“In time, you’ll learn to use it as I have.” It’s great that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker paid off this line from Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker says it to Princess Leia Skywalker Organa after saying that she, too, has the “power” of the Force with her.
Having the Force, Luke became a Jedi. So it would make a lot of sense if Leia became a Jedi, too.
Things Weren’t Looking Good for Leia to Be a Jedi
Though this was the circumstance, the first two sequels to Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, didn’t pay off the line.
In fact, before the film hit theaters, The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams spoke to why Leia wouldn’t be a Jedi in the motion picture.
“It was a great question and one that we talked about a lot – even with (Leia actress) Carrie (Fisher) – if there was another, why did she not take advantage of this natural Force strength that she’s got?” Abrams told IGN. He was talking about Leia becoming a general in the Resistance rather than a Jedi like Luke, her brother.
“One of the answers was that it was simply a choice that she made,” he added. “That her decision to run the rebellion and, ultimately, this resistance and consider herself a general as opposed to a Jedi, it was simply a choice that she took. Not that there’s any regret that she could have (become a Jedi) and didn’t.”
It Happened in the Nick of Time
But after taking the helm of The Rise of Skywalker, Abrams used the film to make Leia a Jedi. He showed a flashback scene of Luke training Leia besides having Leia train Rey Skywalker in real movie time. The film also features Leia’s lightsaber and talks about her training to be a Jedi before stopping because she was concerned that her son, Ben Solo, would die if she continued.
The Last Jedi showed her using the Force to fly through space back to a ship, but it didn’t show her as a Jedi.
It’s fantastic that through The Rise of Skywalker, something from the original trilogy was paid off – and that to my knowledge, it doesn’t leave anything in the trilogy that wasn’t.
What do you think? Are you glad that the certain line from Return of the Jedi was paid off by having Leia be a Jedi in The Rise of Skywalker? Comment below!
For more on Star Wars, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
