Star Wars may be a franchise all about epic space battles and space pirate adventures in a galaxy far, far away, but at its core, the saga has always been about the relationships between people, and family members in particular. In the original trilogy, the defining family relationship may have been between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but the relationship between twin siblings Luke and Leia played a major role as well.
Though the twins were separated at birth due to the difficult circumstances into which they were born, Luke and Leia were nevertheless destined to cross paths. It just also happened that when they crossed paths, they would have to save the galaxy, too, before they could even fully learn the truth of their connection.
Leia's message arrives
It was the video message that would change the galaxy forever, and Luke Skywalker's life along with it. Though he may not have been the message's intended recipient, Luke intercepted the message intended for Obi-Wan Kenobi and laid eyes on his sister for the very first time in doing so.
Leia's arrival in Luke's life - albeit in the form of a hologram - served as the call to adventure he so desperately needed. Even before they properly met, Leia was already changing his life.
The medal ceremony
By the end of their first adventure together in A New Hope, Leia and Luke are both galactic heroes, and have grown incredibly close as well. That's what makes Leia's awarding of Luke (and Han) a medal at the Rebel base all the more emotionally impactful.
These two teenagers couldn't have come from more different backgrounds, but they were both destined to wind up in this place at this time. The proud smiles they share say it all.
Their first meeting
After recruiting old Ben Kenobi, smuggler Han Solo, and Chewbacca to join his rescue efforts, Luke succeeds in sneaking his way onto the Death Star and rescuing the princess from her cell.
When Luke arrives in her cell, he is adorned in the armor of a Stormtrooper and hoping to make a heroic first impression. But with her signature wit and snark, Leia quickly brings him down a peg, pointing out that he's "a little short for a Stormtrooper."
Comfort on the Falcon
Luke and Leia have not been in one another's lives for very long when they both suffer the loss of Obi-Wan Kenobi at Darth Vader's hands. But that doesn't stop them from sharing a moment of desperately needed solace once they arrive on the Millennium Falcon.
Leia wraps her (still unknown) twin brother in a blanket and sits by his side as he mourns, wordlessly offering him exactly the form of comfort that he needs in that moment.
Reuniting after Cloud City
Luke and Leia spend much of Empire Strikes Back separated from one another, as Luke undergoes training on Dagobah with the Jedi master Yoda. But when they reunite with one another at the film's end, it is as though no time at all has passed.
In fact, it is almost as if the two have somehow grown closer in their absence from each other. After saving the injured Luke from his duel with Vader, Leia eagerly embraces him as he stumbles into safety on the Falcon.
Facing uncertain future together
Much has changed in Luke's and Leia's lives by the end of Empire Strikes Back. Luke has lost his hand, and Leia has lost her love, Han - both through villainy enacted at their own father's hands.
As the film comes to an end, the original trilogy is at one of its darkest moments. Much is unknown about what the future holds, not just for these characters but for the galaxy at large. But as the two twins stand together and look out at the wide-ranging sky before them, for just a moment, they seem at peace.
Celebration at the Ewok Village
It isn't really until the end of Return of the Jedi, however, that these two young adults are allowed a real moment of happiness, freedom, and relief. During the celebration on Endor in the Ewok Village, following the defeat of the Empire, Luke steals away for a quiet reflective moment.
But soon enough, Leia finds him, gleefully embracing him from behind. The two share a much-needed moment of celebration all their own, locking eyes as they laugh and finally allow themselves to be free of their many heroic responsibilities.
Leia senses Luke through the Force
Though Leia wouldn't be depicted as actively using the Force in a film until decades later, Empire Strikes Back makes it clear that Leia is connected to the Force - especially in the most important of moments.
As Luke is seemingly left for dead during the defining duel with Vader in the film's final act, he helplessly calls out for Leia through the Force. Leia, who had previously shown no sign of any Force sensitivity, immediately feels and hears him, and knows that something has gone wrong.
Luke and Leia discuss the truth
When Yoda cryptically tells Luke that "there is another Skywalker," it's clear that there are only so many options for whom that character could be. But though Luke may have been dumbstruck by the revelation that Leia was in fact his sister, Leia is not at all surprised.
She knows, she tells him; and more than that, she may have always known. The connection between Luke and Leia was immediate from the moment they first met, and even before that, via her video message. Luke and Leia have been connected from the womb, no matter what obstacles may have once stood in their way, and nothing will ever change that.
"No one's ever really gone."
In the same sense, Luke and Leia's final scene shared together in The Last Jedi brings with it the same senses of connection, inevitability, and finality. Luke is preparing to embark on his one last, heroic, ultimately selfless act when he visits his twin in his Force projection form.
But though he has made peace with his own sacrifice, he uses these precious moments to help his sister in her time of need. He reminds her what it is that they're fighting for, returns her late husband's dice to her, and assures her, in his own earnest way, that "no one's ever really gone."