Princess Leia’s parents plot hole finally explained
From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When the Star Wars prequels came out, fans were excited to learn more about the various characters and events that made up their favorite galaxy, far, far away. Unfortunately, the controversial prequel trilogy led to some major plot holes, including the fact that Leia was said to have no memories of her mother (Padme died after giving birth to her twins), as she claimed in Return of the Jedi. This obvious Princess Leia plot hole has vexed fans for nearly two decades, but one fan theory does a good job of explaining what happened: In all likelihood, Leia unknowingly received images of her mother via the Force.
Leia remembers her mother
When Return of the Jedi When Leia came out in 1983, fans had no reason to doubt Leia’s portrayal of her mother. She told her secret sibling Luke Skywalker that she remembered her mother as “very beautiful” and “kind, but…sad.” But Princess Leia suddenly found herself at the center of a plot hole Revenge of the Sith came out in 2005 and we saw that Padme died (apparently of a broken heart) right after giving birth to Luke and Leia. This led to the natural question: How the hell would Leia remember what her mother looked like if she never actually saw or knew her?
According to a fan theory about Princess LeiaThis isn’t actually a plot hole. Instead, Leia told the truth from the only perspective she had. Growing up and even at the beginning of her conversation with Luke, she didn’t know that she was Force sensitive (in fact, she finds out in this conversation). But she’s had access to the Force her entire life, and considering how often this mystical energy field sends visions to aspiring Jedi, it’s fair to assume that Leia had Force visions from her mother (either earlier or later in life) and on believed they were actual memories of Padme.
The fan theory makes perfect sense
Interestingly, the fan theory that solves this Princess Leia plot hole makes even more sense when you revisit her conversation with Luke Return of the Jedi. When Luke asks what she remembers about her mother, Leia initially says, “Just…images, really…feelings,” before providing the aforementioned physical description. At first glance, it seems as if Leia had already squared this circle, subconsciously implying that what she had received was a vision (because let’s face it, “images” and “feelings” are). a strange and clumsy way to describe a cherished childhood memories).
For fans still upset about the prequel trilogy, resolving this Princess Leia plot hole could bring peace. Instead of a glaring narrative error, this theory offers a solution that ties in elegantly with the original trilogy. Unfortunately, this theory can’t solve the many other problems with the prequels, ranging from terrible dialogue (who can forget that sand speech?) and obnoxious new characters (“meesa Jar-Jar Binks!”) to the bizarre decision to have Padme die of a broken heart. This plot point alone is almost ruined Revenge of the Sithundeniably the best of the prequels.
After all, we all know that broken hearts don’t kill. If they could, this is what the heartbreakingly terrible Star Wars prequels would have been like Thanos Snap that made half the fanbase suddenly scream in fear before suddenly being silenced.
