CT Leia Mega-Thread, formerly Why did Princess Leia criticize her "rescue" on the Death Star?

there was no organization. organa. organized.

 

Why did Princess Leia criticize her "rescue" on the Death Star?

Because it's a lot easier to stand there and criticise your rescuers, than it is to actually do something useful. Throughout the OT, Leia was never the rescuer, but always the complaining rescuee. It's probably why Leia was captured in the first place.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with a person criticising another person. But when heroes come along and rescue you from a situation from which you are completely hopeless, and do not possess the ability to free yourself (perfect example Leia). It's best to be quiet and let the heroes do what they do.

 

Because Han and Luke are acting like dunces who, at best, might get all three of them captured and, at worst, get all three of them killed.

 

I think her criticism was applicable. Young man storms into her cell and tells her he's with Ben Kenobi.

Ah! The great General Kenobi she has heard so much about, these must be pros.

The next seconds it turns out that these guys coming to her rescue actually aren't pros. Hence her criticism because she expected a professional rescue once the name "Kenobi" had been dropped.

It's an interesting game of poker she played with Tarkin. Undoubtedly she must have hoped that Tarkin would have set course rightaway for the Dantooine system which would have bought some of her people time to evacuate Alderaan (it must have been clear to her that once Tarkin found out that Dantooine had been deserted for some time, he would have returned and destroyed Alderaan).

And everybody is aware that the destruction of Yavin IV would not have meant the end of the rebellion but merely a single cell of it according to the latest Rebels Retcon?

 

Yes, but why were they all there in the first place? "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope." The Princess got herself and the heroes into the mess. Then the heroes got them out of it. Who's the bigger dunce - Han and Luke or the complainer who follows them?

 

You do realize that she never meant for Obi-Wan to launch a rescue operation? She wanted him to deliver the Death Star plans to her father on Alderaan and was hoping they’d find a weakness and be able to exploit it.

 

Of course I realise .

The capture of the Princess lead to Alderaan being blown up resulting in the capture of the Falcon and crew (crew capture - technically). She dragged them into the mess. They risked their lives rescuing her, when it wasn't even part of their original plan. The Princess had no right to criticise her rescuers. Especially when she was never going to rescue herself, and let's not forget her rebel friends made no effort to try and rescue her. If her criticisms were followed up with an alternative plan that was of use to get them out of there, then great. All we get from the Princess is a lot of complaining from a character who is seriously lacking substance.

 

She did come up with an alternative plan.

She blasted the garbage chute open, allowing them to escape.

 

You can hardly hold her responsible for the destruction of Alderaan or for the Falcon’s capture. And remember, it was Luke’s brilliant idea to charge in without any kind of escape plan, not hers. Luke’s heart is in the right place, but he’s definitely being a bit impulsive and naive here.

EDIT: I’d also like to point out that Obi-Wan obviously recognized the necessity of the mission, willingly coming out of retirement/hiding and endangering his own life to deliver these essential plans. As far as her criticizing her rescuers go, she has a much bigger goal, the defeat of the Empire in mind, and to quote a famous movie that obviously influenced STAR WARS, “It doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

 

Getting trapped in a garbage compactor is no escape plan.

Luke almost drowns and/or gets strangled. Then all 4 of them would've been crushed to death by Leia's 'plan' if it wasn't for R2 and C3PO rescuing the princess' botched plan.

Also, serious plot hole in the movie, during and immediately after the garbage compactor scene.... The death Star would've been on high alert due to the shootout that took place at the time of Leia's prison breakout. The stormtroopers and the imperial officers would've have known exactly where the 4 fugitives were. No-one went in after them? No-one waiting for them when they got out?? I guess George Lucas' script rescued the Princess' one and only plan too. Seriously flawed.

 

OK, then. What would you have done instead of the garbage chute? There’s no other way in or out of the cell bay.

 

I better not go into detail as to why I believe Leia is largely responsible for the destruction of Alderaan. As you know threads like these are very sensitive to derailment .

Inadvertently she's responsible for the Falcon's capture. At the time she sent the message with R2, she had know idea her planet was going to be destroyed.

Apart from the plan they came up with, I couldn't see any other plan. I don't think they had much time to come up with an alternate plan. Because Leia's execution was imminent.

That's not a fair question, because I have no answer to that .

Except to say I would've listened to Obi-Wan and stayed put, rather than rescuing the Princess.

 

Well, to be fair to Luke, I also partly blame Han. It’s strange that someone like Han, who is the ultimate survivor, would march into a situation like this without an exit plan. Still…bad planning. They could’ve at least had R2 and 3PO examine the area so they could get an idea of all possible escape routes. Also, come up with a better plan for getting in there than just, “Shoot everything in sight.”

They’re gonna execute her! Look, a few minutes ago, you said you didn’t wanna just wait here to be captured! Now all you wanna do is stay?

 

Han had behaved rather strangely during the entire Death Star sequence. It seemed as if he was behaving in an extreme, yet contradicting manner. He wanted to stay put aboard the Falcon, rather than help Luke save Leia. Yet, when he finally allowed Luke to talk him into saving Leia, he behaved in a reckless manner. Marching into a dangerous situation with little thought and blasting everything in sight (yes, I'm exaggerating). And for a smuggler, I found it odd that he lacked the talent to bull***t his way inside that detention security area. Perhaps I should not have been surprised when he said the following:

Really? How on earth did this man become a successful smuggler in the first place?

Leia did not help matters with her decision to take charge of her rescue. I can understand why she was unimpressed by Luke and Han's rescue. But she did not help matters. It was clear that she didn't really know what she was doing, anymore than they did. Her decision to take charge of the rescue led them to the dangers of the garbage compactor. To quote the lady - "This is some rescue." Would Luke's original plan to impersonate Imperial stormtroopers had worked if Han had not displayed such a lack of talent for deception? I don't know.

 

As I posted back in September in the Leia's personal flaws thread...

There was no other way out. There were too many Stormtroopers already and more on the way. The computer system that Artoo had access to, was now restricted so he couldn't find another way out. So, she had a choice, stay there and be killed or captured, or take a risk and hope for the best.

LUKE: "We've been cut off! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay?...What was that? I didn't copy!"

THREEPIO: "I said, all systems have been alerted to your presence, sir. The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out; all other information on your level is restricted."

LUKE: "There isn't any other way out."

HAN: "I can't hold them off forever! Now what?"

LEIA: "This is some rescue. When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?"

HAN: "He's the brains, sweetheart."

LUKE: "Well, I didn't..."

Which in the earlier scene, Luke never talked about how to get out of there and Han never bothered to broach the subject.

 

I gotta give ya credit. When you’re right, you’re absolutely 100% right.

 

I personally would have just rolled my eyes and not listen to any criticism she gave me if I was trying to rescue her.

 

Never thought about it, but yeah. Still, the relationships and characters are well-written enough, and the performances are appealing enough that none of that bothers me.

It’s pretty clear that Luke’s impersonation plan wasn’t that well thought-out.

“I wasn’t notified. I’ll have to clear it.”

What was Luke’s plan to deal with any questions? Hell, the genetically engineered mutants from STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE planned their little ruse out better than Luke did…and they weren’t exactly known for their great social skills:



Still, it doesn’t bother me. The characters, the relationships, the verbal interplay, the dialogue, the comedy, the witty banter, et al work well enough that none of this bothers me.

And as darth said, if you can name any alternatives to the garbage chute, I’d love to hear them. Otherwise, I’m not sure what Leia should’ve done. As some have speculated, I doubt a man would be getting the same kind of criticism that Leia is getting here.

 

I believe you are right.

 

There are always alternatives. C3PO says " the main entrance seems to be the only way in or out; all other information on your level is restricted." In other words C3PO had no definitive answer if there was another way out or not. When Leia and the rescuers are in the cell bay corridor, the stormtroopers are shooting at them from only the one end. That corridor was very, very, very long with no dead end. There easily would've been many alternate better ways to get out of there. Instead the Princess decides it's a better idea to trap themselves in a garbage compactor . As I said earlier, it took a gaping plot hole in the script to rescue Leia from that (as Han puts it) "wonderful idea." The moment they got out of the compactor, the entire empire should've been there to arrest or execute them.
Leia knows she stuffed up, for the first time she has no snarky remark and the look on her face is priceless when Han deservedly criticises the Princess' plans, saying "garbage chute, really wonderful idea, what an incredible smell you've discovered." Also Leia is once again lost for snarky comments, when Han puts the Princess in her place, by telling her "Look, I had everything under control til you lead us down here." In other words if she followed the heroes lead there would've been multiple options in getting out of there.

"I doubt a man would be getting the same kind of criticism that Leia is getting here."
No one else is bringing up the gender topic in this particular thread. There is no need to start. I don't want this thread to be locked like all the others.

 

Yeah, there’s a wonderful place at the end of the hallway- her cell. Sure she’d be glad to go back there. And it’s not as if Luke or Han were exactly contributing any great ideas there.

PRINCESS LEIA: You came in here. You didn’t have a plan for getting out?
HAN SOLO: He’s the brains, sweetheart!
LUKE SKYWALKER: Well, I didn’t—
(Leia grabs blaster and shoots into garbage vent)
HAN SOLO: What the hell are you doing!
PRINCESS LEIA: Somebody has to save our skins! Into the garbage chute, flyboy!
HAN SOLO: Get in there! Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don’t care what you smell. ( turns to Luke ) Wonderful girl! Either I’m gonna kill her or I’m beginning to like her! Get in there!

Yes, Laurel and Hardy came up with such brilliant alternatives.

Gee, I wonder why.

 

Leia had absolutely no positive input into the situation she got herself and the rescuers into. The heroes risked their lives by saving the Princess, while all she could do was complain about it. If it weren't for the heroes, Leia would've been executed and the rebels eventually defeated. From a certain point of view, it's hard to watch how weak the Princess is and continues to become in the OT. There is nothing in the movies that she actually achieves, without the need to be rescued by others.

 

Blast it. Somehow I can't erase the "quote box" at the end of my post. Anyway...

PHIERY
Could you please elaborate why it is you think that Leia could possibly be responsible for the destruction of Alderaan. I'd really like to know!

 

Maybe she could tell just by the smell. Remember what Han says to Chewie, “I don’t care what you smell. Get in there!”