Page 143 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2019)

LEIA ORGANA
05 know from A New Hope that
mentor, “Ben” Kenobi. We
Ben can still reach out to Luke
through the Force, but Luke does
not get the spectral assistance he
is presumably hoping for. Instead,
it is Leia who senses her brother’s
plight (though she doesn’t yet
The Force know they are related), and turns
the Falcon around to go back and
Calls to Her fi nd him.
Does Ben nudge Luke’s own
In 1980, the world sat stunned Force powers in Leia’s direction,
as Darth Vader revealed, “No. I am or help Leia’s own sensitivity on its
your father.” Yet while that one way? Do Luke and Leia unwittingly
moment has become a shorthand tune into a Force link they have
for the entire Skywalker saga, always had without realizing it?
The Empire Strikes Back contains Perhaps the best part of this scene is
another key moment for that that we can all decide for ourselves
crucial clan. Though it would not and have lively, fun-fi lled debates
become a movie title for another about it.
35 years, the idea that the Force What is not up for debate,
could awaken within a character however, is that Leia takes control
was seeded as Leia sensed Luke’s of the situation without pause.
peril on Cloud City. Where Luke She does not stop to question her
himself had trained to unlock his instincts or to weigh up the odds.
Force potential, Leia’s awakening is Having just lost Han to the carbon-
spontaneous and—tantalizingly— freeze chamber, she is not about to
never fully explained. ignore a chance to save Luke, and
As Luke hangs by his one hand the call to action is just the sliver of
from an antenna on the underside hope she needs. In that moment,
of Cloud City, still reeling from the Force is perhaps her own
Vader’s revelation, he calls out to his salvation as much as it is Luke’s.
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04
Ewok First Contact
After pursuing a personal quest to
rescue Han in the first act of Return
of the Jedi, Leia returns to the thick
of the fight against the Empire.
Before long, she is on Endor,
piloting a speeder bike as part of a
coordinated attack on the second
Death Star: the latest iteration of
the superweapon that destroyed
her homeworld. For a presumed
first-timer, Leia handles the bike like
a boss—her latent Force abilities no
doubt allowing her to keep up with
Luke. But a scout trooper gets off
a lucky shot, causing Leia to crash
new companion: a small, bear-like
and pass out.
When she wakes up, Leia has a
creature that is eyeing her with
caution and curiosity. Though the
threat, Leia knows well enough
not to judge by appearances, and
creature doesn’t look like a serious
affords it respect and space. This
leads to a tentative alliance that
proves surprisingly instrumental
in the downfall of the Empire.
On a straightforward level, it’s a
heartwarming scene that makes
good on Leia’s earliest claims to be
a diplomat. On a broader scale, it’s
indicative of how Leia’s sometimes
snarky attitude is merely a shield
for a deep humanity—something
that proves as powerful against the
Empire as Luke’s mercy for Darth
Vader in their fi nal reckoning.
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30/10/2018 13:48