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The daughter of a queen unknowingly goes home
Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Leia, Princess of Alderaan
Author: Claudia Gray
Not many write Princess Leia Organa better than Claudia Gray and her 2017 novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan took fans on an insightful journey through the sixteen-year-old mind of a future Rebel leader. Leia, born to a dying Padmé and figuratively dying Anakin Skywalker, grew up as the adoptive daughter of Bail and Breha Organa; safely hidden in plain sight from the enemies that would want her destroyed. The book treats fans to our first in-depth look at the influence the Organas had on Leia’s formative years. While it was easy to assume Bail Organa’s influence on his daughter, Gray’s writing shows Breha Organa’s tremendously large part in raising, mentoring, and inspiring Leia. As Leia rapidly gets involved in the desolate and troubling state of the Imperial-run galaxy, new friends like Amilyn Holdo (later a key player in The Last Jedi) and first love Kier Domadi, and pilot Ress Batten hop on board a story that takes us to new and familiar planets like Rogue One’s Wobani, The Last Jedi’s Crait, and to the planet Onoam which was a moon near the prequel planet of Naboo. Which marked Leia’s first trip to the sector of the galaxy in which her birth mother was once queen. It was a fun—wait—wait—Young Leia went near Naboo?!?!
Yes. Yes, she did…and it turned into one of the tensest moments in all of Star Wars.
You see, Leia meets Imperial sector governor Moff Quarsh Panaka while on the moon of Onoam. The same Panaka who was called Captain Panaka when he served Padmé as her security advisor in The Phantom Menace. The same Panaka who transitioned from the Old Republic to the Empire. The same Panaka who remained loyal to former senator from Naboo, Sheev Palpatine, after he became the Emperor.
Panaka met Leia…and it nearly destroyed the growing Rebellion.
Though it ends with a deadly explosion, their meeting was a quiet, seemingly simple moment. Accompanied by the current Queen of Naboo, Dalne, and unaware of her true lineage other than the knowledge that she was adopted, Leia walks into the personal chalet of Panaka to discuss the conditions of miners in the system. As her outfit was dirtied due to a trip through the mines, she borrows a dress from Dalne. A traditional Naboo jubilation dress. You’ve seen the dress before. Padmé wears it at the end of The Phantom Menace. Which, of course, means Panaka has previously seen the dress as well. On Padmé. And like mother, like daughter, Leia strolls into the foyer of his chalet and Panaka freezes as if he’s seen a ghost. Which, in a way, he has.
It is at THAT moment that Star Wars fans steeped in the inner workings of the saga froze as well. Princess Leia of Alderaan was about to be identified as the offspring of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Naberrie by a man with a direct line to the one person with a keen interest in killing her. It’s chill-inducing. And those Nerd Chills are part of the reason we love Star Wars.
It makes perfect sense and, with the appearance of Panaka, is a great use of connected Star Wars canon. While the Emperor, like many, knew Padmé was pregnant at the time of her death, he was not sure of what happened. Even with his handle on the Force, the Skywalker twins seem to have eluded him. (If only he had thought to go back to Tatooine and look up the last name Skywalker in the phone book…) That either of the Skywalker children had yet to be found was important.
“The Emperor knew, as I did, that if Anakin had any offspring, they would be a threat to him.” So said Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the few, along with Yoda, Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, and the Organas, that not only knew the true lineage of Luke and Leia but had charged themselves with protecting them from Palpatine and Vader. They were once and future beacons of hope that would illuminate the galaxy. It was vital to everything that they survive. Which takes us back to this moment as Leia stands before Panaka.
He’s polite, in keeping with his reputation as a “good” Imperial, but the former member of Padmé’s inner sanctum digs into young Leia’s past and upbringing. He syncs up her age and adoption by Bail Organa, a known associate of Padmé, to the same time as Padmé’s death. He clearly can’t ignore the striking resemblance between them, particularly in the same dress. It doesn’t take much. Panaka knows. Holy crap, Quarsh Panaka knows that Leia is the daughter of Padmé and Darth Vader and he quickly ends the meeting, agreeing to Leia and Dalne’s requests in a curiously unchallenging manner, and vows to go contact Palpatine himself to let him know the Organas have adopted a daughter of “such distinction.”
I don’t know about you, but it was at this exact moment that I was completely lost in the tension of the storytelling. (But, please, I actually do want to know about you at this moment. Let’s talk later.) Leia was sixteen in this book. We know that she survives. The Emperor never finds her. Vader doesn’t learn about her until the very end of his life. Everything turns out just fine!!!
Yet, as Panaka vows to report back to the Emperor, I, an allegedly fully functional adult, found myself completely sucked into the moment. The future hope and survival of the Rebellion that we all grew up rooting for were potentially on the brink of disaster. There would be ramifications for Leia and the Organa family. There would be ramifications for the planets and systems aligned with the movement. There would be ramifications for the galaxy as a whole. Tension. Lore. Revelations. Tremendously high stakes. And it all came down to a teenaged princess standing before an Imperial Moff tied to her family’s past. A hold-your-breath moment to make you love Star Wars.
Oh…for those that didn’t read it…how does it turn out?
Fair question. The resolution ties together the prequels, the original trilogy, Rogue One, and (now) Solo in a violent, uncompromising peak into the ways of the growing Rebellion. So, for once, I’m going to shut my mouth and let you enjoy it for yourselves.