ST Why is Leia Not a Jedi

To me it's not a coincidence the good guys are often led by her- if she is on your side then the Force is with you.

I also would like to see more small displays of her being a force sensitive along the lines of what y'all are saying.

Also, her not being a Jedi has already been pivotal to the continuation of the Skywalker line, so that's an element I think we'll continue to see play out depending on who turns out to be related to who.

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According to the Visual Dictionary:

Despite the loss of so many loved ones, Leia simply never surrenders to grief. Leia's brother, Luke, speculates that the strength of her will is how the Force manifests in her.

 

Actually it'd be interesting if the story goes about Leia and the others doing force-sensitive stuff to help achieving their own purposes without having to align themselves to an obsolete sect of holier-than-thou blockheads such as the Jedi or the Sith.

 

Very much in agreement Rickern. In the EU it showed that Leia certainly had force powers but she used them to help her with what she was good at, politics rather then running around with a light saber. She had one but rarely used it because to her diplomacy was the way to go rather then showing signs of aggression.

As for why she probably didn't follow along after Luke in becoming a Jedi, let's consider the following.

1. She was the last remaining royal member of the house of Organa, meaning that she was the only royal that could ask for any help for the people of Alderan. After all the planet was destroyed and the people had become refugees. She would have had to have worked not only out the new senate, but also found a place to house the people that were left.
2. She had to help set up a new governing body for the republic. This would have taken a long while given how bad things were in regard to the Empire.
3. Don't forget there were others that would have been attacking for power of the Empires remains, so there was that to handle.
4. She got married, and had a child, on top of all of the other aspects.

When in the world would she have had time to go out with Luke to learn to be a jedi?

 

Of course she could never be a jedi. She was/is in love with Han. Love is an emotion forbidden to Jedi, that is what led Anakin to the dark side.

 

I don't know, what if she just decided she preferred living a life free of those Jedi restrictions

 

Or simply it doesn't fit well with her previous political carrier: who wants another omnipotent ruler after Palpy? A Jedi Queen? Some who can manipulate your mind if you disagree with her?! In politics it is not enough to be "pure at heart", you must look like it as well beyond any doubt. Who would have voted for her when her political enemies start their rows that she is manipulating everyone with her special powers... Better to say, to prove that those special powers do not exist.

 

Leia is a Jedi, but in a different sense. It has been stigma for some time that to be Force User, particularly a Light Sider you must wield the powers and dedicate your life to being student of the Force. But I think it is possible for wider interpretation where people can be Jedi without having to wield Lightsabers, display great power, and fight in cause of Jedi alone. Leia is General in the Resistance, and she is helping create the New Republic which the Jedi serve, as the Old Jedi Order served the Old Republic. People forget that Dark Side has its mystics and even monks called Sith and Dark Jedi, but the Empire and in this case the First Order is also a manifestation of Dark Side. The Force uses both individuals and governments, it is both micro and macro. Leia is thus a Light Sider, Force Sensitive, but she is involved in political element of the Force, rather than the religious and mystical.

 

She's a leader. She chose to lead.

 

Once Lucas made the eleventh hour decision to make Leia The Other and have Luke utter, "in time you will learn to use that ability as I have," and then to continue the saga, narratively you cannot drop it. There has to be some payoff.

 

Ben IMO threw a wrench into all of that. I think Leia was learning about the force. Not studying to be a Jedi. After all Luke never said she had to be a Jedi. Just in time she will learn to use the force like he had. I think she was learning her own (after some basic lessons from him) in a general sense but once Leia realized she and Han might have brought about the second coming of Vader, all plans went out the window.

Ben really was caused it all to come apart. That what makes him such a great character. He should have brought our big three heroes their greatest joy. Instead Kylo seems intent on literally killing all three personally.

 

Perhaps she walked the Jedi Path and later gave up on it between the films. She could know how to use a lightsaber even though she doesn't carry one anymore.

Whether it be pre-TFA or post-TFA, it would be fantastic if Leia does know how to wield a blade.

 

Luke02, that's fine. But narratively it still has to be a plot point. It would be like the next episode if Rey is now just a fighter pilot with Poe and her meeting Luke is never mentioned again.

 

Being a Jedi has terrible stock options, little vertical career growth and few employment benefits. As a career woman with a family, Leia needed to pay the bills.

 

There's no way that the above scenario would ever be the basis for a post-ROTJ movie. Doesn't even take "two functioning brain cells" to understand that.

And all the lead-up to TFA made it clear what kind of story was being told. They weren't trying to fool anyone.

So, all that considered, why did you bother watching it?

 

I was totally against Leia not being a Jedi in the ST, but now it makes perfect sense. Her father was Darth Vader, her son is Kylo Ren. Her brother was so devastated by his failure with his nephew and the loss of his Jedi Order that he couldn't even face his own sister. Leia had all these negative experiences against her, no one to train her, and she and Han went back to what they knew out of desperation. Plus, she was busy handling the larger affairs of the galaxy.

I'm so glad I'm at peace with how Leia was handled.

 

Why are you not a Jedi...

 

She's not a jedi because seeing her swing around a lightsaber would be more rediculous looking than when yoda did it in the prequels.

 

I don't know, sometimes a film can score a home run when they take a chance. I'm not a fan of all the light saber fights, except in the original three... It's just too much. But something as controlled and beautiful as Alec Guinness' movements in Star Wars and in the hands of the right director could be riveting.

 

In TPM, they said Anakin was too old to train. In TESB, Yoda says Luke is to old. I just figured Leia must be too old to learn the ways of the force.

 

But Anakin and Luke were trained. Leia was the same age as Luke.

I think if she wanted to be a Jedi, Luke would be more than happy to take her as his first Padawan. It was Leia's decision not to became a Jedi.

 

She still could be a force user.

 

Anakin and Luke are too old to be trained only because it was used for dramatic tension and dialogue, and especially with Luke. Yoda says it more out of frustration. The rules of wielding a light saber are only as sound as the needs for the story.

If this was 1986 (with the next film coming in the usual three year period) we all know they would be playing with the idea of Leia wielding a saber. But Fisher is not in Slave Outfit idealized Hollywood shape. I think smart writers, a smart director, and a brave Fisher should embrace the challenge and do something surprising.

I don't want her jumping around and being a ridiculous video game badass. But once they made her Vader's daughter and The Other, and decided to continue the films, you can't drop it. Dramatically, it would have been interesting if she HAS avoided it, is frightened by it. Wants no part of it. But can't avoid it. And has a moment in the ninth film where the saber flies into her hand, or saves the day by moving something large like Yoda did with the XWing, By avoiding it, it just reeks of the powers in charge thinking audience don't want to see a middle aged woman do this.

 

This. Kylo's getting that temper from somewhere.

 

This!

One thousand times, This!