic book fan, anyway, in the Poe Dameron book it seems that General Organa is in hiding, sort of like the head spy, so she sends Poe on secret missions. I think as far as the films go, she sent Han and Finn to disable the Starkiller base shield. She is a General so she is in a strategic role. Since Rey proved herself as a warrior pretty much like Luke did, She sent her with Chewie to find Luke.
     
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  8. Jedi 1138

    Jedi 1138 Clone

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    Yeah, I get that. Also for me, being a General is a downgrade for Leia. She went from being a princess leader of the rebellion to a general. If anything, she should've learned how to use the force from Luke, but then again Disney would then be taking things from the original EU, and they erased that, so now they have to do something else entirely.
     
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  9. Jedi MD

    Jedi MD Jedi Commander

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    In Rey's Story there is a conversation between Rey and Leia before Rey leaves to find Luke where Leia tells Rey she has a choice to make on whether to become a Jedi. Leia also comments on how she made the decision not to.

    Rey is sent because she has accepted her destiny. Leia doesn't go because she is a big deal in the Resistance. Her base has been discovere. The Republic is in shambles. If she chose political life over becoming a Jedi then she is going to feel the need to stay, make sure her Reistance members are organized, safe and taken care of while also determining what is left of the Republic. So the easy decision is to send the future Jedi to find Luke while she takes care of all the stuff she has to do still with the Resistance.
     
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