What was the point of Leia being a Skywalker?

Interesting question, Tion.

I really think this phrase never refered to Leia. If that were to be true, Yoda would be basing his faith in someone who alredy was in Vader's hands, or soon to be! He shared Luke's vision, didn't he realize who this "friend in danger" was? They should have told him about his sister right on the spot, and then stun him with the Force if necessary to stop him!

Although I aknowledge that Leia was never meant to be Luke's sister, I think tis idea brings a nice wrapping to the Luke-Leia-Han triangle, because, remember, Han is Luke's best friend, and it is not nice from a best friend to hook up with your girl. So, if she weren't his sister, I don't know how would they convinced us that Luke was really OK with the Han&Leia thing, unless they would have thrown Mara into the mix in the last moment. (Now that I think twice, it is not nice either from your best friend to hook up with your sister , but Han didn't know it)

That would only have repeated the ESB situation, his friends captured by
Vader and Luke rushing to save them... boring.

So, all in all, I'm pretty comfortable with Leia turning out to be Luke's sister.

 

Vader did remind Luke that his friends would die. It didn't work, mostly because Luke believed they would win and took it as an idle threat. Golden_Jedi is right in that it would simply be a repeat of ESB, and at the end of ROTJ I think Luke is too strong to be tempted by that again. With Leia as Luke's sister, however, she is an untrained Force-sensitive, very vulnerable to the dark side, and Luke knows this. Now Vader's threat becomes very powerful, enough to tempt Luke to the dark side.

Even though she led the Rebellion?

 

I always thought it was because in the early stages GL was toying with the idea of the central character being a girl and so when he finally decided to go with Luke as the central character he held on to the girl character in a slightly different role. The brother / sister thing was introduced because it worked as a plot mechanism for ROTJ. The love triangle could be put to bed once and for all (excuse the metaphor)and the threat of Luke's sister being targeted by the Emperor was used as a tool to try and turn Luke to the dark side. It also created the thought in the viewer's mind that Luke could actually die here and it might be left to Leia to save the day.

 

I always thought it was because in the early stages GL was toying with the idea of the central character being a girl

That wouldn't have worked, DarthDuckie, because of our pathriarchal societies... Girls are meant to fill their mother's shoes, and not their fathers... Lucas reinforced later that idea by making Padme a brown-haired, dark-eyed senator... so we are now sure that Leia is (unawarely) falling her mother's steps, and not her adoptive father's.

 

It's not true Leia didn't help. When Luke is talking to the Emperor at the end of ep 6 the emperor senses he's got a sister cause he's worried about her do you remember?
So maybe when Vader turns again to the light side he's not just thinking about his son being tortured by the emperor, but also about his daughter...maybe, as she's a girl, he remebers Padmè...

 

Being in Vader's clutches already, and with her having no knowledge of her connection to the Jedi, it would have been VERY difficult for Yoda to get in touch with Leia and convince her of who she was and to take time out of the rebellion to undergo training and all that, especially if Yoda has no transportation (whether he went to Dagobah in his own ship or was dropped off there I won't know until I see the deleted scenes for ROTS)

But if Luke had been killed or, even worse, turned to the dark side, Leia would have been their only chance in hell for taking down the Emperor.

 

I think it does two things:

1. Puts an end to the love triangle in a way that leaves neither Luke nor Han the loser.
2. Far more importantly, gives Luke a reason for turning to his anger and hatred in duelling Vader. Yes, he already has something of a motive for doing so because the rebellion is on the verge of disaster, and his friends are near capture and perhaps death, But he still has hope that they'll figure out a way to overcome those odds. Hearing Vader say he'll go after his sister next causes Luke to boil over in a way that I don't think anything else could have.

 

Double the reason for Vader to come back?

 

Interesting point. When Vader finds out about Luke's sister, he knows that she is in danger from the Emperor as well. So when Vader decided to throw the Emperor down the shaft, he may well have been thinking about saving his daughter as well as saving his son.

 

I was just going to say that.

The 4 points of Leia being a Skywalker are:

-To end the love triangle between Luke, Leia, and Han.

-To point out who Yoda was referring to when he says, "There is another".

-To push Luke into using the Dark Side in his fight against Darth Vader.

and

-It brings about Anakin/Vader's redemption.

The fact that Anakin discovered that Padme had more than 1 child is what unleashed the goodness that is left inside him and it gave him the strength to let go of the Dark Side and to kill the Emperor to protect his son and daughter.

 

I always thought it was because in the early stages GL was toying with the idea of the central character being a girl

That wouldn't have worked, DarthDuckie, because of our pathriarchal societies...

Yep, that's why GL opted for Luke as the central character in the end. He definitely toyed with her as a girl though. It's in some of the original concept art and he talks about it in some of the docos. I think Leia's character is a hang over from that idea and so it wasn't a big leap to make her Luke's sister.

 

Well I like that Leia turned out to be Luke's sister. The first time I heard though that it came about mainly because GL needed a reason to make Luke snap and go after Vader I was like..."A major plot point like that came about just because of this???" It seemed odd because as others have mentioned some other catalyst could have been written to that end - nevertheless it's fine the way it is imo.

It's worked out great for the purpose of EU stories that take place after RoTJ.

 

Listen to Darth Kruel. Wisdom he has.

 

Leia being Padme's daughter was just as important as her being a Skywalker. Just because she was a Skywalker, was it really necessary for her to be with Luke and Anakin on the 2nd Death Star with Palpatine? I don't think so. Besides, Anakin's discovery of her being his daughter nearly undid Luke during the father/son battle before the Emperor. I thought that was well utilized.

 

Yeah i agree.

Inappropriate

 

^

No question about it 'SW Rocks'...that imagery just shortened your forum lifespan.

Does being 12 years old and using Da-Da's 'puter make you feel powerful? Get back to school, boy and put down the X-box.

 

In a classic case of 'nature vs nurture" I honestly don't think Leai would've been the charismatic and brave leader she was without some Skywalker blood pumping through her veins. Not to mention the Amidala blood. In my opinion, the Skywalkers DID bring balance to the Force. Luke saved their father, but somebody had to help save the Galaxy. Somebody had to care about the rebels, the people, the details! What was going to happen AFTER the Empire went down. Leia was that person.
And I honestly don't think that if she had been simply Organa's daughter, it would've been the same. Sure, she still could've still been written that way, but having her be a Skywalker gave her a depth of character she wouldn't have had otherwise.

"Oh, well. She's a hero of the republic. Kinda like Mon Mothma Jr."

"What? She's Vader's daughter!? That means she could be a Jedi? She feels the Force... tell me more!"

 

I've always seen Leia = sister as a bit of a plot cop-out. I guess it is pretty firmly entrenched in Star Wars lore now, but it just seems a little... weak, or something.

 

It's a fairy tale element. Not overly smart or logical, but meaningful in its own whimsical way.