The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novelization confirms Leia’s Force flight in The Last Jedi led to her eventual death. J.J. Abrams and company were in a tough spot when it came to figuring out Leia’s role in The Rise of Skywalker, as Carrie Fisher tragically passed away in December 2016. With options like digitally recreating Fisher’s likeness and recasting off the table, the creative team decided to incorporate archived footage of Fisher from The Force Awakens, building new scenes around what was shot years ago. They only had 8 minutes of new Fisher footage for Leia’s scenes, but tried to make the best of the situation while honoring the actress’ legacy.

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Due to the circumstances, Leia wasn’t at the forefront of The Rise of Skywalker (as was the original plan), but she still factored heavily into the film’s story. In one of the movie’s more emotional moments, Leia sacrificed herself to bring her son, Ben Solo, back to the light. At the time of The Rise of Skywalker’s release this past December, Leia’s role drew criticism in some circles for coming across as little rushed (which, undoubtedly, was due to how Fisher was worked into the film). However, the Rise of Skywalker novelization fleshes this plot beat out a bit more, providing further clarity.

The book contains an additional scene where Leia and Maz Kanata have a conversation about formally giving Rey Luke’s old lightsaber. Maz believes it is time for Rey to inherit the weapon since Leia “grows weaker and weaker” by the day. Author Rae Carson includes a passage that connects this to the infamous “Leia Poppins” moment in The Last Jedi:

Leia sighed. Being blown off the bridge of the Raddus into the vacuum of space had taken a toll. She had saved herself that day through the power of the Force, but her body had paid a steep price.

This feels like a natural continuation of a subtle hint featured in a 2018 Star Wars comic implying Leia’s Force flight had rather serious consequences in the longterm. Similar to how Luke called upon all the might he had to project himself across the galaxy and save the Resistance, Leia’s effort to fly back to the Raddus required a tremendous amount of strength that could kill her. In fact, Leia was in intensive care for a decent chunk of The Last Jedi, falling into a coma once she returned to the ship. That was an indication for viewers she clearly wasn’t well, and even when she recovered she still wasn’t in the best shape. Apparently, her condition never really improved in the one year between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker and whatever side effects Leia suffered from proved to be fatal.

What might be frustrating for viewers is the fact Leia’s health is something that receives more attention in non-movie canon materials than the films themselves. Prior to her death scene in The Rise of Skywalker, the movie doesn’t do much to set up Leia’s physically weakened state – which ultimately hurts how the sequence plays onscreen. Sadly, Leia’s death doesn’t really land with the full intended emotional impact because it arguably comes across as random. Much like how The Rise of Skywalker may have benefited from including novelization details like Palpatine’s backstory and a revelation about Rey’s father, the film could have used this extra context surrounding Leia. The scene in the book appears to be based around the deleted Force Awakens scene where Maz hands Leia Luke’s lightsaber, so it’s something that possibly could have been in the movie (at least in some capacity). At the very least, those who read the novelization will have the information.

Source: The Rise of Skywalker Novelization

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Chris Agar
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Chris Agar is a news editor for Screen Rant, also writing features and movie reviews for the site as one of Screen Rant’s Rotten Tomatoes approved critics. He is a graduate of Wesley College’s Bachelor of Media Arts and Master of Sport Leadership programs. In 2013, Chris was hired to write weekly box office prediction posts in conjunction with the Screen Rant Underground podcast’s Box Office Battle game and his role expanded over the next few years. In addition to covering the latest news and hottest movie topics daily, Chris has attended numerous media events for Screen Rant, including San Diego Comic-Con, delivering content his readers care about. He credits Star Wars and Toy Story with launching a lifelong fascination with movies that led to his career, and now he has a wide range of cinematic tastes, enjoying the latest Hollywood blockbusters, Oscar contenders, and everything in between. Chris’ favorite film genres include sci-fi/fantasy, crime, action, and drama.

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