Leia Organa Solo is one of the most famous figures to ever grace the halls of the Republic senate. Her passion for the people of the galaxy is second only to her biological mother, Padme Amidala Skywalker. This is the other side of the Skywalkers that they excel in, politics.  But Leia… well she also trained as a Jedi under her brother’s diligent tutelage.  But the truth of her biological father’s descent from revered Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to the persona known to the galaxy as Darth Vader wouldn’t be the last of her heartbreaks.  Her long marriage to everyone’s favorite smuggler turned Rebellion hero, Han Solo, had been her safe haven. Her heart was carefully placed in the hands of the handsome, even at their old age, former scoundrel.  They went through many ups and downs, but that love culminated in the birth of her beloved son, Ben — who she named after the famous Jedi Master that had helped them liberate the galaxy from the tyrannical rule of Emperor Palpatine.  In Ben, she found a joy unlike any she had ever experienced, but she was still firmly devoted to continuing her work as Senator. And Han, after the war, went back to doing what he knew how to do best.  This meant that little Ben was often left in the care of others. 

Those others were included: Lando, who had married and had a young daughter himself; Maz Kanata, who had befriended Leia through Han; Harter Kalonia, who was Leia’s best friend and the doctor that delivered Ben in Chandrila; and of course, Chewbacca, who would often stay at the Solo’s Chandrila home to keep little Ben company.  As he grew up, Ben started to present with horrible nightmares — the kind that would wake the dead from the screams that came out of the little boy’s mouth.  Leia would hardly sleep, often opting to sleep with Ben in his bed rather than with Han. Han would come home less and less, the stress of it all taking a toll on him.  He felt helpless. The nightmares grew worse and worse. Leia, being Force-sensitive herself, sensed the Dark side wielding its evil around her son. And Ben displayed erratic behavior at home and at school, self-isolating from others, and having little to no friends.  Ben started to show commanding use of the Force, and as other kids would bully him for his… eccentricities… he would use Dark side Force powers with great ease and little to no regret.  Leia came to believe that the Dark side was coming to claim her son and that she would be helpless to stop it.  She would get into horrible fights with Han over sending Ben to her brother because she believed him to be the only person in the galaxy that could protect him. Han thought his son’s place was with them and that he as his father would be the one to protect him. But Leia thought him foolish.  Their marriage started to crumble under the weight of desperation. 

Leia was in dire need of help, so she reached out to her brother, Luke.  Luke was living in Tatooine, at the Lars Homestead. He would often come to visit her in Chandrila, so he was close to Ben, as his only nephew. Han and Chewie would also bring little Ben with them to visit Luke on Tatooine, often staying for days at a time. So much so that Luke built Ben a bedroom in the old dwelling. Leia insisted that Ben was being seduced to the Dark side but when the boy would visit Luke, nothing that Leia was describing would happen.  It was as if the Dark side recognized that the boy was near another powerful Force-user, and would turn everything off, so as not to get caught.  Of course, this made Leia feel like she was going crazy.  Although the nightmares had been witnessed by Han and others in the family, the other stuff was not. Luke encouraged her to leave Ben with him, that perhaps some Force training would help him. So that’s what Leia did.  Han was upset that he would be separated from his boy because that’s what training like that requires. This also strained the relationship between Han and Luke.  Luke built his Jedi Temple in a secret location years before, which he had brought a young Grogu to once. Luke decided to move Ben there to become his first official Padawan.  As Ben grew up, he would display more and more Dark side abilities, which solidified Leia’s original fear for her son to Luke.  And Leia turned out to be absolutely right. 

Now, having given the last of her living energy to reach out to her son to save him, Leia has crossed over to the Cosmic Force — otherwise known as the netherworld of the Force.  And as she did, she found that her son had died saving young Rey — the girl that had been predestined for him.  She joined the other Force Ghosts to give a little bit of their energies collectively to resurrect him. And once that was all said and done, she found herself having to face the inevitable in the Cosmic Force:   Anakin Skywalker.  And she’s got a large bone to pick with him!

PRODUCER NOTES: 
Leia’s role is minor in Episode 10, but she becomes a much more prominent role in Episodes 11 and 12 in our trilogy. We also dive a bit into the Cosmic Force with her, Anakin, Luke, and the other Force Ghosts as we tackle the “in-betweens” — there is a 10-year storyline gap between each of our films — with animated shorts, short stories, comics, audio dramas, and more. The title of Episode 11 is “Star Wars: The Skywalker Legacy”, so she features quite a bit there. Right now, Leia is trying to cope… cope with being face-to-face with Darth Vader every single day for all eternity. And Anakin is desperate to regain favor with his daughter and relies heavily on his son to help bridge the gap.