Spoiler alert for those yet to see Last Jedi
The passing of Carrie Fisher and Leia’s saga
A word ( or two) of warning to those who have yet to see The Last Jedi, and do not want to know anything more about it than they already do: there are spoilers ahead.
When Carrie Fisher died last December, she had already completed work on The Last Jedi, but her beloved Princess- turned- General Leia had bigger things in store, with the character set to play a key role in the franchise’s ninth instalment.
Rumours flew for months regarding how the Star Wars production team planned to work around her death, ultimately scrapping plans to use old footage of Fisher in the next film even after her family granted the studio permission to use it.
Which means Fisher’s appearance in The Last Jedi, which hit theatres last week and became the secondhighest opening ever ( just behind The Force Awakens, natch), is the last time we will ever see Leia — a big moment, needless to say. For the most part, her final performance is spared overt sentiment, with director Rian Johnson having confirmed he didn’t edit any of her scenes after her death.
Speaking to The New York Times in September, he said, “I felt very strongly that we don’t try to change her performance. We don’t adjust what happens to her in this movie. Emotionally, you can’t help recontextualize it, now that she’s gone. It’s almost eerie how there are scenes that have an emotional resonance and a meaning, especially now. She gives a beautiful and complete performance in this film.”
Much of the film is centred around a battle between the Resistance and the First Order. At one point, as Leia’s ship attempts to escape the onslaught, and Kylo Ren hesitates to obliterate it despite having a clear target, one of his men takes aim himself and blasts the command centre, bringing what appears to be a quick and heartless end to Leia.
Not so fast, however. The franchise would never dispose of one of its most iconic characters so easily, as we later see her quite literally floating through space and not quite dead. She reaches out with her hand and, using the Force, propels herself back to the Resistance fleet.
Leia spends the remaining part of the movie recovering, waking up right when the Resistance really need her and in time to be reunited in a moving moment with her brother Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). It’s a moment made all the more touching because Fisher actually wrote her final lines of dialogue shared with Hamill.
In her final scene, we see Leia board the Millennium Falcon with Rey ( Daisy Ridley), flying forth. It’s neatly wrapped by film’s end as the credits role, with a sweet dedication to Fisher.
All in all, it certainly s e e ms Jo h n s o n d i d n’ t change a thing after Fisher’s death, still leaving the question open: how does Leia’s story really end?