Official Leia Organa Episode VIII Discussion Thread

To understand where Leia might be going, in terms of her character arc, it's probably helpful to consider some key points of information established so far:

There was said to be a "Galactic Concordance" (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Concordance) in effect after the events of Return of the Jedi.

When The First Order appeared to succeed the defeated Empire, it was Leia Organa who cautioned members of the Republic of the need to defend against such a potential menace.

But Leia's concerns were largely dismissed, and she was left to work this out on her own with little official support from the Republic.

So she went on lead her own Resistance (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Resistance):

Some more about that:

So the Resistance was not widely supported in the Republic. The First Order cited that as one of their main reasons for using their Starkiller Base to fire on the Hosnian System, which was described as the "heart" of the Republic.

From Hux's speech:

And this was the aftermath:

Earlier, I attempted to work out where Leia and the Resistance might be, after all of this, as of Episode VIII in a series of posts in the Episode VIII Opening Scroll thread.

While it's too early to reliably predict how things might work out in this area of the story, I believe, more generally, Leia will likely have her hands full, at least diplomatically. Some possibilities:

• she might have to work to try to convince more surviving members of the Republic to support the Resistance officially, now that her worst fears of The First Order have been realized
• and/or she might have to (now that the Hosnian / Republic fleet has been decimated) rally supporters and donors to help defend the Republic against further atrocities by The First Order

Perhaps the prospect of Luke Skywalker's return, with a Jedi-in-the-making Rey, will also help motivate the galaxy to rally around the Republic and the Skywalkers.

In any event, I tend to see Leia as potentially having a significant role in the galactic affairs (on screen or behind the scenes) and the restoration of the Republic in Episodes VIII, IX, if not beyond.

There would be an immense amount of work to be done throughout the galaxy after The First Order was disassembled or surmounted somehow.

Perhaps Leia could even go on to become Chancellor Organa of the New Republic, creating a potentially beautiful parallel (or, rather, coming full circle, governmentally) with her mother, Padme, former Queen and later Senator of the planet Naboo.

JediMasterRobert

 

Great post, @JediMasterRobert ! At first I was sort of disappointed that Leia would not follow the same path as in the Legends - becoming a Jedi and such - but having come to terms with that, I reckon that would be a really interesting arc for her. Yesterday I was watching again the episode from Rebels where she appears ("A Princess in Lothal") and from the beginning, she has chosen her path of fighting for truth and justice and standing for what it is right. She could have chosen the easy way of living like a royal and really not caring about the galaxy suffering under the iron fist of the Galactic Empire. Her development through the saga makes me think of the following quote from Harry Potter:

“It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.”

One of the quotes she says inspired me to do this:



For the ones not familiar with Rebels, this is part of a dialogue between Ezra Bridger - one of the Rebels - and Princess Leia (16 years old). He asks her if she has ever wondered if being part of the Rebellion Against the Empire is worth it, and she replies affirmative, but that she is still there. To have that answer from a 16 yr-old Princess is understandable - to voluntarily refuse enjoying the prerogatives of her position in life to go join an uncertain fight - but to see where she has got to, to stoic leader of the Resistance, is even more poignant.

She has chosen to fight. Not because she is Force-Sensitive. Not because she has to. It has been a personal choice. Another quote from the same episode highlights the same:

Ezra: "You're a princess. You don't have to risk you life doing this."
Princess Leia: "I feel like because I can fight, I have to for those who cannot."

I agree, I'd like to see her as head of what's left of the Republic and with the help of her brother and Rey they can fight against the First Order.

 

Beautifully said, PrincessLeiaCB.

I would love for Disney some day to take us into the Young Princess Leia Chronicles or something of that nature, because she is a fascinating person with a lifelong commitment to democracy and justice.

How amazingly in line with Padme she is on this.

There are aspects of elder Leia which show her to truly be the daughter of both Padme and Anakin:

In The Phantom Menace, Queen Amidala said:

• "I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war."
• "My place is with my people."
• "My fate will be no different to that of our people."
  
• "It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions."

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin said:

• "We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problems, agree what's in the best interests of all the people, and then do it."

Both of Leia's parents had strong inclinations as to how the galaxy should be governed:

• Padme was decidedly democratic in this regard, consistent until the end, even as it meant her path diverged from Anakins': "You're going down a path I cannot follow!" she cried.
  
• Anakin (based primarily on the Jedi Order's occasional self-righteous stances towards galactic matters and adding to that Palpatine's dark influence) began to take a much different perspective on how the galaxy should be run.

This Sith-infected state of mind lead Anakin, in Revenge of the Sith, Anakin (now formally Darth Vader in Sith identity at this point in the story), to declare to Obi-Wan, "I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire."

It would be such a fully formed circle to have Leia come around and be there, instrumental to the end, helping the galaxy to heal and head into the future with a new sense of wholeness.

I know she cannot do this alone -- she will new Luke, Rey, Finn, Poe, and others to do their part -- but Leia has always been a leader, a charismatic yet powerful one at that, and she can lead the charge against The First Order in an epic way.

And this would be another test for Kylo Ren, as his mother rallies the galaxy against the very thing he seems to have identified with and committed himself to as of The Force Awakens.

I hope the writers will wring every ounce of potential out of this incredible convergence of events.

JediMasterRobert

 

Oh yes yes and yes yes yes. Great post there It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds...Mother vs Son

 

I'm super glad that we've got a proper Mother in Star Wars again. A lot has been given over to Fathers, and, while I think Shmi was great while she was there, I'm looking forward to seeing Leia's interaction with Kylo moving on.

 

I think she didn't give up on Ben and she'll try to reach him alone.

 

I've wondered about this question with regards to Anakin, who, in the capacity of Darth Vader, and even just before that, did so many unspeakable things.

Yet, in the end, he was redeemed through the compassion of his son and overthrew the Emperor. By the end of Return of the Jedi, Anakin returned (reappeared) as a Force spirit, smiling even.

The thing is, retaining consciousness in the afterlife would be a form of punishment all its own: to reflect eternally on all the wrongs and devastation he brought into the galaxy.

Forgiven he was, and redeemed, but the memory of all that would be a penalty arguably worse than dying.

So, even if Ben is turned, is forgiven, redeemed, lives a good life, and goes on to become a Force spirit, he, like Anakin will have nothing less than eternity to ponder all he had said and done.

That, and Karma is still applicable in the Star Wars universe...
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Karma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma

JediMasterRobert

 

more than anything the kid needs a therapist.
i have all faith Leia will deal with him appropriately as a mother would her son.

 

Well she's a mom and moms don't give up on their own kids no matter what they've done .

 

Why isn't anyone considering Leia as a Sith? Kylo is full of rage (I will admit), but even as he kills his father he seems conflicted, almost weak.
I highly doubt that Snoke would be able to convince Kylo to commit such a horrible act, unless Kylo's MOTHER was behind the curtain pulling all the strings...

I have seen the prediction of Princess Leia coming full circle and fighting (as her mother did) as leader of the Senate against the First Order, standing up for those that can't stand up for themselves. This parallel seems TOO perfect.

BUT

What if the parallel isn't Leia/Padme but actually Princess Leia taking on the Palpatine role (Palpatine mentored Anakin and Leia mentoring Kylo) - Leia feeds in to Kylo's rage, and SHE is the real Darth Vader fanboy/fangirl (and probably the person that gave the Vader mask to Kylo)...

Let's remember that something BIG and BAD happened that caused Luke to flee and hide. Do we actually believe Luke is afraid of Kylo Ren? Kylo almost got killed by the inexperienced Rey!

Luke is in hiding because he knows there is a very powerful force behind Kylo, and it's definitely NOT Snoke. It's Princess LEIA!

 

I read the excerpt from Bloodlines that USA Today had online, seems like Leia is frustrated with the attitudes of the people. Since they didn't fight in the battles, they don't know how much they should fear the First Order.

But how does this feeling (along with the possibility that she knows Snoke) turn her to the Dark Side?

 

Quite original theory @CSTEL but not buying it.

Just finished reading "Lost Stars" and it reinforces the idea of Leia being the Skywalker least prone to go to the Dark Side.

(BTW that's a great new canon book. Truly enjoyed reading a different perspective of two people with the main characters as a background story.)

She could have stayed in the Empire - in this book we can see how different people looked at her - like a princess, member of the Senate, a privileged one in the way things were during the Empire. But she chose to fight. She could not stand watching passively how the Empire used raw power and might to get their way over the galaxy. And she is the one who sees the danger coming while everyone in the New Republic seemed to minimize the growing menace of the First Order. By reading "Before the Awakening" (specifically, "Poe" story) one can see she is still fighting against the Dark Side. Even if fate places her to fight against her own son.

 

I predict buying a Funko Pop! bobble head of "Chancellor Leia" in 2017.

 

Weird, i haven't seen hardly any Leia's (besides regular ANH Leia) around my town at all. I want a Hoth Leia and General Organa.

 

interesting stuff here. So, I'll assume we find out a back story on all of this

 

I say put the whole Skywalker clan on Dr. Phil and let them iron things out!