ST Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) in Episode IX

I don’t understand why death is so odious to so many fans. It’s a part of life. And Leia having a satisfying or heroic death on screen might be done beautifully, and in a way that Carrie would love. Remember it’s the dark siders who despise/ fear death and seek to cheat it, grasping onto the temporal world with all their power. That’s a core Star Wars theme. The heroes, like Leia, don’t fear death. And I don’t think we, as fans, should fear it for the characters. As long as she dies well, it makes a lot of sense.

That said, I’m also open to her living on to lead the rebuilding of the galaxy. Just don’t think we should assume that having Leia die in TROS is “cruel.” Unless it was done tastelessly, which there’s really no danger of.

 

The biggest factor for me is how would she get a death scene worthy of the character without CF available to film it? It would be better to keep her alive than give her a subpar death imo.

 

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That factor over rides everything else. Carrie Fisher is not around to film her death scene. Nothing would be more disrespectful than doing a death for Leia without her. Even being off camera would be disrespectful for such an important character.

It’s not just her not being around to do a death scene her filming it would mean she would approve of the idea. Much has been discussed about Mark Hamill not orignally liking Luke’s story in TLJ. He says he eventually coming around to understanding and liking the choices. I believe him. Bottom line no one really forced him to do it. Conspiracy theories aside. Bottom line, regardless of his feelings past, present or future he did the best with the material he could. Which is something Carrie never could had in terms of the idea of killing Leia.

It should be noted that often actors participate in the death of their iconic characters and have mix feelings later. Two examples I am thinking of are Spock and Kirk. Both Nimoy and Shatner may have had later regrets in doing so, but there is no denying that it originally happened with their approval. Difference is Nimoy went on to direct the next two Star Trek movies and decided to resurrect Spock. Shatner knew he was passing the torch to Patrick Stewart whose stories are a 100 years later.

Mark knew that episode 9 was coming and the nature of the Force meant Luke would return in some way. I think it would be very unsatisfying for Leia to die off camera and reappear as a ghost later. Carrie would of had no involvement in that. Plus if Carrie is on camera posthumously in all appearances in the film, it is more satisfying to see her alive. There is no story reason she needs to die.

 

Given the she already "passed the baton" to Poe as leader of the Resistance on Crait, there is zero reason for Leia to die in ROS. If Carrie was alive, some sort of heroic and sacrificial death could have been conjured up in the writing room that would suddenly push Poe to step up and lead the Rebels....But we are past that, and I'm sure Carrie would have nailed such a scene and we'd have all been in tears. But without Carrie around, and with the Resistance now naturally in the hands of the younger characters, Leia can safely live on in the background and make a few appearances and live on in future novels and comics as the elder stateswoman of the new republic.

 

All this just makes me hungry for more info!

If Carrie was going to have the type of limited role that many are suspecting I doubt they would be taking about it so much. They would be limiting expectations instead. Obviously some fans are going to be disappointed regardless. That is unavoidable. Especially given that she died before this film even went into production. They are going to really work hard to pull this off. They are revealing they tried.

If she was going to have token cameos followed by death I highly doubt they would be revealing a scene of her in the trailer. Any scene in a trailer is a tease of more to come. We never SAW Luke’s face in TFA trailer. Nor Yoda in TLJ marketing at all. Plus talk of scene with her daughter Billie. That is teasing more than what they are showing.

I wonder if Leia is part of The Rise of the Resistance ride coming to Galaxy Edge. Being between 8 - 9 I imagine she gets at least a mention.

 

This guy gets it.

 

They're talking about Carrie Fisher's role in TROS because of the unusual way in which it is happening. They want to make sure the public understands it's not computer animation, Leia hasn't been recast, and that it's Carrie Fisher's performance. Not talking about it and keeping it secret allows the potential narrative that they're not confident about the decision and that it's somehow wrong. This way they have control of the discussion. Also talking about a scene with Leia and Connix gives the seal of approval regarding the method from Fisher's daughter.

I don't consider her inclusion to be a cameo though. Leia's appearance in Rogue One was a cameo. I expect her role in TROS to be closer in size to Mon Mothma in that film but with far more emotional impact.

As for what they would or wouldn't show in a trailer, well they showed Nute Gunray's death in the ROTS trailer. They showed Captain Phasma battling Finn in the TLJ trailer and there wasn't much left of her role beyond that.

And if you're trying to suggest that showing one of Luke's two scenes in the TFA trailer is somehow different because they didn't show his face and thus there was more to be shown, well then not showing Leia becoming one with the Force would be on par with that.

 

Well, apparently the whole premise of the ride is that guests are supposed to join forces with Rey and Leia before being captured by the First Order. So, Leia will definitely be part of the ride, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Carrie as Leia will be a part of the ride.

 

What about those warnings Leia had, according to MSW, post-ROTJ? She didnt pursue the jedi thing as a result. Were they about Ben? Already in some of the books we have Leia sensing Ben inside her, and some dark presence around...

https://makingstarwars.net/2019/05/...cess-leia-in-star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker/

So, maybe post-ROTJ Leia didnt 'jump ahead', like her father had, in order to avoid the future. That would have brought about precisely that future. But she would simply have chosen inaction: not being a Jedi. If those visions implied Ben in some sense, it would have made sense to remain close to him.

But, in fact, Leia not being a Jedi was the first victory for the enemy, or enemies.

Also:

This paragraph spans +15 years, if those students were the ones Ben slaughtered after the hut scene. Snoke seems to be more precise in the TLJ novel:

No Jedi Order. He says to Rey in TLJ 'and I became a legend. For many years there was balance'. But there really wasnt (in Life Debt, 4-6 months after Endor, Maz feels things to be off-balance, and we have also those acolytes and the 'Vader Lives' graffiti)

Luke an isolated figure as a result. No Jedi order. First Leia, then Luke.

Maybe a coincidence, but also seems like a 'divide and conquer' strategy. Maybe Leia's precognition or vision had happened as a reaction to some darkness being around -and that 'darkness' would now that.

That scene between Leia and Luke in TLJ seems to have several layers to it, some of which could date back to that one of the MSW rumor, and some to a later date. (I think she realized about Snoke+Ben and about something inside her womb at the same time)

 

Why would Leia require years of isolation to train to be a Jedi when Luke learned whilst fighting with the Rebellion, a few months with Yoda and then searching for Han Solo for 12months? And Rey only required a mind meld with Kylo, two days on the island with Luke and 12 months fighting with the Resistance?

It actually would've made sense for Rey to have completed her training with Leia, who was trained but left the order to follow a different path. If only the LFL writers group had half a brain....

 

^ Agreed.

On the plus side, I still think there is a clear path for a living Leia to further pursue a formal Jedi path post-ROS, and alongside Rey and with some occasional guidance from FG Luke the three of them relaunch the Jedi Order together. Would make an amazing book or animated series.

 

That's 4 years. Why wouldnt Leia require at least 4 years of isolation? Later, Ben and those students would train for years in isolation (=far from home, just like Anakin in the PT)

Also, there's a difference between a Padawan, a Jedi knight and a Jedi master. In the PT, there are trials involved, and years between them. Anakin is 8 in TPM and in AOTC hes 18: and hes a jedi, but not a master yet. Ben trained with Luke for years. Etc.

Being 'awake' and having powers is not all there's to it. That's sith thinking. Anakin complains about that in the PT 'I'm ahead of him [Obi-Wan]'. 'I want more, and I know that I shouldnt'. He shouldn't, because it takes time.

As for the mind meld, as you call it, its something new. Had that element been in those films (the films with Anakin and Leia and Luke and Ben) and had it been used in a different way than it has been in TFA/TLJ, you'd have a point.

 

I'd buy the book. watch the series...doubt we'd be alone either.

@ScreamingWoman2019

You never said when Luke and Rey were isolated for any length of time, once the Jedi Padawan had mastered the basics they were sent out to gain experience with a master, not be isolated to study.

 

The Star Wars Insider is publishing an exclusive preview of The Rise of Skywalker that’s due out October 29 with two different covers — one with Leia, and the other with Kylo:

Rey and Kylo would seem like the obvious choices for the two covers, but if they went with Leia, I’m wondering if she’s going to end up being even more important than we initially thought in this film. I really hope The Rise of Skywalker delves into the relationship between her and Kylo more, even if we don’t get any sort of confrontation between them.

 

I can't wait to see what footage JJ was sitting on from TFA and how he worked it in! I think CF will have a decent role and I'm still kmfc Leia makes it through alive.

 

Me too! Do we know if that report that they were using footage from The Last Jedi as well is accurate? Truth be told, Leia’s role in this film might be the thing I’m most excited about. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they use the old footage with a new purpose.

 

The BTS footage for TLJ had an outfit/hairstyle we didn't see Leia in at all, iirc. So it's a good possibility there was something JJ could use!

 

That’s what I thought, too. Rian said he tried to use every last bit of footage he had of Carrie in The Last Jedi, so I’m sure if they have ANYTHING from that film, it’ll be pretty minimal, but regardless, the more Leia, the better. I’m SO excited to see her in this film. She’s gonna be amazing!

 

Do you have any pics?

 

I actually think there will be more Leia footage then people think there will be.

 

While I was trying to figure out where I might have a screenshot, I realized maybe I did not recall correctly and it might have been TFA bts footage I'm thinking of. I'll see if I can find the look I'm thinking of though.

 

Whoa, that Kylo art's awesome, would have way preferred that gold look on the helmet to the actual color scheme, that's really striking.

 

I think you guys are thinking of the clip of Fisher saying, “I am Princess Leia, Princess Leia is me. it’s like a Möbius strip test.” It’s from the tribute video. And she’s wearing a pink floral shirt and her hair is in a flowing tendril. I think that was just Fisher not in costume for Force Awakens and part of the hair piece fastened to her head and not yet twisted and braided yet.

 

I truly think everyone will be blown away and completely surprised. I have faith in JJ Abrams for this, especially with Billie’s close involvement in the film.

 

JJ will use The Last Jedi outtake footage if there's something valuable there. Anyway, the bulk of what we see of Carrie in real scenes talking and acting in IX is likely to be from TFA (more from the end scene with Rey, the cut Leia/Maz/lightsaber sequence, the early Republic/Warhammer stuff), but maybe there's some looks and glances at Leia lifted from TLJ that'll be used to put her in a scene in the background or in wide shots, etc.

I bet there's alternate takes of Leia's argument scene with Poe that could be used to show Leia giving orders or something to some other character in IX during a battle scene.