This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker attempted to give General Leia Organa a fitting sendoff, but came up short in that regard. With The Force Awakens being Han Solo's movie and The Last Jedi Luke's, the original plan for Star Wars 9 was to put Leia at the forefront, revealing her as the last Jedi in the galaxy. Unfortunately, that all changed due to Carrie Fisher's untimely passing in December 2016. When Fisher died, she had completed her all of her scenes in The Last Jedi, but obviously hadn't done any work on the trilogy's third installment. So, the question then became how Lucasfilm would handle Leia in The Rise of Skywalker.
Shortly before The Rise of Skywalker began production, it was revealed Fisher would indeed appear in the film via unused footage from The Force Awakens. Director J.J. Abrams felt it would have been wrong to conclude the Skywalker saga without Leia being there, and was able to craft a role for her based on what resources he had available. Even with everything The Rise of Skywalker had on its plate, there was much interest in seeing how the film resolved Leia's arc, and the results are arguably disappointing.
Lucasfilm's Tough Situation With Leia In Rise of Skywalker
It is important to take a moment to appreciate how difficult a situation this was for the filmmakers. At the end of The Last Jedi, Leia was the only member of the original trilogy's main trio still alive, and the intention was she would be leading a rebuilt Resistance in their final fight. Even Fisher herself was looking forward to having a larger role in the finale, but instead Lucasfilm had to try to do the best they could with what they had. On one hand, it's great Abrams was able to repurpose archived footage so the character of Leia could have her story continue, but there are limitations that come with that approach.
Other options were never realistic possibilities. Lucasfilm wasted no time to announce they would not recreate Fisher's likeness with CGI (a la Peter Cushing in Rogue One, which was very controversial) and recasting probably wasn't even a thought. There were online fan petitions calling for the likes of Meryl Streep to take over the part, but there isn't an actress alive (regardless of how talented they are) who could slide in and be the new Leia. As Fisher said, "I am Princess Leia; Princess Leia is me." And as far as Abrams was concerned, it would have been disingenuous to wrap up the Skywalker saga without Leia being there in some capacity. It's admirable he wanted to include Leia, but it didn't really work in the film.
Why Leia's Ending Was Disappointing
The line of thinking Leia needed to be in The Rise of Skywalker is understandable. Leia is woven into the fabric of Star Wars and is a huge part of the story, which is why Abrams wasn't comfortable with saying she died between movies. It's one thing to use some classic Star Wars opening crawl hand-waving to brush over the specifics of Palpatine's return (which does tie back to Abrams' favorite prequel trilogy scene), but Leia deserved more. Sadly, while Han and Luke got wonderfully staged climactic farewell sequences that concluded their individual narratives, Leia's death is arguably one of the more confusing moments of The Rise of Skywalker and doesn't land with the intended emotional impact - which is very disappointing considering that it's Leia.
Granted, Abrams only had mere minutes of unused Leia footage at his disposal and couldn't really have The Rise of Skywalker build up to her last stand (the way Force Awakens and Last Jedi did for Han and Luke). Still, the circumstances surrounding Leia's death come across as random. It's not very clear in the film what caused Leia's death; she could have already been dying of natural causes and used her last moments to reach out to Ben, or if she decided to sacrifice herself to rescue her son (a la Luke's last stand on Crait). Either way, The Rise of Skywalker doesn't really set it up, affecting how the death plays in the context of the movie. In the beginning of the film, she's training Rey as a Jedi and seemingly in good health, but then later on it's time for her to arbitrarily die. A case can be made Chewie's reaction to the news of Leia's death is more poignant than Leia dying, which shouldn't happen. Both should have packed an emotional punch, but Leia's death feels like a fumbled opportunity.
Should Leia Have Been In The Rise of Skywalker?
On-paper, Leia's Rise of Skywalker arc is resonant. She's a mother who uses her dying breath to save the son she thought she lost. But since there was only so much Abrams could do with the material due to a real-life tragedy, it might have been better if Leia wasn't physically in The Rise of Skywalker at all. She still could have had a spiritual presence, with the Resistance continuing the fight against the First Order in her memory, using the lessons and principles she taught them as guidance for a final battle. Poe's character could have developed further as he assumes a new leadership position and Billie Lourd's Lieutenant Connix could have been given a larger part as a way of paying tribute to her late mother. If there was still a need for a returning legacy character to be a mentor to the new generation, that's where Lando Calrissian comes in.
The Rise of Skywalker tries to connect Leia's death with Ben's redemption, but Abrams still could have gone in that direction even if she wasn't in the film. As part of his internal conflict, Kylo Ren seems to harbor strong feelings for his mother. In The Last Jedi, he was downright bloodthirsty for Luke, but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger on Leia. And in The Rise of Skywalker, Leia calling out through the Force causes Ben to hesitate and drop his lightsaber during his duel on Kef Bir with Rey. So clearly, there's something about Leia that brings out the light in Kylo. If General Organa was already dead at the start of the movie, the filmmakers still would have been able to tap into that aspect of Ben's character, demonstrating just how torn his sprit is and perhaps establish a stronger foundation for his ultimate redemption. As it stands, Leia's death and Ben's turn back to the light are two massive moments that feel rushed and poorly executed.