Warning: the following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

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Could the original plan for the story of Star Wars: Episode IX have seen Leia accepting the role of Jedi Master, training Rey, and being the one to bring the Jedi back to the galaxy?

The Last Jedi may be making its mark on the box office, just like The Force Awakens and Rogue One before it, but in recent memory, the typical moviegoer thought the franchise was dead. Sure, The Clone Wars animated series was slowly getting more appreciation as it went along and there were the typical Star Wars books, comics, and videogames landing on a regular basis, but after the divisive reception of the prequels, live-action Star Wars seemed to be a thing of the past.

Related: What Happens Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens?

Even after George Lucas sold the franchise to Disney, the home of the well-received Marvel Cinematic Universe, it took a while for many fans to be convinced that getting new Star Wars movies was a good thing - at least until it was confirmed that the original cast of Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill were returning. Their presence may not have allayed all concerns, but the promise of continuing the story of fan-favorite characters from the original trilogy in an aesthetic dominated by the real sets and practical effects that popularized the franchise in the first place really got people paying attention.

As it ended up playing out, Luke hardly had an on-screen role is The Force Awakens, as much of the plot centered around the quest to find him to get him to join the fight again. Leia was more prominent, but even she didn't have much of an arc. Instead, The Force Awakens was Han Solo's chance to shine, bringing Rey and Finn into the Resistance and sacrificing himself to try and save his son.

Leia giving war medals to Luke and Han in Star Wars

For The Last Jedi, it was finally Luke's turn. The disgraced Jedi Master got a quite a bit more focus, also sacrificing himself to Kylo Ren to save the resistance, making his sister the sole survivor of the original trio. While she got a respectable story arc in The Last Jedi, Episode IX was supposed to be her movie. Unfortunately, Carrie Fisher tragically passed away at the end of 2016. She had completed all her work on The Last Jedi, but Episode IX's production hadn't started yet. Since Lucasfilm is unlikely to recast the role or recreate her with CGI, we may have seen the last of live-action Leia.

Instead of altering the story of The Last Jedi to edit Leia's story to create a sensible end for the character, like Furious 7 did for Paul Walker, Rian Johnson wanted her final performance to stand as intended, putting the difficult task of writing out Leia on the shoulders of then Episode IX writer and director, Colin Trevorrow, and the script was thrown out and started from scratch again. Fans already had concerns about Trevorrow, and it appears they may have been well founded, as Trevorrow ended up being removed from the project and J.J. Abrams was brought in, with Batman v Superman writer Chris Terrio, to pen the saga's final chapter.

Related: Why Chris Terrio is the Perfect Writer For Star Wars: Episode 9

There's no official information available regarding the plan for Leia in IX was, but based on where her character is at the end of The Last Jedi and the little information we have from the original plan for IX, we can put together a pretty good idea of what IX could have done.

Given, as Rian Johnson showed with The Last Jedi, fan theories don't always pan out, so there's no knowing exactly what IX would have done until it's officially stated, but one thing's for sure, whatever the story was, it had a lot to do with Leia, and we're not going to see it in live-action.

What Was Leia's Role in the Original Script for Episode IX?

The story of The Last Jedi does some amazing things for Leia's character, clearly setting her up for something more. When we first returned to Leia in The Force Awakens, she has rejected the life of a Jedi, instead, serving as a military leader for the Resistance, attempting to protect the galaxy from the First Order, but that doesn't mean she has no connection to the Force. In fact, The Force Awakens makes this point especially clear by showing Leia experiencing the pain of feeling Han's death, which demonstrates a level of connection to the Force beyond much of Luke's training in the original trilogy. The Last Jedi takes this concept into overdrive with the famous "Leia Poppins" space flight. While the scene itself has been the subject of some fan reticule for its execution, it's another major example of the extent of Leia's grasp of the Force. The fact that it was something she did while hanging on to just a shred of consciousness makes it that much more impressive.

The fact that this scene is in the movie also isn't by mistake. The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi both explicitly included scenes intended to show Leia's strength in the Force, and it's not just the movies pushing this Force-wielding Leia, either. A number of books have also detailed Leia using the Force, which was fairly clearly set up in Return of the Jedi when Luke tells her that the Force is strong in the Skywalker family and she has that power, too. It's been revealed that Luke actually wanted Leia to be his first student, but she turned him down, thinking her efforts were needed more by the fledgling New Republic. Yoda, also, wanted to train Leia, hoping that she was the "young Skywalker" Obi-Wan planned to send to Dagobah during the events of The Empire Strikes Back, thinking she was less impulsive and had many of the traits seen in "great Jedi".

Related: Here's How Star Wars 9 Can End Leia's Story Perfectly

While none of this directly impacts the story of Episode IX, it shows a clear positioning of the character by Lucasfilm. When Rey, the primary protagonist of the new trilogy, is female, and The Last Jedi notably has a number of strong female leaders, it's clear this new trilogy wants to accomplish big things for women. This all comes to a head when the end of The Last Jedi features a shot of Leia and Rey sitting together on the Falcon with only a few resistance members left. Rey had liberated the ancient Jedi texts from Ahch-To and is sitting there with the fractured hilt of the Skywalker saber. Rey asks "how do we build a Rebellion from this?" and Leia tells her "we have everything we need."

Leia and Rey in Star Wars The Last Jedi

Rey has done a good job mastering some of her newly awakened Force powers, but with barely any real training from Luke on Ahch-To, she still needs a Jedi to guide her the rest of the way, Luke found in Yoda after Obi-Wan taught him the basics. The ancient Jedi texts could help with this process, but she'll ultimately need someone experienced by her side, and it's pretty clear that Leia would be perfect as that person. Possibly even better than Luke. While Luke is strong in the Force and became a powerful Jedi, Leia was always a stronger leader. It was her talent in this area that kept her committing full time to being a Jedi, but now with a decimated Rebellion and a clear baton pass to Poe Dameron as the new Rebel leader, it only makes sense for Leia to be the one that trains Rey, bringing back the Jedi Order to its full glory in a way that even Luke couldn't.

While we don't know the plot of IX, we do know her part was big, big enough that it requires a major rewrite, one Colin Trevorrow wasn't up to, and we can connect the dots of her arc leading up to it, which shows she's strong in the Force, has a fair amount of training from Luke, and now with the Resistance and New Republic both decimated, she's left with Rey, and no more excuses. Capping off the Skywalker saga with Leia, the first hero of Star Wars, rising up to accept her role as a powerful Jedi Master, and training Rey to lead a new generation of Jedi to defeat her own son seems like one of the most epic arcs this story could have taken, and we could still see pieces of it, but it will require Leia's story to play out off screen, with a major time jump between Last Jedi and Episode IX.

It's undeniable that Carrie Fisher is irreplaceable not just as the character of Leia, but as a person, and while hile J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio will doubtless turn out a quality story for the trilogy capper, the story we were originally meant to see for the final live-action appearance as Leia, whether it line up with this theory or not, will never be realized as intended.

NEXT: Star Wars: The Last Jedi Completes The Prequels' Story

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