Princess Leia, or Leia Organa Skywalker Solo, is one of the most loved characters in all of Star Wars. Her journey from a rebellious princess to becoming the leader of the Resistance is marked by resilience, compassion, and inspiration. Leia is a Force-sensitive human from Alderaan who spends most of her life fighting for freedom from the Galactic Empire and then the First Order. Princess Leia is not just another character in the Star Wars saga but also an icon of compassion and strength.
Leia’s Birth and Early Life
Leia Amidala Skywalker, played by Carrie Fisher, is born on the asteroid of Polis Massa to Republican Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Shortly after Leia and her twin brother Luke Skywalker’s birth, their mother Padmé dies. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda decide to separate the twins at birth so they can be safe from Anakin and Emperor Palpatine. If the Sith learn of the twins’ existence, they will hunt them down and try to harm them.
For this reason, Obi-Wan takes Luke to Tatooine to his uncle Owen Lars and aunt Beru Lars to look after him. Leia, on the other hand, is adopted by Senator Bail Organa, who takes her to Alderaan. Leia Amidala then becomes Princess Leia Organa, an heiress to the Royal Family of Alderaan. Although it is common knowledge that she is adopted but no one knows her true heritage; everyone just assumes she is one of the many babies left orphaned after the Clone Wars.
The Capture on Alderaan
When Leia is about nine, her aunt Celly, uncle Kayo, and cousin Niano Organa come to visit. During their meeting, Leia is scolded by Niano for talking politely with the droid, and he also calls her out for being adopted, telling her she is not a real “Organa.” The princess tells her cousin that he is just insecure. Later, her father Bail Organa assures her that she is a real Organa in every way, shape, and form, but her mother tells Leia to apologize to Niano. Although Leia agrees to apologize, she instead runs to the nearby woods with her toy droid LO-LA59, Lola.
Unbeknownst to the Alderaan Royal Family, the Third Sister, seeking to lure out Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, has hired Vect Nokru to kidnap Leia, hoping that her father will reach out to his old friend Kenobi to save her. As Leia runs to the woods, she is abducted by Nokru and his associates, and they take her to the planet Daiyu.
Trouble on Daiyu
While on Daiyu, the princess is kept in the back room of a spice laboratory. On Alderaan, Senator Organa reaches out to Kenobi and is able to convince him to find and rescue Leia. Following the lead Bail has given to the Jedi, he reaches Daiyu and is able to find Leia. However, Leia is not convinced that Kenobi is a Jedi and runs away from him. Eventually, the Jedi catches up with Leia and is able to convince her that he is a Jedi.
After the Jedi and Organa arrive at the spaceport, they witness the imperial forces locking the facility down to prevent all space travel. They are then confronted by Estree, who has a change of heart and advises them to make for a cargo port across the city. Before they even enter the cargo port, the Third Sister appears and Kenobi prepares to fight her. But before their fight begins, the Grand Inquisitor, the Third Sister’s superior, appears. Worried that her superior will take the credit for Kenobi’s capture, the Third Sister attacks the Grand Inquisitor by stabbing him in the abdomen. This gives Kenobi and Organa a chance to escape Daiyu in a cargo ship headed to Mapuza.
Returning Home
On Mapuza, the inquisitor catches Leia and takes her to the ocean moon of Nur, where she is tortured to give out information regarding the Path, but the princess refuses to cooperate. Kenobi eventually reaches the torture chamber and saves Leia. Despite more hurdles along the way, Leia returns to Alderaan safely.
Captured by Vader
In “A New Hope,” Leia is on her way back to Alderaan to give her father the stolen Death Star plans. However, near the planet Tatooine, her ship is captured by the Empire. Leia, finding a way to keep the plans safe, stores the data drive with the stolen plans in R2-D2 along with a recorded message for Obi-Wan Kenobi to return from his exile and help. Then Leia instructs R2-D2 to go down to Tatooine along with C-3PO. After recording her message, Leia creates a distraction so that the droids can reach their pod without any hurdles. The princess is then captured by stormtroopers, who present her in front of Darth Vader. The Sith Lord, upon meeting the princess, inquires about the stolen plans. Leia replies that she knows nothing and is on her way back to Alderaan from a diplomatic mission.
Vader refuses to believe this and brings Leia to the Death Star, where she is kept as a prisoner in Detention Block AA-23.
Rescue on the Death Star
When Luke, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Obi-Wan reach the place where the planet Alderaan once was, the Millennium Falcon is captured by the Death Star. The group tries to escape but is unable to do so because the Empire has put a tractor beam on the Falcon and they cannot fly away. Once on the Death Star, Obi-Wan goes to deactivate the tractor beam. Luke, on the other hand, convinces Han and Chewbacca to save Leia after learning about her being on the ship. The young Jedi devises a plan to dress up as stormtroopers and make Chewbacca a prisoner so they can easily get to the Detention Block without drawing any attention to themselves. The plan is a success and they are able to save Leia. However, as they are about to leave the detention block, stormtroopers attack them, and to save themselves they jump into a garbage compactor. Just when they think they are safe, another problem occurs: the walls of the garbage compactor start moving toward one another while the group is inside. But at the last moment, they are able to contact C-3PO, who orders R2-D2 to stop the garbage compactor. The group is finally safe.
After escaping from the garbage compactor, the group continues to find their way out of the Death Star. Obi-Wan is successful in deactivating the tractor beam, but on his way back, he is confronted by Vader. The group eventually finds the Falcon and is able to escape, all because of Obi-Wan, who distracts Vader and eventually sacrifices his life.
Battle of Yavin
After escaping from the Death Star and Vader, the group reaches the rebel base on Yavin 4. Wasting no time, Organa scans the data of the stolen Death Star plans in R2-D2 and discovers a flaw that can be used to destroy the weapon of mass destruction known as the Death Star. Vader reaches Yavin after tracking the Falcon from a beacon the Empire has placed on it. The Rebel Alliance also gets ready to fight. Using the Death Star’s design flaw, Luke is able to destroy it by firing into its core. With this one final blow, the Rebel Alliance wins the battle.
The Cloud City Dilemma
After the Battle of Yavin, the rebel base shifts to the freezing planet of Hoth. But Vader and the Empire also reach there at the beginning of “The Empire Strikes Back.” The rebels quickly evacuate the base. Leia, along with Han, Chewie, and the droids, escapes in the Millennium Falcon. Looking for a place to repair the Falcon, they reach Cloud City, where they are welcomed by Han’s old friend Lando Calrissian. Unbeknownst to them, Darth Vader has already arrived at Cloud City to capture Luke. Vader captures them and orders Han to be thrown in the freezing carbonite machine to test it, so it can be ready for Luke’s arrival. Leia tries to fight and save Han, but she fails, and Han is frozen in carbonite, after which Boba Fett, the bounty hunter, takes him to Jabba to collect the bounty on him.
Rescue of Han Solo
After losing Han, Luke is devastated and devises a plan to save him from Jabba the Hutt. On Tatooine, he sends R2-D2 and C-3PO to Jabba’s Castle as a peace offering to gain Jabba’s trust. R2 also carries a message from Luke to Jabba, in which he mentions that he wants to discuss the release of Han. Jabba ignores the message and captures both droids. This is part of Luke’s plan; the droids are just a way to distract Jabba and his employees, while Leia and Lando enter the castle in disguises and do not gather any attention.
At night, while everyone is sleeping, Leia goes to where Han is hanging on the wall frozen in carbonite and frees him. However, Leia does not realize that Jabba has anticipated this and is waiting for her behind a curtain. Just as she frees Han, everyone gathers around them, and both of them are captured. Han is thrown in the dungeon while Jabba makes Leia his personal slave, chaining her to his throne.
After Leia’s attempt to free Han fails, Luke enters the castle and tries to negotiate with Jabba using Jedi mind tricks. But the Jedi mind tricks do not work on Jabba, and the negotiations quickly go south, with the crime lord throwing the Jedi into the pit of the castle underneath the throne room with a fearsome Rancor monster. Luke defeats the Rancor.
After the Rancor’s death, Jabba sentences Han, Luke, and Chewbacca to be thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon where the Sarlacc can feed on them. The prisoners and everyone else reach the Great Pit. The prisoners are taken aboard Jabba’s sail barge, where Jabba and his court plan to watch the execution as a form of entertainment. When the prisoners are brought to the edge of the pit, Luke signals R2 to launch his lightsaber that the droid has been keeping hidden inside. Luke catches the lightsaber and a fight breaks out. The Jedi is able to free Han and Chewbacca, and Lando, who has snuck inside previously, also helps. Leia, using the chain Jabba has placed on her neck, chokes Jabba and eventually kills him. After Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, Lando, R2, and C-3PO escape from Jabba’s sail barge, Luke fires a blaster into the sail’s deck, which causes an explosion killing the remaining Jabba’s followers.
A Shocking Revelation
In “Return of the Jedi,” on the forest moon of Endor, Luke reveals a shocking truth to Leia. While on Endor, Luke takes Leia outside to talk to her privately. The young Jedi tells Leia that Darth Vader is his father, a fact he learns in “The Empire Strikes Back,” when Vader confronts him on Cloud City. Luke also reveals another truth to Leia, that she is his sister. After hearing this, Leia at first does not know how to react. Then she admits on some level she has always felt there is a special connection between them. After their discussion, Luke tells Leia he must confront Vader and leave.
Marriage
Shortly after the Battle of Endor, Princess Leia marries Han Solo. A year later, they have a son, whom they name Ben Solo. After Ben is born, Leia is appointed as the senator in the New Republican Senate, which leaves her very little time to spend with her family. Due to this, she does not have the best relationship with her son. Her relationship with Han unfortunately also strains after their son Ben’s fall to the dark side.
The Resistance
Leia serves as a Senator in the New Republican Senate for many years. During her time, she faces many difficulties. After her true lineage, being the daughter of Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi Anakin Skywalker, is revealed, she receives a lot of backlashes, but the senator still does not hide this fact and always embraces it. After being frustrated with the political quagmire in the Senate, Leia forms the Resistance and from that point on she is referred to as Senator Leia Organa. Under Leia’s leadership, the Resistance goes on to fight the Galactic Empire and later the First Order.
Mentor to Rey
After the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker’s death, Leia takes responsibility for training Rey in the ways of the Jedi. Senator Leia helps Rey hone her skills in the Force, guiding her through lightsaber training, meditation, and understanding the deeper aspects of being a Jedi. Leia passes everything she learns in her training with Luke to Rey. Not only being a physical support for Rey but also an emotional one as well.
Death
When the First Order attacks the Raddus, Leia is blown out of the ship and into space. This event leaves quite a mark on her. Leia is still recovering from this incident in “The Rise of Skywalker” when she reaches out to Ben using the Force, who is about to deliver the final blow to Rey as they duel on Kef Bir. The senator calls to her son by his birth name, using the Force so she can stop him from killing Rey. After reaching out to Ben, Leia dies from exhaustion and becomes part of the Force.
Lightsaber
Throughout the Star Wars trilogy, there is a question about Leia becoming a Jedi. This question is finally answered in “The Rise of Skywalker.” During the movie, in a flashback sequence, Leia is shown training with Luke, upon which her blue lightsaber is revealed, which she constructed herself. Even though Leia trained as a Jedi, she is not a Jedi.
