New Star Wars animated show "Rebels" coming fall 2014

Never been established in any of the movies.

 

Established, no. But Yoda, Obi-Wan and even Luke very strongly hinted that she was strong with the Force and might have been the only other hope for defeating the Empire and the Dark Side had anything happened to Luke.

As the twin sister of Luke Skywalker and the daughter of the Chosen One - the individual with the highest midichlorian count ever recorded in the Jedi Order - Leia probably does have a higher midichlorian count than most other sentient beings in the galaxy.

 

It's not Leia's Force potential that interests me. It's her career as a senator-cum-rebel leader, and her formative years on Alderaan. I've always been curious about that.

 

Yeah, any show depicting Leia pre-RotJ cannot show her force potential as anything other than a latent ability. Leaps of perception based on instinct or empathetic insights are about all they can really do with her in that regard.

 

Just to be clear, I'm not in favor of depicting a pre-Episode IV Senator Leia Organa with any Force powers. I was just theorizing how powerful she might actually be based on what was established about her family and parentage and some dialogue from ROTJ.

Yeah, showing a teenage or prepubescent Leia with Force skills would create a minefield of continuity problems that could drag any such story down. Just depict her as a little girl or teenager with political savvy and idealism along the lines of her adoptive father and let the discovery of her Force powers and potential happen much later in the timeline.

 

Yea, but, I think Reverend is right, you'd need to show her potential via insight/empathy/perceptive of integrity, kinda things, or else it would be "Outta nowhere" 20+ years down the line (Or as early as when it's revealed in Original Trilogy).

 

Which means they'll probably do it.

 

Granted this is expanded universe...but there is a way to block an individual from accessing the force. There would need to be a mindwipe on Leia as well.

 

Problem is that the more awesome you make her, the bigger her downgrade will be once Luke and Han enter the picture. Not only will she need to be rescued, she'll be the one sitting it out while the guys take care of everything. Next movie she'll just be the love interest and the last movie she'll essentially be the victim of an ill-concieved plan which results in what she's most recognizable as. A slave in a metal bikini to a giant slug. All you'll be doing is building up potential and squashing it.

 

Yeah, essentially this. If she's a heroic, badass teenage Senator and Princess with developing latent Force abilities she doesn't recognize for what they are in Rebels but then the smartass damsel in distress who relies on her bravery and a convenient blaster when Episode IV rolls around that's a bit of a downgrade and they wouldn't really feel like the same character or that she had evolved as she reached adulthood.

It just makes more logical sense within the continuity to depict her as a budding child and teenage statesman in Rebels if you're even going to bother to show her in the new series at all, because that's what she's grown into by the time Vader seizes the Tantive IV over Tatooine in the original film. That's the Leia we know, displaying no unusual powers and abilities and essentially just a courageous young woman who's good with subterfuge and a blaster. Let her development and use of any Force powers she has happen in the development of the OT and afterwards when it makes sense.

Besides, Star Wars fans for the most part are smart enough to know that a little girl Leia can't be running around doing things she didn't do in the Original Trilogy. They know she's the daughter of the Chosen One and the twin sister of the Great Whine Hope and that she'll come to the realization of who she really is and what her powers and potential are during ROTJ and the years after that. You don't have to make every character super-bang-pow-kewl before they're supposed to be - there are plenty of interesting stories one can tell about kid or teen Leia that don't involve latent Force powers and being Ellen Ripley with hair buns.

 

I don't see how it's a downgrade. Leia was a pretty awesome character in her own right in the original trilogy. Yes, she was the only woman around for the most part, and she did tend to get cast in the damsel-in-distress role, but she subverted that role by being perfectly capable of participating constructively in her own rescue -- something that's par for the course for action heroines today, but mainly because Leia pioneered the change.

Besides, Leia's more than just a fighter. Fighters can't do much by themselves; they need leaders and planners and strategists to tell them what to do. Leia is a princess, a senator, and one of the leading decision-makers in the Rebellion. Luke is an eager, impulsive kid with the ability to use the Force; Han is a dissolute scoundrel who's mainly out for self-interest. Leia is the brains of the operation. So if the show focused on the development of Leia's leadership abilities, the growth of her political career and the awakening of her rebel sympathies, that wouldn't conflict with anything from the movies.

Honestly, I don't know why you guys are only talking about her latent Force potential. That's far from the most interesting thing about Leia as a character. If anything, it's a distraction from the aspects that make her interesting. She has a hell of a lot going for her as a character that has nothing to do with whether she can move pebbles with her mind.

 

That's been my point, though. Develop her other character traits and backstory. The Force stuff comes in ROTJ and even later on. I was just pointing out in earlier posts that as the daughter of Anakin and brother of Luke she's likely quite strong in the Force but doesn't know nor tap into it until the very end of the Original Trilogy and the stories that come afterwards. There's no storytelling need to delve into it when she's still many years from meeting Luke, Han and the others.

I don't want to see a Force-wielding kid or teenage Leia - at all. I want to see at least a glimpse of how she matures into the youngest Senator in galactic history and find out what her adoptive father teaches her about politics, subterfuge and diplomacy. We're all fans - we know she's the daughter of the Chosen One and has Force powers. That gets revealed in ROTJ, not when she's a little girl or precocious teenager learning about who sits where in the Senate chamber and how standard blaster weapons operate.

 

For the record, by my count Leia gets rescued a grand total of ONCE in the whole trilogy (well twice if you count that bit with Lando, which I don't) and even then she's the one that rescues them from their botched attempt and makes an escape route. Incidentally once is the same number of times both Han and Luke get rescued.

As for her arse kicking credentials, remember that the first time we see her she shoots a stormtrooper right between the eyes, back talks both Vader and Tarkin and even tries to bluff them into attacking an empty base. That alone takes stones.

Admittedly she has less to do in tESB, but in RotJ she pulls a double bluff to successfully infiltrate Jabba's court then strangles the bugger with her bare hands. Gets into a high speed speederbike chase, fights her way out of an Imperial ambush, gets shot and yet is still able to nail two troopers between the eyes and come back with a sarcastic quip...bringing things full circle you might say.

 

Is it obvious that we will be getting episodes with a 13 year old Leia, 13 year old Luke, and a 22 year old Han Solo in their separate adventures? You just KNOW the writers won't be able to resist!

 

I can't wait to see the thrilling adventures Luke has browsing the aisles of an intergalactic Pep Boys, trying to decide whether going for the more expensive power converter for his airspeeder is worth the price.

 

Yeah, I can't see them using Luke for anything other than in incidental cameo. Old Ben Kenobi on the other hand....

 

^ I agree. They could have stories featuring Leia and Han, but it would be close to impossible to feature Luke.

 

Yeah, during his childhood all he's basically doing is helping out on the farm, getting in trouble with his friends and giving headaches to Owen and Beru. Obi-Wan is keeping a watchful eye from a discreet distance but I can't imagine that Old Ben has many run-ins at all with Luke prior to the events of Episode IV (there's an EU story where he rescues Luke and his friend Windy when they get stranded in the desert and returns them to the Lars moisture farm, only to have a very perturbed Owen tell him to go away and never come back).

The less any new series has to do with Luke Skywalker the better for all involved. Let the boy grow up on the farm and not get sucked into half a dozen wild adventures. Focus on Leia if you're going to write any story or stories about a Skywalker twin.

 

This is the same reason we never see Anakin do anything really amazing with the Force in the PT.

I would agree, just with the word "separate" removed.

 

^ I think if they did an episode where all three or even two met, it would piss off not just me but a lot ofother fans....