The winter premiere and twelfth episode of the Star Wars Rebels animated television series' second season is called "A Princess on Lothal." As the series' twenty-seventh episode overall, it introduced Princess Leia Organa to the show. This episode was broadcast on January 20, 2016 on Disney XD.
A white Loth-cat observes Kanan Jarrus conversing with Hera Syndulla via hologram regarding his, Ezra Bridger's, and Chopper's's recent experiences on Lothal after the events of "Legacy." The rebels were successful in finding a new ally in Ryder Azadi, Lothal's former Governor, despite Ezra learning of the deaths of his parents, Ephraim and Mira Bridger. Hera informs Kanan that Senator Bail Organa is aware of Phoenix Cell's recent setbacks on Garel and is dispatching an agent to provide additional ships.
Three unidentified cruisers emerge from hyperspace above the planet Lothal and are intercepted by a light cruiser. Lieutenant Yogar Lyste of the Empire demands to know the cruisers' identities and mission due to the planetary lockdown brought on by rebel activity on Lothal. The cruisers identify themselves as Alderaanian and state they are delivering aid to the people of Lothal, which is confirmed when their landing permit is received. Lyste is annoyed by another "meddling delegation from Alderaan" and directs them to land at the Jalath City depot for processing. Princess Leia Organa, the leader of the Alderaanian delegation, expresses her gratitude to Lyste and declares, "there's no turning back now" after the Imperial officer disconnects.
Back at Ryder Azadi's hidden location, Kanan informs Ezra about the planned meeting and requests Ryder to accompany them. He declines, stating that he doesn't want to be involved in rebel activity for fear of being captured and thrown in prison again. Ryder does, however, let Kanan and Ezra take his speeder bike. When Kanan and Ezra, disguised as a stormtrooper and an Imperial cadet respectively, arrive at the garrison, the Hammerhead corvettes are in the process of landing. Leia gets off one of the ships, and Ezra wants to know where her commander is. Kanan and Ezra take off their helmets and introduce themselves, and Leia tells them she knows who they are, and that since the deck officer is approaching, they had better put their helmets back on and keep their mouths shut. The deck officer tells Leia he has to scan her ships for contraband, and after he leaves Kanan tells Leia that things are off to a great start. Leia states that things are going perfectly, and asks where the rest of their team is. When Kanan tells her that they'll be there, Leia tells them that when they are, the rebels can steal her ships. Kanan and Ezra are surprised.
Leia informs Kanan and Ezra that she must now deal with Lieutenant Lyste as she sees his shuttle landing. She advises them to follow her lead, and Ezra questions Kanan about why she is allowed to issue orders when he is not. Kanan inquires as to whether Ezra ever pays attention to himself, to which Ezra responds that he does and finds himself to be quite interesting. Lyste informs Leia that he is aware of the tendency for Alderaanian ships to be "stolen" by rebels and assures her that he will prevent that from happening this time. As several stormtroopers begin attaching devices to the fronts of Leia's ships, the princess states that gravity locks are hardly necessary. Lyste insists, adding that he has stationed an extra detachment of stormtroopers around the area. A Gozanti-class cruiser arrives and deploys two All Terrain Armored Transports as the final component of Lyste's enhanced security measures. Leia assures the lieutenant that all of this is unnecessary, but he insists on doing so. Since her ships are grounded, Leia demands Lyste's Sentinel-class landing craft so she can start on her relief work, ordering the disguised Kanan and Ezra along.
Leia states on the landing craft that she was not anticipating this level of security and wonders how the rebels will now be able to "steal" the ships. Kanan assures her that it is not her fault, but she clarifies that it is because she devised the plan. Ezra inquires as to why the cruisers were not simply handed over to the rebels in deep space, and Leia explains that doing so would alert the Empire to Alderaan's support for the rebels, leading to charges of treason and the loss of their seat in the Imperial Senate. If the rebels steal the ships on a planet controlled by the Empire, Alderaan won't be suspected of helping the rebel cause. They then get a distress signal from Chopper. They arrive back at Ryder's hideout to find a group of stormtroopers arresting Ryder and Chopper. Leia asks after landing if those are friends of theirs, and Kanan says they won't be for much longer. He instructs Leia to follow his lead this time. Kanan, disguised as a stormtrooper, informs the commander that he is taking the "princess ambassador" on a scouting mission to find a new location for the refugees. The commander replies that the area is unsafe due to a high level of rebel activity. Kanan offers to take the prisoners back to base and the commander refuses, stating that he has orders to execute one of them immediately. Leia intervenes, saying that as a representative of the Imperial Senate, she demands to know what Ryder has done to merit execution. The commander states that Ryder escaped from an Imperial prison, and again advises Leia to leave because, "Where you find one rebel, there are usually more." Chopper suddenly starts spinning around wildly, signaling to Kanan and Ezra that their friends are close.
The Ghost appears on cue and fires at the Imperial transports, prompting Leia to ask Kanan if these are more of his friends. He confirms it, stating that he's a "likeable guy." Garazeb Orrelios and Sabine Wren disembark, and a firefight begins. Chopper rolls toward the ship, and Sabine tells him he can't board because he has to get the Phantom. Kanan grabs Ryder and pulls him behind a toppled Imperial Troop Transport, along with Ezra and Leia. Ryder remarks to Kanan that his friends might shoot him wearing that armor, and Kanan, having an idea, tells Ryder to take the princess "hostage." When the former governor protests, Leia tells him that he has to take her prisoner so she doesn't blow her cover. Ezra signals Sabine to let her and Zeb know the stormtrooper and cadet on their left are their fellow rebels, and that they've got two incoming. Ryder shoves Kanan onto Ezra, then grabs Leia by the wrist and they run for the Ghost, Leia pretending to scream for help. Passing Zeb and Sabine, Ryder tells them that Kanan and Ezra are coming, and that Kanan said to "make it look good." The other stormtroopers move in, but Kanan tells the commander that Leia is his responsibility, so he'll get her back. Kanan and Ezra run to the ramp, where Zeb knocks out Kanan with his bo-rifle. When Ezra attempts to tell Zeb that the "stormtrooper" is Kanan, Zeb knocks him out as well, says "I know," and drags the unconscious duo onboard. Two of the fighting stormtroopers are surprised, and wonder if the rebels are now starting to take prisoners. Meanwhile, Chopper, piloting the Phantom, destroys Lyste's shuttle and follows the Ghost.
Kanan and Ezra are unhappy with Zeb for hitting them so hard when they wake up aboard the Ghost. Kanan demands to know where the princess is, and Zeb tells him she's in the cockpit. Ryder expresses his gratitude to Hera for saving his life, and she assures him that it is the least they could do. The others have learned about what happened to Ezra's parents, and offer their condolences to him. Ezra goes off to the nose gun to be by himself, and Kanan tells Leia that it's been hard for him, and he could use a friend. Leia talks with Ezra, telling him that she heard his broadcast, and he tells her about how his parents inspired many to resist the Empire's rule. Ezra asks Leia why she's fighting, since she's royalty, and she explains that since she can fight, she feels she has to, for those who can't. She thinks that Ezra might be the same way. Lyste is informed at the base that Leia and the "cadet" were kidnapped and, horrified, orders an immediate search around the nearby area to find the rebels. Meanwhile on the Ghost, the Spectres are wondering how they can get the cruisers, given the increased security. Leia motivates the team by explaining it's not a matter of why they can't get them, it's a matter of how they will. They quickly formulate a plan to get the ships, and Sabine suggests using explosives to blast off the gravity locks. Ryder chimes in, explaining that explosives won't be able to disable the gravity locks, which he knows because he had to build them in prison. Kanan asks if Ryder is finally helping the rebels, and he states only for the one time, since he's realized he can't stay on Lothal.
Lyste and his soldiers see the Phantom touch down at the garrison. Lyste instructs his troopers to set their weapons to stun in case rebels are on board, only to be greeted by Leia, accompanied by Kanan and Ezra in disguise. Leia tells Lyste that Kanan saved her life, and that he should be given a medal. Ryder, Chopper, and Sabine disable one of the gravity locks while Lyste and his soldiers are distracted. Sabine goes inside to pilot the cruiser, signaling for their air support, while Ryder and Chopper move on to the next one. Lyste assures Leia that her ships are still safe, and the princess responds that if he's trying to impress her, he's doing a miserable job of it. The lieutenant turns around to see one of Leia's cruisers flying away, and he immediately orders his soldiers to stop the rebels. The stormtroopers see Ryder and Chopper disabling a gravity lock, and begin firing at them. In response, Sabine, piloting her corvette, fires on the troopers, knocking them over. Kanan and Ezra then knock Lyste and his two soldiers out cold. One of the AT-ATs attacks the ship, and the Ghost swoops in and fires proton torpedoes at the walker, temporarily disabling it by causing it to kneel. Ezra suggests that it's time they got out of there. Leia says she doesn't think so, pointing at the AT-AT getting back to its feet, preparing to fire at Ryder and Chopper. Kanan tells Ezra to secure the third ship, and that he'll deal with the walker, and runs off as the princess wonders how he plans to do that. Ryder, seeing a stormtrooper running towards him, prepares to fire, but Chopper sees Kanan pull out his lightsaber and stops Ryder. Kanan, running past, tells Ryder to finish disabling the gravity lock, before igniting his lightsaber, to Ryder's considerable surprise. Still in stormtrooper armor, Kanan charges the AT-AT and severs two of its legs, causing it to topple.
Leia, witnessing Kanan's feat, excitedly asks Ezra if he saw it. Ezra, seeing two stormtroopers threatening Ryder and Chopper, tells the princess to watch him, Force pulling the troopers' blasters from their hands. He catches one, but the other hits him in the head. Leia grabs the fallen blaster and shoots the approaching troopers, before telling Ezra that it was "mostly" impressive. Ryder and Chopper disable the second gravity lock, and he tells Kanan to get in and pilot it. The Ghost continues to harry the other AT-AT, but is having little effect. Realizing that the rebels need help, Ryder goes aboard the third ship while telling Chopper to disable the gravity lock. Imperial reinforcements arrive, and tell the other AT-AT to take out the ships. Leia tells the officer not to kill them because of the ships, but the officer tells her that they can't let them fall into rebel hands. Ryder guns the ship's engines, straining against the gravity lock. Once Chopper finishes disabling the lock, Ryder uses the corvette's thrusters to topple the second AT-AT.
Ezra hurries up the ramp of Ryder's corvette, and Leia approaches. They say goodbye to each other, saying that they'll see each other again soon. Before they go, Leia tells Ezra to stun her to avoid suspicion. Ezra does so just as Lyste and the other stormtroopers regain their senses, which prompts him to go see if she is all right. Meanwhile, Chopper takes off with the Phantom, following the rebel ships. Leia tells Lyste she is fine, but all three of her ships have been stolen by the rebels. She threatens to blackmail Lyste unless he pays for her lost ships, which he quickly agrees to. When the princess demands another transport so she can return home, Lyste offers her his ship, only to realize that it's gone missing.
The rebels are happy that they were able to get all three ships in deep space. Ryder, now realizing that what Ezra's parents started has become even larger then he thought, offers to help the rebel cause for both them and their son's sake. The screen pans out as the growing rebel fleet moves out of the Lothal system.
The premiere of Princess Leia Organa on Star Wars Rebels occurred in "A Princess on Lothal," which was shown on Disney XD on January 20, 2016. Dave Filoni, the show's executive producer, stated that the creative team believed they had a chance to portray Leia before she rose to the position of leader as seen in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The team was able to play around with her personality before it became more resolute in the original film because she is a younger character than when viewers first met her. One of the difficulties in bringing Leia onto the show was that viewers would need to be reminded that she is a member of the Empire at this point in her life and that, while she believes in the rebellion's ideals, she must play the part of a devoted Imperial. According to Filoni, the Empire views Leia as a privileged princess who carries out mercy missions, but in reality, she is "much stronger and more dangerous than they imagine."
This episode marks Leia's sole appearance in the second season. Julie Dolan, who also voices the character in the video game Star Wars: Uprising and the Disney theme park attraction Star Tours, provides her voice. Her costume is inspired by Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for A New Hope.