SPECULATION Leia the General...

Leia is a politician... a leader.
The New Republic needed leadership.
Leia was also most likely starting a family.

Helping to rebuild a Galactic government and raising children is pretty time consuming...
And then there's the Resistance. My guess is that she had an important position within the New Republic right up until the beginning of the Resistance.

 

But she isn't leading the new republic.

 

Still not a good reason in my opinion, I imagine fighting a war is also time consuming and Luke still managed to become a jedi. Lack of time is not a good reason as to why she couldn't accomplish in more than 30 years what Luke did in 4.
It is the natural progression of the character, Leia will be a jedi in TFA.
My sister has it...

 

She isn't now, but in the 30 years between Jedi and Awakens, I'm sure she's been heavily involved in rebuilding the New Republic.
That's who Leia is.
And even if she was never Supreme Chancellor, there are plenty of other leadership positions for here to be in. Just look at all the senators in the prequels...
A Republic, by it's very definition, doesn't just have one leader.

And how long has the Resistance been around? I'm pretty sure Leia has been deeply involved in the organisation of that as well...

It's not just a lack of time... it's a lack of attention.

Hardly. Leia never showed any interest in learning the ways of the Force.

Yes, she has the Force... and certain things come naturally to her.
That doesn't mean she has been training to become a Jedi.

 

1. People use their gifts in the Force in unique ways. Becoming a Jedi is only way to use those gifts.

2. Leia is tireless. That's her whole theme in this film. She never stops fighting for what is right.

3. Leia is tired. That's her secret, the one she can't confront. She's been fighting for so long. For what? Hope?

4. Where is that hope? Will she hope again?

Item #4 is the core of the film from her character's perspective.

If there is a character that represents tireless faith in this film, I *think* that character might be Leia.

Just a silly hunch.

 

What do you mean? Is this somewhere in the new post ROTJ canon books?
Leia has always been a jedi in the EU and she also was chief of state of the new republic twice. I still haven't heard any convincing argument of why they would change her character so much.

 

But what is the hope, exactly? Winning the war? Getting her family back? All? Some?

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 25, 2015, Original Post Date: Nov 25, 2015 ---

Who is then?

 

I have no idea.

 

Luke Skywalker is hope. So are both Rey and Finn as Maz Kanata suggests.

There's tremendous resolve and faith in Leia I think. That's my guess as to the kind of Leia we see in TFA.

She isn't a Jedi, but I warn you not to underestimate her power.

 

I mean... in the movies. She never really showed an interest in learning more.

Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of Post-ROTJ canon information on Leia.
We know that shortly after Endor, she went on a diplmoatic mission to Naboo, and that some time after that (prior to the Battle of Jakku), she recorded a Holo-message about the death of Palpatine and the destruction of the Death Star at Endor.
The next thing we hear about is Leia being asked to record her memoirs...

I think one of the more telling signs of Leia's Jedi training (or lack of) is her character poster.
Each Character poster shows the character with their primary weapon, for Leia, it seems to be a tactical map.

I doubt you'll see her using telekinesis, or mind tricks.
I doubt you'll see her wield a lightsaber in a duel.
I doubt you'll see her display any fast "Jedi" reflexes
I doubt you'll see her adhering to any Jedi code.

Is Leia a Jedi? I guess that depends on how you define a Jedi...
Does receiving some Jedi training make someone a Jedi?


In any case, I'm sure here rank as a General in the Resistance has nothing to do with her being a Jedi (or not).

Mon Mothma was supreme chancellor around the time that of Aftermath.
Not sure who is in charge now (assuming the New Republic still functions)

 

No matter which way you word it, we don't have a EU anymore.

 

The New Republic still functions -- it's revealed in "The Perfect Weapon" -- though I don't know who's in charge.

 

When is the Perfect Weapon set?

 

I believe it immediately precedes TFA. It's actually a pretty good short story. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

I'm still upset that she isn't the new Queen of Naboo. She's visited twice in the Marvel comics, I totally thought they were going there!

 

She's a decoy

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but how would it be possible to be a princess of a planet that doesn't exist anymore?

 

No idea, maybe sometime in the 30 years.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Perfect_Weapon

 

There are more ways to use your gifts with the Force than to train as a Jedi (or a Sith for that matter).

The Force is what gives the Jedi its power, not the other way around.

 

There is nothing I have read on the new canon books stating she is not interested in the ways of the Force. "Moving Target" is pre-Return of the Jedi, and states something about her ability of foreseeing stuff she'll be important part of it. "Shattered Empire" gives out a glimpse of her Force-sensitivity when she is at Naboo and feels cold where Darth Maul fought the Jedi. In "Star Wars" comics, by the end of "Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon" she uses a lightsaber and sort of likes it. But so far nothing about her despise about learning the ways of the Force, other than the EU ("Truce at Bakura" and "Tatooine Ghost").