While I didn't think back to Vos, I did wonder the same thing. That's a terrifying proposition...and an entirely believable one. I wonder if the show will address that chamber again at some point. I imagine they will if one of those younglings is indeed from the Purge and it was someone Third Sister knew....
According to the credits, it is indeed the same kid from the first episode.
Actually, the same two kids. Not sure what's going on there but six kids are credited for the flashback, when only five are actually in the scene, though two of them have the same last name. In this episode again it's the two apparent siblings being credited, yet only one appears on screen. One assumes they're using twins to play the same role for some reason? I'm sure there is a perfectly logical reason, it just seems odd at first blush since that's the sort of thing that's more commonly done with babies and toddlers, not 8-10 year olds.
Sure, the rebel attack on the fortress was unbelievable, but Star Wars is rarely big on planetary defenses. Those Clone Wars blockades of entire planets were a joke, and enemy ground installations could always be easily approached if they just flew in low or from behind a cloud bank, even if they were chased by enemy fighters. Still, it made for fun stories, so I'm willing to cut them a lot of slack there.
The only thing that bothered me was glossing over the blockade of destroyers in orbit. Five years prior Cal and Cere were only able to get through thanks to Nightsister magiks. Four or five years after this, the Ghost cell was able to do it thanks to stealing an Imperial ship. I guess in this case Tala could have provided Roken with clearance codes to get past the perimeter, but I don't recall that being specified.
Perhaps Leia has a similar skill to mask her Force sensitivity like Palpatine was against the Jedi Council?
Cut dialogue from the movies indicates that it wasn't Palpatine actively blocking them, it was that the dark side was permeating and obscuring *everything*, preventing them from seeing the future through the light side. There was even a cut scene in RotS of Yoda in meditation, deliberately drawing on the dark side to peer through the obstruction. Later media suggests that the cause wasn't Palpatine personally doing all this through force of will, but it was instead the Temple itself that was the problem, having been built atop an ancient wellspring of darkness that had long since been thought neutralized and then forgotten over the course of millennia. Wouldn't be surprised it Palaptine or some previous Darth had had some role in reawakening it, but I could just as easy believe this is just another case of Jedi complacency.
As for what Leia's doing; force sensitivity or no, she has a strong mind and a will of pure beskar. Remember that it took three Jedi Masters working together to try to force their way into Cad Bane's mind, and even then all it did was cause enough pain that he capitulated before they were able to break through. So she need not be drawing on the force at all.
Indeed, we already know that in ANH she was able to resist Vader's mindprobe and an interrogation droid without Vader suspecting her true force sensitivity.
