Why I'm Not Worried About Princess Leia's Episode IX Absence

"We have everything we need", the last words spoken by General Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode VIII. With these words, she assures us that things will be okay, and I believe her.

After the Rose Tico merchandise fiasco that left my blood boiling, I decided to go out and buy the one-shot comic that focuses solely on the Resistance’s sweetest mechanic. While I really enjoyed the empathetic (if slightly brief) look into the history of Rose, my favourite moment in the comic was the conversation between the Tico sisters and General Leia.

General Leia's monologue to Rose and Paige Tico from Age of Resistance: Rose Tico. This moment provides a good insight into what motivates Rose add a new context to her decision to prevent Finn's self-sacrifice in The Last Jedi.

In a few short lines, Tom Taylor gets right to the core of why Leia is such a beloved character, and follows a trend I have been noticing in the time since the passing of Carrie Fisher in 2016. In the wake of that tragedy, it seems to me as though Leia’s role in the Star Wars universe has shifted. While she was already a very prominent figure in the franchise (in books like Bloodline and the Princess Leia comic series), she has now evolved beyond her original role as a leader (the Mon Mothma of the Sequel Trilogy) and become an almost Yoda-esque symbol of wisdom and an embodiment of the light side of the Force. This can be seen in the Rey and Rose issues of Age of Resistance, as well as Delilah S Dawson’s novel, Black Spire. It’s because of this shift that I am no longer worried about Episode IX’s handling of General Leia.

“Because Harrison was front and centre on VII, and Mark is front and centre on VIII, Carrie thought IX would be her movie. And it would have been.” Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm

In this moment in Charles Soule's Poe Dameron comic, General Organa echoes Yoda's "luminous beings are we" quote from The Empire Strikes Back. In the last few years, Leia has joined Yoda in being one of the most quotable characters in the series, especially in relation to the Force.

Leia is my favourite character and I truly hope that JJ Abrams has enough unused Carrie Fisher footage that her absence in IX is not too badly felt. However, if he doesn’t, I am sure that it will be made up for in the books, comics, television shows and games. Lucasfilm’s decision to focus so heavily on Leia in the last three years has paid off, because if Episode IX lacks poignant moments between Leia and Rose, Poe or Rey, I’ll know that those moments already exist (and are great) in non-film material and that I can look forward to more. This abundance of non-film Leia material is a far better alternative to either recasting Carrie Fisher or digitally recreating her for the final film. On screen, Princess Leia is irreplaceable. But when it comes to the wider Star Wars canon, we have everything we need.