LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga contains a neat reference to how Princess Leia’s accent changed partway through Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. As with most of the later LEGO games, The Skywalker Saga features fully-voiced dialogue pulled from all nine mainline Star Wars films, though fans who are nostalgic for the pantomime storytelling of Traveller’s Tales’ earlier LEGO offerings can disable it using The Skywalker Saga’s new Mumble Mode feature. Those who choose to retain The Skywalker Saga's in-game dialogue will be treated to a voice cast pulled from animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, so both options are sure to be a treat for longtime Star Wars fans.
One of the 300 playable characters who will be speaking up in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is Princess Leia Organa, who was portrayed in the original Star Wars trilogy and the Disney-produced sequels by the late Carrie Fisher. One little-known detail about Fisher's performance as Leia in A New Hope that might go unnoticed by causal Star Wars fans is that in her first few scenes, Leia speaks in a formal British accent seemingly befitting her status as a member of the royal family of Alderaan. However, this accent completely disappears partway through A New Hope, and Leia retains Carrie Fisher’s natural American accent for the remainder of her appearances in the Star Wars series. While some Star Wars novel writers have come up with creative explanations for Leia’s earlier accent, the truth is that Fisher was nervous on set and accidentally delivered her lines in a British accent during her first few scenes while in the presence of Peter Cushing - aka the villainous Grand Moff Tarkin.
It’s a detail that could have easily been ignored in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, but it turns out that Traveller’s Tales included a reference to Princess Leia’s shifting accent in the cutscenes based on A New Hope. Fanbyte editor Imran Khan noticed this while playing through The Skywalker Saga, and pointed this out on his Twitter page. According to him, the voice actress playing Leia starts her scenes in A New Hope with a British accent before subtlety shifting to an American one by the time players escape from the Death Star - matching the point in the movie that Carrie Fisher dropped Leia’s accent.
Leia's Accent In LEGO Star Wars: Skywalker Saga Is A Nice Tribute
Khan also gave praise to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga for showing such a high attention to detail with this minor Easter egg. One of the many reasons that The Skywalker Saga has seen such positive early reviews is the amount of fanservice present throughout the game. Developer Traveller’s Tales demonstrated its affection for the Star Wars franchise in a LEGO Star Wars behind-the-scenes video shown before The Skywalker Saga was released earlier, where team members discussed the many details and Easter eggs they inserted into classic scenes and levels. These have ranged from funny changes like Han Solo tossing food at Darth Vader during the events of The Empire Strikes Back to side details like how a character’s voice changes when they don a Stormtrooper helmet.
Princess Leia’s sudden and inexplicable accent change from Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope is yet another one of these details that shows how LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is dedicated to the iconic Star Wars franchise, as well as a neat tribute to the late great Carrie Fisher. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was just released earlier today after a long development cycle, so players will unlikely uncover more tidbits and hidden details as they play through the latest family-friendly collect-a-thon adventure.
Source: Imran Khan/Twitter