‘Skywalker’ honors both Leia and Fisher
Spoiler alert! The following reveals key plot points and the ending of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Stop reading now if you haven’t seen it and don’t want to know.
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” pays tribute to the long-running franchise’s original stars one last time, though the icon who is no longer with us is most important of them all.
Thanks to unused footage from 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” plus some visual effects help, director J.J. Abrams brings back the late Carrie Fisher to complete Leia Organa’s character arc, which started in 1977’s “Star Wars.” It’s an imperfectly perfect last appearance for a Hollywood icon who put so much of herself (including the tough stuff ) out there for the world to see, one that continues to cement Leia’s legacy in the galaxy far, far away.
Fisher, 60, died on Dec. 27, 2016, after filming her scenes for 2017’s “The Last Jedi.” Her strong-willed Rebel princess from the original “Star Wars” trilogy fell for “scruffy nerf herder” Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and later learned that she was the sister of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and daughter of Darth Vader. The new trilogy, set 30 years later, ensconced her as a general in the scrappy Resistance fighting a new on-the-rise movement called the First Order.
“She’s the beating heart of this war. Luke’s out, Han’s out, she’s the last one left,” says John Boyega, who plays Resistance hero Finn. “Leia being Force-sensitive and having an understanding of that is very, very important for all of these guys who are now kind of understanding their roles in the universe.”
“Rise of Skywalker” opens with the good guys dealing with the return of villainous Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) and Leia in a new role as teacher. With Luke no longer around to be her mentor (see: his sacrifice in “The Last Jedi”), heroine Rey (Daisy Ridley) now learns the ways of the Force from Leia – Rey even calls her “master.”
The youngster trains in a forest near the Resistance base under Leia’s watch, though Rey soon will have her world utterly rocked when she learns she’s in fact the Emperor’s granddaughter.
With the exception of son Ben Solo (aka First Order leader Kylo Ren), Leia is the last Skywalker, and flashbacks show her learning the ways of the Jedi from Luke with her own lightsaber in hand. This is a warrior woman who once grabbed a blaster instead of being the damsel-in-distress during a Death Star rescue, so why wouldn’t Leia ascend to a hallowed place on the light
side of the Force?
In certain interactions between Leia and Rey, it’s obvious they’ve had to work around Fisher’s absence, either with Ridley talking to a stand-in with her back to the camera or movie magic weaving her face into scenes. Her dialogue is at times clunky and the digital wizardry doesn’t always look quite right: One could imagine Fisher would have a spot-on, razor-sharp and probably self-deprecating barb in response.
Yet Leia remains a vital figure and also is the emotional key to arguably the biggest turn of this new trilogy. After learning she’s a Palpatine, Rey seeks out the Emperor’s whereabouts and travels to the ruins of the second Death Star (from “Return of the Jedi”) to take him out for the good of the galaxy. She’s followed by Kylo, and they engage in a brutal lightsaber battle.
Leia always thought there was still good in her son and she makes the ultimate sacrifice for one last shot at his redemption.
From across the galaxy, Leia reaches out to Kylo, dying from the exertion. However, that moment – plus an act of kindness from Rey and a visit from the ghost of his father Han – sets him on a path forsaking the dark side.
The Resistance mourns Leia’s death – her longtime pal Chewbacca breaks down in grief and Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o) lovingly states, “Goodbye, dear princess” at her memorial – though she comes back one last time at the very end of “Skywalker.” After defeating Palpatine and his new empire, the Final Order, Rey travels to Luke’s boyhood home on Tatooine and buries Luke’s and Leia’s lightsabers in the sand.
The fallen heroes watch proudly as Force ghosts when Rey introduces herself to a passerby as “Rey Skywalker,” taking the family name of the two people who guided her the most.
Abrams could have just had Leia die offscreen in an explosion, but thankfully he didn’t.
Leia needed to live on as the soul of “Star Wars” one final time, just as the actress lives on in fans’ hearts.
“We just miss her. It’s not fair that she’s not here and she’s not part of this,” says Oscar Isaac, whose character Poe Dameron takes over as general upon Leia’s passing.
“It’s also a great reminder of what an incredible talent she was.
“Even more so than being a part of the last two hours of this 11-hour saga, it’s being a part of the last film that she gets to be in that means a lot.”