Speculation Should Leia be a Jedi or Politician in the ST?

Yes. I would love to see Jedi Leia Organa Solo in action. Been intrigued ever since reading about her as a Jedi in the EU, so would like to see it on screen.

 

Didn't see what coming? Her being a Jedi? She's Luke's sister, daughter of Anakin, and Luke tells her she'll learn to use the Force given enough time... and that was in the event he died. With him being alive, and an 'official' Jedi Knight, he'll be around to train her--and based on Luke's training, it probably wouldn't take the decades it did in the Old Republic. She'd be a Jedi Knight in comparatively no time, and still have plenty of time to get married, have kids, etc (same with Luke), and train new Jedi.

 

I think she should. Luke said in ROTJ that she would learn the force. Plus, she's the daughter of the Chosen One.

 

She so needs to have a lightsaber battle in the ST.

 

I want to see her mix it up

 

...or at least a sparring match. Most of the "duels to the death" should probably be between the new heroes & the villains, not so much Luke & Leia in the thick of it... tho that'd probably be cool to see.

...what if the oh-so-predictable "Mentor Death" idea DOES happen in VII... but it's LEIA that dies in battle? 30+ years later, she's likely a Jedi Master herself and a mentor a few times over... it'd sure be a switch from the oft-brought-up "Luke's gonna die because Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan, DUH!" which is tiresome.

 

I hope they don't off the only main female character of the OT.

 

It's a popular trope, female characters, no matter how popular die to push the protagonists to take action.
look at the movies, so far, Shmi, Padme, Beru, and Leia's adopted mother.

Abrams did use the death of Amanda, on Vulcan as Spock was holding her to affect Spock, but also the audience.

 

I say no. Luke is the only OT character I want in the ST. But if Leia must be in it, I think she should be a senator.

 

Question. What makes a Jedi? It is not simply being a force user and weilding a lightsaber or being told by another you are now a Jedi if you are a force user. Luke came to realise he was a Jedi. Perhaps it is a matter of being in a particular relationship with the force. As such Leia could be a Jedi without being what we are used to (in the PT for example). Just wondering.

 

And I don't like that trope much. Plus Leia almost has the most story-potential of all the big three.

 

Yeah, out of the big three, Leia still has the most potential to continue to grow and develop, while Luke and Han are probably already going to be at their apex by the time the ST starts.

 

just commenting on how the current movies, and books love that trope, and we shouldn't be surprised.
I would love to see her as a Jedi master equal to Luke, that was a highlight of Yoda's last conversation with Luke,
and the scene on the Endor bridge.

 

Greetings, Team Padme, my fellow Allana fan!

Yes, I do think Leia should be a Jedi in the ST, but more of the "Consular" sort, if you know what I mean. I don't see her wearing traditional robes or having a combat role/scene, but it would be nice if she carried a saber and used the Force a bit, like perhaps to contact Luke or something.

Even in ESB, she unknowingly uses the Force to find injured Luke on the weather sensor vane at Cloud City...I just think it'd be cool to see her knowingly use the Force in some way for the ST.

 

Maybe she's going to be a hutt

 

For that matter, I don't think ANY Jedi in the ST should be wearing "traditional robes". The PT look is done. Luke's ROTJ look (with the vest he wore in the first half) was as close to the PT look I think any Jedi should get. No more "Tatooine hermit attire/earth-toned bathrobes" as the 'official' average for Jedi.

 

It really didn't make any sense that the Jedi dressed like a bunch of desert water farmers.

 

Who doesn't see Leia as a Jedi coming? Sexist sub-humans?

 

if shes fat and old no otherwise i don't really care

 

That's an e-cigarette. She's been using them for some time to quit real cigarettes.

And no, I don't think anyone wants to see her in the bikini, including her, even if Carrie gets in shape. She's 56, not 26 as she was when she wore the bikini in ROTJ. It wouldn't be appropriate. Besides which, in the context of the movie, she was forced to wear it as the sex toy/decoration of a repulsive gangster. It was degrading and humiliating, no matter how good she happened to look at the time.

I don't think anyone wants to see Luke in an ESB-style tank top either, even if Mark gets in shape. He, like Carrie, did not age well, but somehow it's more unforgivable for women to lose their looks than men.

Someone told me that when Carrie was attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts in London (a year or so before being cast in SW), she took fencing as an elective, and was good at it.

Edited for some redundant phrasing.

 

I agree. Leia's leadership skills and role in politics were what set her apart from Luke. I have a feeling we're going to see a lot of other Jedi in the new movies. Leia would be just one more in the crowd if she's just another Jedi. By contrast, she could really have a unique role as senior stateswoman or the audience's window into Galactic politics.

I won't go too much further here, but I wrote an article about this for a blog a few months back if anybody is interested in some more reasons why I think she would be wasted as a Jedi: http://poliscijedi.blogspot.com/2013/01/is-leia-action-hero-or-political-hero.html

 

I agree that she has to have her own turf as a Jedi to juxtapose with Luke. But I think the prequel Jedi (say, contrast Yoda with Mace) show us that Jedi can serve plenty of roles, and even the most sage-like character can have a small moment of badassery.

 

Yeah, I think we had a similar discussion about this on the forums a few months ago. I certainly like that idea of her being a Jedi statesman (or Poli-Sci Jedi). Maybe like the Jedi liaison to the Senate. I think she'd have to develop an identity separate from simply being "female Jedi #45" or "Leia from the Original Trilogy" in the story. I kind of worry that, in making her a Jedi, Abrams and company would be too tempted to do fanservice by focusing on her Jedi fighting. That, plus Leia/Carrie's age means I think emphasizing her politico credentials would serve the character better.

Same goes for the other characters - I'd like to see some evidence that they've grown into new, distinct roles. I'll be very disappointed if Han is like the Han in the EU, basically a smuggler out of a job who just cracks jokes. And I'd love to see Luke go all Paul Atreides on us rather than still being a noble Jedi.

 

We MIGHT see a lot of Jedi in the ST... or we might not. Depends what Lucas set forth in his 'treatment' and how Arndt and the rest interpret that, whether they stay faithful to it or do their own thing.

Leia as a political figure is largely worthless as of ROTJ. Ignoring the EU, where they made many excuses for her to be thrown into politics, largely because her being the only surviving member of the royal house of Alderaan made her a sympathetic diplomat, in ROTJ we're introduced to Mon Mothma, the actual leader of the Rebel Alliance. SHE is now the political power on the side of the heroes... Leia's role in ROTJ is kinda amorphous... the daring rescuer turned eye-candy rescuee (who does manage to take out her captor herself), and then she's not even privy to all the plans of the big Rebel operation to destroy the Death Star & the Emperor. She's just part of Han's shuttle crew... until Luke reveals the truth to her, and then suddenly she has a very special role: another potential Jedi.

I've always HATED the idiotic notion that Supergirl makes Superman less special. He's still the "last SON" of Krypton, and the one who lead the way for aliens seeking a home on Earth, including his cousin Kara. He's still the symbol. The problems with Superman having Supergirl around are just perception & the lack of imagination (at various times) of the writers & editors at DC on how to carve out a role for another Superman who happened to be a young woman.

Same with Luke being the last of the old Jedi, first of the new... having Leia become a Jedi doesn't diminish Luke's importance one bit. He's the reason Vader turned back, he's the torchbearer, keeping the light of the Jedi alive. Training Leia to become a Jedi is pretty much his first responsibility towards the re-emergence of the Jedi after ROTJ... and now there's TWO Jedi out there. Leia can help shoulder the burden/honor, too, as is only fair for the daughter of Skywalker.

Politicians? They can be found ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE. And once she's a Jedi, Leia can STILL be involved in politics as a Jedi liaison, diplomat, ambassador, whatever you wanna call her. And that different role is what could make her unique among whatever Jedi are around. We have no idea how many Jedi are gonna be around in the ST... probably no more than the EU's 100-or-so as of the start of NJO. Probably a lot less, unless Luke's perfected the two-week-training-program he kinda had under Yoda's tutelage.

Being a Jedi, tho, is a far more special role for her. At the end of ROTJ, she's the ONLY other one we know of who can become a Jedi. Even if there's 100 around, she'll still be 'special' and important because she's Anakin's daughter, princess of Alderaan, and a Jedi like her brother. At some points in the EU, Leia tried to get Luke involved more in politics, to be something of an ambassador. It was a role he struggled with... a role she was much better suited for, and wouldn't have even needed Luke for if she'd actually bothered to complete her training as a Jedi while he could focus on other things.

Luke showed us you don't need a lifetime of training to be a Jedi... there's plenty of time & space for both Leia & Luke to be Jedi, diplomats, teachers, parents, anything the ST would have of them. They don't really have to be THIS or THAT... they can be both. But first & foremost, she SHOULD be a Jedi, because it's her birthright. Ignoring it in favor of politics would just be making the same mistake the Bantam EU did.

 

Toonimator

Good points. I agree Leia's being a Jedi doesn't diminish Luke at all. I think Luke's role is secure. I do think it would diminish Leia if the story only uses her character as a Jedi. That's more what I'm worried about. Because in the Original Trilogy Luke was our new Jedi. By the sequels, he'll certainly have trained more, even if only Leia and Han & Leia's kids. That means Leia would basically be in a position where she's always junior to Luke. She'd at best be the second Jedi in the new order, which frankly in terms of a character arc isn't as interesting as being the first Jedi. So I think to make Leia's character more interesting it'd make more sense to give her a more unique role.

And I agree it seems like Lucas didn't really know what to do with Leia in ROTJ. That's exactly the type of problem I worry about if Abrams just makes Leia a Jedi. In ROTJ, we already had the gun-slinging hero in Han, so Leia seemed a bit redundant in the Endor combat because she was just another gun-slinger (compared to how she had a very unique role in ANH and ESB as a princess and leader and love interest). I don't want to see Leia in the sequels just riding shotgun to Luke as he goes off to save the galaxy. I'd like to see her doing something that Luke or Han can't do.