While much hype surrounds the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we can’t help but feel tinges of sadness at the fact Carrie Fisher won’t be around to attend any of the premieres or screenings of a movie that will bring an end to one of the most epic adventures in cinema history. Her character of Leia Organa has been a pivotal part of not just the original trilogy, but the sequels as well.
Leia will still be in the movie of course, with JJ Abrams primed to use unused footage from The Force Awakens in order to give her a satisfying send-off. We now take a look at the top 10 moments for the character ahead of her final appearance this Christmas.
Hiding The Death Star Plans
Star Wars kicked off all the way back in 1977 when A New Hope released, allowing fans to dream of life in outer space. And one of the biggest moments of the entire saga happens early on when Leia hides the plans for the Death Star, sparking panic among Darth Vader and the rest of the Empire as they try to ensure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Leia puts them inside R2D2 before sending the droid on his way using an escape pod. This act ultimately paves the way for the Rebel Alliance blowing up the first Death Star at the conclusion of the blockbuster and shows her feisty, fiery and rebellious nature from the very start of the saga.
Standing Up To Tarkin
Grand Moff Tarkin may not walk around in a frightening mask, or wield a lightsaber, but he’s just as evil as Darth Vader. He shows little sympathy for Leia Organa and when she fails to tell the Empire where the Rebel Alliance’s base is hidden, this prompts Tarkin into destroying her home planet of Alderaan and murdering thousands, perhaps millions, of people in the process.
And while Leia’s refusal to give up the location of the base costs them, it’s a key moment for her character. We see that she’s not somebody easily intimidated, instead looking her captor straight in the eyes and putting her foot down. This was particularly revolutionary for its time period, making Carrie Fisher’s character one of the strongest female personas to grace the big screen in such a big movie.
Kissing Han Solo
Han Solo and Leia Organa have a love-hate relationship right from the moment they meet onboard the first Death Star in A New Hope. And that was ramped up several notches for the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, where they seem to spend the majority of their time clashing and dealing put-downs to one another.
But there is a touching moment where she kisses Han Solo. At the time we didn’t know whether it was the loveable rogue or golden boy Luke Skywalker who had her affection but, all these years later, that scene stands out. It’s the first sign of romance between the two and paves the way for the rocky relationship that they will have over the next 30 years.
Saving Luke Using The Force
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was certainly a movie full of twists and turns and, even to this day, is commonly regarded as the best the franchise has to offer. Nobody saw Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker’s father, nor did anybody expect Vader himself to merely be a puppet for a far greater power.
And one of the biggest surprises of the blockbuster comes when Leia uses the force to sense Luke’s in grave danger of dying following his defeat to his father on Cloud City. Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca are shocked when she demands they turn the Millennium Falcon around just as they’re about to escape. And they’re even more surprised when Leia’s powers lead her into saving Luke from a premature death.
Killing Jabba
Leia is far from a damsel in distress during the original Star Wars trilogy but she still finds herself in need of help when she gets captured by Jabba the Hutt during 1981’s Return of the Jedi. The Princess is enslaved by the villain after she had tried to free Han Solo from Carbonite late into the night on Tatooine while the occupants of the gangster’s palace sleep.
But she shows herself to be more than a match for the giant slug when she chokes him to death using the chains used to keep her by his side. She does what she needs to in order to survive and demonstrates that, while Luke Skywalker and Han Solo do much of the killing, she’s able to cross the line when she needs to as well. It’s just what Jabba deserved.
Realizing The Truth
Later on in Return of the Jedi, we see Leia Organa learn the truth during a conversation with Luke Skywalker on the forest moon of Endor. That being that she has the force because she’s the sister of the Jedi Knight and, therefore, the daughter of Sith Lord and villain of the original trilogy Darth Vader as well.
This is huge because it’s also what Luke uses to help him defeat Vader during their epic showdown on the second Death Star. He’s on the verge of turning to the dark side, looking on course to murder his father in anger, after Vader provokes him by hinting he’d try and turn his daughter evil should his son fail to oblige. Leia doesn’t know this but we’re betting Luke told her afterward.
Choosing Han Solo
As mentioned above, Star Wars fans thought for a long time that Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa would actually be romantically linked. But when this is revealed not to be the case it clears the path for the Rebel Alliance hero to go with Han Solo instead.
Even Han thought that Leia would perhaps choose his close friend, displaying signs of jealousy as the movie goes on. But this allows Return of the Jedi to end on a high, allowing fans to dream of a world where the two heroes settle down, have children and live peaceful lives. The first two end up happening, of course, but the third? As The Force Awakens showed that doesn’t go exactly to plan.
Reuniting With Han Solo
Fans were hopeful Han Solo and Leia Organa would be living in bless when The Force Awakens released in 2015. How wrong they would be. For a large chunk of the movie it’s established that the duo split for unknown reasons. And only after reuniting on the planet of Takodana, following a Resistance vs First Order dogfight on the planet, do we learn the reason why.
It was the fall of their only child, Ben Solo, that caused issues. The pain of seeing their boy follow the same path to the dark side as his grandfather Darth Vader was too much for the duo, with Leia choosing to fight alongside the Resistance and Han opting to go back to his own smuggling ways. They also share a touching scene later in the movie before Solo dies via his son’s hand on Starkiller Base.
Stopping Her Son From Killing Her
While Ben Solo, AKA Kylo Ren, had no qualms about murdering his father in cold blood during The Force Awakens, we learn during 2017’s The Last Jedi that he seems to have a soft spot for his mother. He is instructed to murder her and the Resistance fleet by Supreme Leader Snoke and appears on course to do exactly that - before an interaction with his mother prompts a change of heart.
Leia and Kylo interact using the force and it’s clear that Kylo is left emotionally impacted. He pauses on pulling the trigger but the two First Order TIE Fighters take fire anyway. It shows, though, that Leia is special. And it also shows that all hope may not be lost for Ben Solo after all...
Saying Goodbye
There’s only one place to end this list. And that’s with Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa’s emotional final exchange during The Last Jedi on the planet of Crait, shortly before the former sacrifices himself for the sake of the Resistance escaping the planet and continuing their fight against the First Order.
It’s one of those movie scenes which gives you goosebumps and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on screen. It was like witnessing something special seeing both Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill sharing the screen for one last time - we think. And it was that goodbye, that reconciliation, which gave Luke the courage to do what he did. Leia’s ability to keep her emotions intact, despite knowing of her brother’s intentions and losing Han Solo mere weeks previously, is something to be admired as well.