Leia Skywalker Organa Solo

Biography

Pre-birth

Near the end of the Clone Wars, a galactic conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, orchestrated by Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord, Yoda, a Jedi Master, embarked on a quest to uncover the secrets of immortality. His journey took him to Moraband, the ancient homeworld of the Sith, where he had visions of the future. Serenity, a Force Priestess who guided him, revealed the existence of another Skywalker, and Yoda heard his voice from the future confirming this. These events foreshadowed his recognition of Leia's potential and what Yoda would eventually tell Luke, her twin brother, in his final words before his death.

Early life

Birth

Leia Amidala Skywalker was born on the asteroid Polis Massa two days following the end of the Clone Wars and the purge of the Jedi Order by the newly formed Galactic Empire. She and her twin brother, Luke, born shortly before her, were the children of Padmé Amidala, a Republic Senator who died shortly after giving birth, and Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight who had recently turned to the dark side of the Force. She retained lasting impressions of her mother's images and feelings, unlike her brother, describing her as "very beautiful, kind, but sad." Leia was uncertain if these were genuine memories or fabrications to fill the void in her life.

Yoda believed Leia was better suited to be a Jedi due to her inherent strength, will, and clarity, in contrast to her brother, who was impetuous, headstrong, unruly, and inattentive. He greatly desired to train her. However, to shield the children from the Empire, Darth Sidious, also known as Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Vader, now a Sith Lord, Bail Prestor Organa, a Senator, and his wife, Breha, the Queen of Alderaan, agreed to adopt Leia. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan Kenobi personally watched over Luke, who lived with Owen Lars, his father's stepbrother, and his wife Beru on the planet Tatooine.

Princess of Alderaan

Through adoption, Leia Amidala Skywalker became Leia Organa and heiress of the Royal Family of Alderaan through the Name Day ceremony. While it was public knowledge that she was adopted, with the assumption that she was one of the many children orphaned by the Clone Wars, she was unaware of her biological parents' fates. As an infant, Leia was fascinated by the fish in an aquarium as her adoptive father read secret files about Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi Padawan, on the agrarian moon of Raada. Bail later held her after reviewing the files. On one occasion as a toddler, Leia escaped her bath and ran naked into the formal dining room, interrupting a diplomatic dinner, leading WA-2V to chase her.

Leia was eventually informed that her birth father had died in the Clone Wars and that her birth mother had only lived long enough to give birth. However, Leia was uninterested in her birth parents, considering her adoptive parents as her only family. Often, when Leia went to sleep, her parents would tell her that they had waited a long time for a child, as part of the story about when her father had come home from some "mysterious mission" to surprise her mother with a baby girl in her arms.

As a child, Leia believed the glow inside her mother's chest was a bouquet of blooming candlewick flowers. She later learned it was from Breha's pulmonodes, acquired after a near-fatal climbing accident during her Challenge of the Body at sixteen. Breha explained that she chose not to cover them with skin through bacta treatments, as they represented her survival. Leia would eventually meet others with similar cybernetics.

After her fourth birthday, Leia received her "big girl bed," realizing she was too old to sleep in her parents' bed, except when ill or when watching a holo about undead gundarks. During her childhood, her father taught her to value Alderaan's workers and her duties as the planet's future queen, while her mother taught her that royalty could be lonely. She often stood beside her parents during royal ceremonies, maintaining a stoic expression.

Leia viewed her adoption as a privilege with duty and sacrifice. Ruling Alderaan required relinquishing her freedom, dignity, and privacy for the greater good. She strived to fulfill her parents' aspirations and be worthy of ruling her planet. Aunts provided etiquette lessons to transform her into a proper patrician, instructing her on appearance, company, and diplomacy. While she loved them, she resisted being molded into a simpering princess focused solely on finding a husband. She once complained that "being a princess had to be about more than silently doing one's duty," but her aunt replied that she had just described most of a princess's job.

Leia also had educational droids for academic subjects and tutors in pathfinding, diplomacy, piloting, navigation, and combat. She studied galactic politics, manners, rhetoric, composition, and diplomacy. She also attempted basic accounting, as her mother oversaw public works funding. Leia disliked it and was soon released by Breha. When Leia protested that she would need to learn if she was going to be queen Breha jokingly responded that all she needed to do was fall in love with someone who liked bookkeeping as then she could make her viceroy do it.

Continued childhood

On one occasion when Leia was young, Bail, while he and Leia sat by the hearth in the royal family's private library, explained to her that the people of Alderaan loved and were loyal to the royal family as they showed them love and loyalty in return and that if they ever ceased to appreciate those around them, "from the highest lord to the humblest labourer," not only would they lose that loyalty, they would deserve to lose it. On another occasion Bail cradled Leia in his lap and pointed her towards the famous Alderaanian mountain Appenza Peak and told Leia about how her mother had had to climb the mountain "all by herself" to become crown princess, something that greatly shocked the young Leia who couldn't even climb into her high bed without 2V's help.

Breha would also chase Leia around the palace with her hair down and her dressing gown flowing behind her and with Leia trusting her mother to be no more than a few steps behind. At one point, Leia escaped from the care of her nanny droid and ran through the gardens of the royal palace before finding her adoptive mother, Breha, reading in front of a statue of Leia's biological mother, Padmé Amidala. Staring up at the statue, Breha began to explain Amidala's long history, mesmerizing Leia. Breha began by explaining her start as an Apprentice Legislator in the Royal House of Naboo and the beginning of her long and arduous political career from a very young age. She went on to explain the hardships she had faced while serving the government of Naboo, including her election as queen and the Invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY.

Calmly passing through her time as queen, Breha continued by explaining that Amidala may have been a capable fighter on the battlefield, but the most important battles she ever fought were in the Senate, using her words as her weapon as opposed to her blaster, and that she would continue to fight in the Senate until lasting peace was brought to the galaxy. Finally, Breha explained that Amidala had been a beacon of hope for the entire galaxy and that even though she had passed on, her symbol, her spark, remained. Ending her speech, Breha finally came to the point of what she had wished to say to Leia, explaining that the spark of hope that Amidala had left upon the galaxy continued to live inside Leia, a spark that would one day reignite hope within the galaxy.

During her childhood, Leia didn't have many friends her own age as, despite how egalitarian the Alderaanian monarchy was, there was always a dividing line between those who lived in the palace and those who lived outside its walls. Leia would gambol around on the rolling ground with some of the cooks' children but for the most part Leia's companions had been her parents. At one point during her childhood, the princess met her first member of the Wookiee race, who was a guest of her father's at a state dinner. That guest made a strong impression on her and, eventually, Bail Organa gifted her daughter a Wookiee doll, which she came to regard as some sort of guardian, watching over her in her room. By the time she was six, Leia had met a king for the first time.

In 10 BBY, a week before her ninth Name Day Leia had hidden behind the screens in the palace's banquet hall when her parents had been dining alone. Being 'young and self-centred' Leia assumed they'd probably be discussing her presents. Instead, they'd been laughing and flirting, and Leia had ended up scurrying out red faced in time to avoid an unwelcome lesson in what spouses did together in their private hours. This event had caused Leia to not venture behind the screens again till 3 BBY. In 10 BBY, the nine-year-old princess ran away from the royal palace for the first time. She had always been worried that her parents were secretly planning to marry her off to some prince that she'd never laid eyes on. Leia hid in the woods for a week where she learned to hunt and survive in the woods until her parents' guards finally tracked her down. She later remembered that incident as the "best week of her life."

Abducted on Alderaan

Before a visit by her aunt's family in 9 BBY, Organa had her alien friend impersonate her to prank her mother. Instead of dressing up for the occasion, Organa spent time in the nearby woods, watching starships depart together with her toy droid, L0-LA59 "Lola." After getting picked up from the forest by her mother and two Alderaanian guards, Organa was present at the landing dock with her family to receive the guests—aunt Celly, uncle Kayo, and cousin Niano Organa.

During the ensuing reception, Organa engaged Niano, who berated her for being polite to a droid and called her out for being adopted and thus not a "real Organa." The princess retorted by calling out Niano for being insecure. Later, she was told by her mother to apologize to Niano, and her father reassured her that she was an Organa in every way. Agreeing to apologize to her cousin, Organa instead ran into the nearby woods with Lola.

Unbeknownst to the Organa family, the Third Sister, an Inquisitor seeking to lure out the fugitive Jedi Master Kenobi, had hired Vect Nokru to kidnap Leia, hoping that her father would contact his old friend Kenobi. As Leia ran in the forest, she was ambushed by Nokru and his two associates, who pursued the princess, shooting an Alderaanian guard in the process. Departing for the planet Daiyu, where the Third Sister planned to ambush Kenobi, the criminals tied Organa in a room aboard the starship. While attempting to free herself with the help of Lola, Nokru entered the room and took the toy droid, tossing it onto the floor.

Danger on Daiyu

On Daiyu, Organa was taken to The Den, a spice laboratory where she was imprisoned in a backroom. The Third Sister's suspicions were correct, as the princess' father indeed reached out to Kenobi and managed to convince him to embark on a mission to rescue Organa. Following Bail Organa's lead to the planet, Kenobi eventually infiltrated The Den after advice from con artist Haja Estree. After overpowering Nokru and his crew, Kenobi found the room where Organa was being held and managed to convince her that he was there to rescue her on her father's behalf. The Third Sister, however, learning of Nokru's failure, placed a bounty on Kenobi; now chased by bounty hunters and criminals, Organa and Kenobi switched clothes to avoid attracting attention.

As the two traversed Daiyu City to the Daiyu spaceport, Organa was unconvinced that Kenobi was a real Jedi, asking him multiple times to prove it. The two were attacked by a bounty hunter, whom Kenobi dispatched, with Organa correctly deducing that she was being used as bait after she saw a hologram of Kenobi. No longer believing Kenobi to be sent by her father, the princess fled through the city streets with Kenobi in pursuit. Their chase attracted the attention of bounty hunters, however, with several targeting Kenobi as he pursued the fleeing Organa across rooftops. Reaching the end of a roof, Organa attempted to make the jump to another building but fell short; as she was falling to her demise, Kenobi used the Force to levitate her safely to the ground, and Organa finally believed that Kenobi was a Jedi.

Arriving at the spaceport, Organa and Kenobi witnessed Imperial forces—including stormtroopers and Inquisitors—locking down the facility to prevent all travel. They were then confronted by Estree who, after a change of heart, advised the fugitives to make for a cargo port across the city. Before Organa and Kenobi could enter a cargo transport, however, the Third Sister arrived in the hangar and prepared for a confrontation with Kenobi. While Kenobi prepared for a showdown, Organa ran to the transport, where she watched as the Third Sister taunted Kenobi. Before a confrontation between the two could occur, however, the Third Sister's superior, the Grand Inquisitor, arrived at the hangar and told her to stand down. Unwilling to let the Grand Inquisitor take credit for the capture of Kenobi, the Third Sister stabbed her superior in the abdomen, allowing Organa and Kenobi to escape aboard the cargo transport, bound for the planet Mapuzo.

Peril on Mapuzo

As their transport moved toward the designated location, Leia inquired of Kenobi whether their arrival was imminent, wondering if his connection to the Force could accelerate their journey. He clarified that the Force didn't function in that manner, leading her to question its mechanics and sensation. Obi-Wan explained the Force as akin to activating a light switch when confronting darkness-induced fear. Subsequently, he revealed his successful repair of Lola, which Leia received back with sincere appreciation. Shortly thereafter, the cargo shuttle touched down on Mapuzo, a planet under the Empire's dominion. Kenobi instructed Leia to pose as his daughter, claiming they were farmers hailing from Tawl, urging her to adopt a false name and refrain from engaging in conversation with others.

Eventually, they arrived at the designated meeting place, only to find that Haja Estree's contact was absent. Leia flagged down a passing vehicle and persuaded the driver, a man known as Freck, to provide them transportation to the nearest spaceport. Freck consented, and they boarded the vehicle. En route, Freck disclosed his unwavering allegiance to the Empire, a sentiment to which "Luma" and "Orden" feigned agreement to avert suspicion. Shortly after, Freck pulled over to offer a ride to a group of traveling stormtroopers. Leia informed the troopers that their presence on Mapuzo was due to it being her mother's ancestral home. In an attempt to support the story, Kenobi inadvertently addressed Leia by her actual name, attracting the troopers' attention. Kenobi swiftly rectified the error by asserting that "Luma" simply reminded him of her deceased mother, also named "Leia." Seemingly satisfied, the troopers instructed him to report any suspicious activity before departing. As a result of the fabricated story, Leia questioned whether Kenobi had known her "real" mother, suspecting that he had been deceitful and withholding information from her. She even inquired if he was her biological father, a claim he refuted. Leia confided in Obi-Wan that she often pondered the appearance of her birth family, a sentiment with which Kenobi sympathized.

The transport eventually reached an Imperial checkpoint, where stormtroopers deployed a Viper probe droid to scan Kenobi. However, he retaliated by destroying the droid with a blaster, initiating a conflict with the troopers. One trooper seized Leia, holding a blaster to her head and demanding that Kenobi surrender his weapon or face the consequences. Kenobi feigned compliance before shooting the trooper. As they attempted to escape, they encountered additional troopers, but Tala Durith, disguised as an Imperial officer, neutralized them. She identified herself as Estree's contact. She escorted Leia and Kenobi to a nearby settlement, advising them to remain hidden for a few hours until one of her pilots could arrange their departure from the planet. While awaiting Tala's arrangements, Leia held Lola tightly, expressing remorse for running away, stating that she had not intended for any of this to transpire and that she wished to return home. Kenobi reassured her that she was not to blame. The pair sought refuge in Durith's workshop, where she introduced Leia to her loader droid, NED-B, who Leia then presented to Lola. Tala revealed her clandestine efforts to aid Jedi and other Force-sensitives, a revelation that intrigued Leia. As night descended, the trio set out for the spaceport, but Kenobi sensed a disturbance in the Force as Darth Vader arrived with inquisitors and Imperial forces, terrorizing civilians and indiscriminately killing to lure Kenobi out. Kenobi instructed Tala to escort Leia to Alderaan while he diverted Vader's attention. As Durith and Leia proceeded to the spaceport, Leia convinced Durith to return and assist Kenobi, assuring her that she could reach the ship on her own. Durith reluctantly agreed, leaving Leia alone to proceed to the ship. However, as Leia approached the ship, she encountered the Third Sister, who had arrived earlier and eliminated the pilot. The inquisitor attempted to gain Leia's trust, but Leia, sensing danger, turned and fled, although the inquisitor eventually apprehended her and took her prisoner.

Prisoner of Fortress Inquisitorius

Leia was imprisoned within the confines of the Fortress Inquisitorius, situated on the oceanic moon of Nur. At one point, she boldly declared to her stormtrooper captors that she was the daughter of a senator and a Princess of Alderaan, implying that they lacked the authority to detain her. Subsequently, the Third Sister Reva entered the interrogation chamber, asserting that the Empire would not tolerate Jedi sympathizers. She also falsely claimed that Kenobi was deceased and that no one would come to rescue Leia. She then disclosed that the Inquisitors had intercepted a transmission on Balnab during the preceding year, which exposed a secret network known as the Path, and had later uncovered another safehouse in two systems. She solicited Leia's assistance in identifying other members of the Path. When Leia inquired about the circumstances of Kenobi's death, Reva falsely asserted that he had been burned to death on Mapuzo. She further claimed that the other members of the Path had abandoned Kenobi and then offered to allow Leia to return to her family if she revealed the location of the Path. Leia responded that she possessed no knowledge of the Path, prompting the Inquisitor to reiterate her demand.

Reva initiated a mind probe of Leia, who remained defiant, preventing Reva from penetrating her mind and extracting any information. While Reva's attention was diverted, Leia released L0-LA59 from her pocket, but Reva intercepted the droid before it could take any action. She revealed to Leia that she had possessed a droid in her youth, but it had been confiscated from her. Reva attempted to secure Leia's cooperation by asserting that those she was attempting to protect would not come to her aid and that she alone could spare herself from pain before reiterating her question. Leia feigned cooperation but requested Reva to guarantee that no one would be harmed and to allow her to speak with her father. With Leia unwilling to cooperate, Reva instructed the stormtrooper guards to prepare Leia for torture. Leia remained defiant and vowed not to disclose any information to her captors. The stormtroopers secured Leia into a torture harness while Leia cried out for assistance. Reva resolved to extract the information she believed Leia possessed through torture. As the machine activated, the Third Sister presented Leia with a final opportunity, but she refused to cooperate.

However, Kenobi had not actually perished on Mapuzo; he and Durith had journeyed to Jabiim and rendezvoused with the remaining members of the Path. Kenobi formulated a plan to rescue Leia and enlisted the assistance of the Path leader Kawlan Roken in executing it. Roken was hesitant but ultimately agreed and facilitated Durith's infiltration of the Fortress disguised as an Imperial Officer, who then enabled Kenobi to infiltrate the Fortress from beneath by opening it from within. As two needles approached Leia on the torture machine, Kenobi sensed her peril and instructed Durith to create a diversion. Durith dispatched an officer into the interrogation chamber claiming to have a message, successfully drawing the Third Sister away from Leia. Kenobi then extinguished the lights in the interrogation chamber, eliminated both stormtrooper sentries with his lightsaber, and liberated Leia from the torture harness. Leia expressed her relief that Kenobi was alive and assured him that she had not divulged any information to the Empire.

Leia and Kenobi were pursued by a seeker droid through the Fortress, coinciding with the activation of the Fortress's alarms. Kenobi neutralized the pursuing seeker droid and stormtroopers with his lightsaber in the fortress' corridors, enabling him and Leia to escape into a tunnel. As Reva, a Purge Trooper, and stormtrooper reinforcements converged on them, Kenobi deflected their blaster fire, sealing the blast door on their side of the tunnel. While Kenobi employed the Force to impede a fracturing window, Tala reunited with Leia. The Purge trooper and stormtroopers forced their way through the door, and Kenobi released the broken window, causing the tunnel to flood and allowing the trio to escape to the other side of the tunnel after sealing the blast door. The three reached the main hangar, Kenobi concealing Leia under an Imperial greatcoat he decided to wear.

However, before Leia, Tala, and Kenobi could escape, Reva and several Purge troopers and stormtroopers intercepted them, Reva signaling for the assembled Imperial soldiers to open fire. Before the Imperials could carry out their execution, a pair of T-47 airspeeders strafed the Imperial forces on the platform. Leia, Tala, and Kenobi capitalized on the ensuing chaos to flee. Path member Sully Stark landed her airspeeder and evacuated Leia, Tala, and Kenobi. During the journey back to Jabiim, Kenobi sat beside Leia, who extended her hand to her rescuer. However, Leia's droid Lola beeped and glowed red, indicating that the Third Sister had implanted a tracker within it.

Jabiim and escape

Upon their arrival on Jabiim, after being greeted by the relieved refugees, Leia and Kenobi encountered Haja Estree. Kenobi promptly dispatched Leia to Tala while he conferred with Roken regarding the princess's return to Alderaan. Roken explained that he would provide assistance to the best of his ability, but only after ensuring the safety of his people; they had already delayed their evacuation to rescue Leia. Kenobi concurred, promising that they would do everything within their power to assist.

However, as the group commenced preparations for liftoff, Lola, still influenced by the tracker, began to tamper with the spaceport's controls, effectively locking them in. Upon overhearing Roken and Kenobi discussing the impracticality of navigating the vents to locate the source of the problem due to their size, Leia volunteered her assistance. Roken initially dismissed her, but Kenobi persuaded him to grant her an opportunity to help, instructing Estree to supervise her.

As the Empire closed in on them, Leia worked to identify the source of the shutdown. Upon locating it, the corrupted Lola lunged at the startled princess, who swiftly caught the droid and removed the restraining bolt that had been affixed to and corrupted the droid. Subsequently, Leia promptly identified the source of the issue and rectified it, enabling the ship to escape.

Recognizing that Vader's personal animosity would overshadow military prudence, Kenobi resolved to divert the pursuing Imperials by departing from the freighter to attract Vader's attention. Although Organa expressed outrage that Kenobi was reneging on his promise to remain together, the Jedi requested Haja Estree to transport her to Alderaan so that he could confront Vader. Prior to Kenobi's departure, he met with her again to provide her with Tala's holster, but he withheld the blaster due to her young age, a detail that Organa promptly noticed. She also concealed her droid Lola within the Jedi Master's robe to provide him with comfort. Indeed, comforted upon discovering the droid after landing on a nearby barren moon, Kenobi then confronted Vader and drew upon his memories of Organa and her secret twin to triumph over his former apprentice, whom he left defeated before returning to Tatooine in time to witness the redemption of Reva.

Returning home

Simultaneously, Organa was returned to her home on Alderaan. Despite missing Lola, Organa dressed herself the following day and incorporated Tala's holster into her attire, which her mother promptly noticed but approved of. As she walked out to the landing pad, anticipating another family visit, she inquired of her father, who noticed her new outfit, whether they could reconsider their operational rules, to which Bail agreed. To her delight, it was Kenobi and Lola who then emerged onto the landing pad, returning Lola to Organa's care. After Leia suggested that the Jedi rest, Kenobi confided in the girl that he had known her birth parents and assured her that they had passed on their gifts to her. Requesting her to keep their friendship a secret to protect them both, Kenobi and Organa embraced and bid farewell.

The young Organa's adventure with Kenobi marked her initial encounter with the harsh realities of galactic life during the Imperial Era: while she had been led to believe that the Empire existed to safeguard the galaxy, she had witnessed the daily struggles of ordinary citizens, the problems stemming from piracy and corruption, and the profound level of inhumanity displayed by Imperial agents. Nevertheless, she had confronted these challenges with compassion and resolve.

Teenage years

Learning skills

Having been cautioned to avoid Wilhuff Tarkin by her father, the Grand Moff paid an official visit to Alderaan when she was thirteen. Leia stealthily trailed behind the two men along the palace corridors, eavesdropping on their tense, formal conversation. During this encounter, she realized that he was nothing more than a ruthless murderer and slaver.

Leia emulated her adoptive father's path into politics, becoming a junior legislator by the age of fourteen. On Leia's inaugural journey to Coruscant in 5 BBY, to serve as an aide to her father, she traveled with him aboard the royal yacht Polestar, where Bail identified landmarks, transforming legendary places into tangible realities for her. Despite her upbringing in palaces, Leia, like most others, was overwhelmed by the vibrancy and grandeur of Coruscant upon her first visit, and Bail chuckled at her wide-eyed wonder.

During her teenage years, Leia learned to shoot with a Drearian Defense Conglomerate Defender sporting blaster pistol, a weapon commonly used by aristocrats of her social standing. Upon turning sixteen, Leia was permitted to receive martial training with a personal instructor—deemed necessary by her family to acquire basic self-defense skills, given her royal status and the potential risk of abduction. She thoroughly enjoyed this training, which not only made her feel physically strong but also provided an outlet for the tension from her etiquette lessons. Thanks to her instructor, Leia learned to maintain a clear and focused mind in the present moment. She was also taught how to ride, even achieving the title of Alderaanian junior champion in steeplechase.

On one occasion, Leia was sparring against one of her family's servants outside the city, instead of attending language lessons, when her father collected her. During their journey, she voiced her disinterest in the political matters her mother had to address, at which point the Viceroy explained to her the significance of Alderaan and the responsibilities she would one day bear as its queen—to uphold the legacy of Alderaan's harmonious culture with pride, even at the expense of her personal desires. Bail also recounted tales of the Jedi, defenders of the old Republic; the young princess also overheard him discussing Darth Vader's powers.

Day of Demand

Before her daughter's Day of Demand, Breha engaged in a comprehensive discussion with Leia about love and duty, bringing the Rhindon Sword with her, which she placed on Leia's bed. Breha elucidated the significance of the Rhindon Sword, including how she would fasten it to Leia's waist on her wedding day, and reassured Leia that she would have the freedom to choose her own spouse when the time came.

Shortly after her sixteenth birthday and on the sixteenth anniversary of her original Name Day, it was Leia's Day of Demand, marking the day when the heir to the throne of House Organa would assert their claim to it, hosted within the palace throne room. Leia donned a white dress with a cape, a silver headband adorned with a pearl charm, and styled her hair in an intricate traditional manner. The outfit represented a compromise, featuring a simple white dress for Leia and striking silver jewelry for 2V. As she held the Rhindon Sword, Leia presented Bail and Breha with her challenges to test her body, heart, and mind and demonstrate her worthiness to become queen of Alderaan. Leia was to ascend Appenza Peak, represent Alderaan in the Apprentice Legislature, and undertake missions of charity and mercy to needy planets, covering all expenses from her share of the royal purse. Several senators were in attendance, including Mon Mothma of Chandrila. Upon the conclusion of the ceremony, Leia curtsied toward her parents, who beamed with pride before the guests began to surround them. Bail and Breha turned to greet the guests rather than congratulate Leia. Although Leia's distant cousin Lord Mellowyn of Birren complimented Leia, she remained disheartened, interpreting this as confirmation of her suspicions over the past six months—that her parents had become distant and were neglecting her.

Later that night, after 2V had departed Leia's room, concerned that her presence endangered the princess, Leia observed the thunderstorm outside, which she had recently discovered she enjoyed for its wildness, unpredictability, and even the distant danger. She cherished it because it was one of the few things that she hadn't yet shared with her parents and that belonged solely to her, from her window as she vowed to herself that the following day she would embark on her next challenge and prove herself, accomplishing something too significant for her parents to ignore.

Shortly after the Day of Demand ceremony, and three weeks before the next session of the Apprentice Legislature commenced, Leia embarked on her first mission, traveling to Wobani to assist the population still suffering from the repercussions of the Commodities Enhancement Program. Captain Raymus Antilles accompanied her aboard the CR90 corvette Tantive IV. After distributing supplies to the starving population, Leia resolved to transport as many refugees as possible back to Alderaan with them. She and Lieutenant Ress Batten conferred with Imperial Major Tedam, who informed her that she was prohibited from assisting the refugees. Undeterred, Leia hired approximately one hundred refugees and transported them back to Alderaan.

En route back to Alderaan, the Tantive IV traversed the Bryx sector. Leia observed the damaged [Calderos Station](/article/calderos_station], but before she could ascertain the identity of the attacker, TIE fighters ordered them to depart the sector. Unbeknownst to her, rebel forces operating on behalf of her father had attacked the outpost. Upon her return to Alderaan, Breha welcomed the refugees, accompanied by an entourage to assist them, but insisted that Leia return with her to the palace.

The two proceeded to the royal family's private library, where Breha reprimanded Leia for her actions on Wobani and for failing to inform her parents about them. Breha informed Leia that her actions had undermined the efforts of Bail, Mothma, and their allies in the senate to negotiate the relocation of the Wobani population. When Leia inquired about Calderos, she was cautioned to avoid dangerous locations.

Serving in the Apprentice Legislature and discovering a rebellion

Leia enrolled in the Chandrilan Pathfinding Corps class led by Chief Pangie to prepare for her ascent of Appenza Peak. Her classmates included fellow Apprentice Legislators Chassellon Stevis, Harp Allor, Sssamm Ashsssen, Amilyn Holdo, and Kier Domadi, who also represented Alderaan. The class was organized by her mother, ostensibly to enable Leia to better acquaint herself with her fellow Apprentice Legislators, but Leia suspected that it was to alleviate her guilt about not spending time with her. As the class had been organized by Alderaan's queen, the first lesson took place on Alderaan. Five hours later, the group arrived at a clearing where Pangie departed on her hoversled, informing them that she would dispatch assistance to anyone not back at the chalet by nightfall but that they would be expelled from the class. As the group attempted to return, Harp Allor slipped on ice and fractured her left ankle. This caused the group to split into two, with Leia among those who chose to remain with Harp, although Chassellon Stevis claimed that Leia only did so because her reputation would be tarnished if it were revealed that she had abandoned Harp. The remaining students bandaged Harp's ankle and constructed a travois to aid in her transportation. Holdo, with the assistance of Ashsssen, managed to fashion a toboggan out of a tent, enabling them to descend the mountain. The group was consuming mocoa at the chalet when Stevis' group arrived at sunset. The class would later practice on the Rivoche Ranges on the planet Eriadu before traveling to Coruscant to participate in government matters.

At the opening of the Apprentice Legislature, where Leia wore a high-collared purple dress, the guest speaker was the recently promoted Wilhuff Tarkin, who delivered a speech to the Apprentice Legislature, recounting the interest that then Senator Palpatine had taken in him when he was a student and emphasizing the importance of the Apprentice Legislature within the broader Empire. Although Leia privately disapproved of his views on the Apprentice Legislature, she still applauded along with the others as Tarkin stepped down from the dais.

Later, the Apprentice Legislature attended the reception celebrating Tarkin's promotion to Grand Moff, where Leia gravitated toward the individuals she had met in her pathfinding class. When Leia realized that Harp's sponsor, Winmey Lenz, was in attendance, she felt sadness at her father's absence. Tarkin greeted several of the Apprentice Legislators and was intrigued by Leia, noting her violation of Imperial regulations on Wobani, and speculated whether she would become a senator similar to her father.

At the first formal session of the Apprentice Legislature, Leia observed as the others introduced themselves and learned that Stevis had an interest in acquiring and restoring antique speeders, Holdo had an interest in astrology, and Domadi had participated in Clone Wars reenactments. Leia introduced herself as well, mentioning her status as princess, but struggled to think of something personal to add like everyone else had, so she simply stated that she enjoyed storms. Later, during a debate regarding the location of a new Imperial Academy, Leia successfully advocated for the planet Arreyel, asserting that it was the planet that would benefit most from it.

After establishing connections between hyperspace routes between Calderos Station and multiple nearby planets, and Arkanis, Leia attempted to uncover the means of the attack on Calderos by investigating the mining world of Crait. She and Batten journeyed to the planet in the Polestar. Upon their arrival, Leia was immediately detained by a group of apparent insurgents, but upon learning that she was the Princess of Alderaan, they escorted her to their campsite, where Leia discovered that Bail was operating a rebel base. Leia was shocked to learn that her father was running an underground rebel group and was responsible for the attack on Calderos Station. Bail was equally shocked that despite the erased data, his daughter had managed to track him. Bail and his personal diplomatic cruiser Tantive III escorted the Polestar home, and Leia erased the data at Bail's request. He and Breha, who also assisted in managing their operation, forbade Leia from discussing or becoming involved in their anti-Imperial efforts, believing that keeping her uninvolved was the best way to protect her.

Humanitarian missions and meeting Panaka

Leia, alongside Batten, furthered her efforts in humanitarian aid by journeying to Onoam, which is one of the moons of Naboo. As the Polestar remained in orbit, a sudden wave of emotion washed over Leia as she gazed upon Naboo. At the secondary royal palace, Leia had a meeting with Queen Dalné, who was pleased that Leia was going to attempt to resolve the large-scale strikes initiated by the local workers laboring in the Onoam mines. Leia then had a discussion with Brel Ti Vorne, a representative of the miners, and presented him with five hundred sets of provisions, each containing safety belts, atmosphere masks, portable force fields for air purification, and other safety equipment. Ti Vorne, however, informed Leia that they were unable to accept the gifts because their Imperial supervisors were confiscating the equipment and selling it for their own gain.

Leia, incensed by this revelation, made arrangements to meet with Moff Quarsh Panaka, who invited her and Queen Dalné to his chalet to deliberate on the matter over tea. After changing into the Naboo jubilation dress, typically worn for celebratory occasions and initial meetings with officials, they entered. Panaka greeted them, but upon seeing Leia, his eyes widened in shock, and the tea in his cup began to spill onto the floor. This dress had been previously worn by Amidala to commemorate Naboo's liberation from the Trade Federation. Panaka was struck by Leia's resemblance to the late Queen Padmé Amidala, with whom he had shared a close bond.

Panaka pledged to identify the responsible Imperial officials and then began to inquire about Leia's biological parents. When Leia revealed that she was almost exactly sixteen years old and had been adopted, knowing virtually nothing about her birth parents, Panaka came to the conclusion that she might be the Queen's daughter. Confused and somewhat uneasy with Panaka's inquiries, Leia departed shortly after with Dalné, but just a few steps outside the chalet, a massive explosion obliterated the office, resulting in Panaka's death and throwing Leia and Dalné to the ground. Leia observed a miner wearing a breathing mask fleeing the scene. Stormtroopers secured the area and provided treatment for Leia and Dalné's minor injuries.

Upon her return to Alderaan, Leia sought to determine if her parents were involved in Panaka's death, an accusation that greatly upset her father. However, Breha clarified that the bombing was the work of an extremist group known as the Partisans, led by an individual named Saw Gerrera. Breha also explained to Leia that Bail was hesitant to fully embrace large-scale rebellion due to his experiences during the Clone Wars.

Shortly thereafter, Leia embarked on another diplomatic mission to the afflicted world of Chal Hudda. As diseases devastated the swampy planet, Leia delivered vaccines to the suffering population. Initially, the Chalhuddan leader, Occo Quentto, declined the vaccines but eventually agreed to accept them after striking a deal with Leia, expressing a desire for assistance from equals rather than 'saviors.' He promised to grant Leia a favor in the near future.

The following day, upon returning to Coruscant, Leia learned of the fate of Arreyel, the planet she had advocated for as the location of the next Imperial Academy. Imperial engineers had discovered a source of radiation within the planet's mantle, and Emperor Palpatine had granted the population six weeks to evacuate without compensation, so the energy could be harnessed to power Imperial factories across the planet. Adding to Leia's frustration, the Apprentice Legislatures received a special commendation for recommending Arreyel. Several days later, Leia, for the first time in years, stealthily entered the passageways surrounding the palace's banquet hall, where she overheard her parents and their allies discussing Panaka's death and the potential for increased violence in their plans.

Leia, accompanied by the astromech droid R2-D2, then provided aid to the planet Chasmeene, which was enduring hardship as a result of being penalized for failing to meet Imperial quotas. They delivered food, seeds, and agricultural equipment to help revitalize the economy. Leia went further by gathering evidence to demonstrate the Empire's crimes against the people of Chasmeene.

Leia presented this information to Mon Mothma in her office, but Mothma explained that it had limited immediate impact, as much of the galaxy was already aware of the Empire's malevolence. However, Mothma reassured her that this type of evidence would be valuable once the Empire was defeated and encouraged her to remain attentive to the events unfolding around her.

First actions as a rebel

Leia would soon learn that her parents were establishing a fleet above the planet Paucris Major. Before accompanying him to Coruscant to serve as his senatorial aide, Bail made Leia swear an oath of secrecy. During her duties, she encountered Grand Moff Tarkin once again, who summoned her to his office. Tarkin feigned concern for her and boasted to Leia about Imperial security forces, specifically mentioning the Empire's efforts to establish peace in the Paucris System. Realizing that Tarkin was implying they had discovered rebel forces in the system, Leia urgently tried to alert her father. Unable to reach him, she contacted Breha and Mon Mothma. After informing them, Mothma instructed Leia to travel to Paucris Major and warn them of an impending attack. However, as the Polestar was on Alderaan, Mothma provided Leia with credits to charter a ship.

At the spaceport, Leia encountered Stevis and Holdo, who were attempting to hire the Mighty Oak Apocalypse to transport Stevis to a speeder auction on Arkanis and Holdo to Gatalenta for a meditative retreat. Holdo, aware of Leia's rebel affiliations, persuaded Stevis to remain behind and allowed Leia to hire the Mighty Oak Apocalypse for a journey to the planet Pamarthe. Leia explained her mission to Holdo, who recognized the importance of assisting her friend and joined her. However, upon arriving on Pamarthe, they discovered that a storm was preventing all ships from departing. Thinking quickly, Leia located a Chalhuddan ship. She instructed them to contact Occo Quentto, who ordered his men to transport them to Paucris Major, repaying his debt to her.

Upon reaching the Paucris System, Leia broadcast a message to the rebels, informing them that Tarkin had discovered their presence. The rebels initiated the evacuation of their base and activated self-destruct protocols on the orbital landers to eliminate all evidence. As the ships began to jump to hyperspace, Leia and Holdo were the only ones left to witness a concerned Domadi arriving in the system aboard a starcutter civilian transport. Tragically, he landed on the platform, unaware that it was about to self-destruct. He sustained fatal injuries when the platforms exploded. Leia piloted their ship to rescue him, but it was too late. He passed away in Leia's arms, urging her to surrender the information he had gathered on the rebellion to the Empire, prioritizing the needs of Alderaan above all else. Subsequently, an Imperial ship arrived, and Holdo pretended they were an astrological survey group, convincing the Imperials to let them leave. Domadi was returned to Alderaan, where his family was informed that he had died saving Leia from a small-craft accident in Alderaan's atmosphere. Leia pledged to assist her parents with their rebellion moving forward.

Shortly thereafter, Leia was formally invested as crown princess of Alderaan. The night before, Leia presented her keepsake chest to her father, signifying that she had outgrown its purpose. Mon Mothma, along with Batten, Holdo, and Stevis, attended the ceremony. Her father placed the Heir's Crown upon her head, and as she gazed at Alderaan through the stained-glass windows of the throne room, she reflected on how her friends, her parents, and her world were things that the Empire could never take away from her.

Relief mission to Lothal

In 3 BBY, Organa, while working as her father's aide in the Imperial Senate, conceived a plan to provide the rebels with three Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvettes, ostensibly by undertaking a relief mission to Lothal, where the rebels would purportedly steal the ships. She was greeted by Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, who were disguised as a stormtrooper and an Imperial cadet, respectively, as well as Lieutenant Yogar Lyste, who was aware that a large number of Organa's ships often ended up being "stolen" by rebel agents. Consequently, Lyste implemented stricter security measures against what he assumed was another "meddling delegation from Alderaan," which ultimately complicated her plan to transfer the cruisers to the rebels by placing gravity locks on the ships and ordering two AT-ATs to guard them.

Organa then requested the use of Lyste's shuttle and flew with Jarrus and Bridger to the former Governor Ryder Azadi's hideout. Upon arrival, they discovered that stormtroopers had apprehended Ryder. The Ghost appeared and opened fire, and Jarrus, Bridger, and Organa pretended to be taken hostage by Ryder and the crew. On board, Organa connected with Bridger after learning that he had recently lost his parents, reassuring him that the rebellion was worth fighting for. They then resolved to find a way to steal the corvettes.

Still disguised, Jarrus and Bridger used the Phantom to escort Organa back to the depot, distracting a surprised Lyste while Ryder, Sabine Wren, and C1-10P disabled the gravity locks and commandeered the ships. During the ensuing firefight, she witnessed Jarrus using his lightsaber to take down an AT-AT, and Bridger using telekinesis to disarm a pair of stormtroopers, which provided her with the opportunity to seize one of the rifles and use it against the troopers. When Bridger boarded the last corvette, she instructed him to make it appear as though they were struggling and to stun her. When Lyste came to her aid, she reprimanded him for his failure and requested a shuttle home, taunting Lyste for having lost his own.

Following her mission to Lothal, Organa sent a classified communique to Mon Mothma, agreeing with General Jan Dodonna's assessment that the nascent Alliance to Restore the Republic's strongest starfighter assets would be the X-wing starfighters, A-wings, UT-60D U-wing starfighter/support crafts, and A/SF-01 B-wing starfighters. She then informed Mothma of a potential manufacturer that would enable them to produce X-wings in secret, asserting that it would not be sufficient to simply steal ships for the Rebel Alliance Navy.

Bounty of trouble

Some time after the mission on Lothal, Organa was being escorted by a pair of stormtroopers in Garel City on the planet Garel. As the group walked past a doorway, the Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren diverted the troopers' attention with a yellow paint bomb and abducted the princess using a lasso. Wren closed the gate before the stormtroopers could react. Inside the gate, Sabine introduced herself to Leia and explained that she had been sent to "capture" her and retrieve a data tape of significant value to the rebellion. Organa informed Wren that she had concealed the data tape from the Empire to prevent the government from discovering her collaboration with the rebellion.

Meanwhile, the stormtroopers were employing an arc welder to breach the door. With their time running short, Organa and Wren retrieved the data tape from an interface unit, with Leia explaining to Sabine that the tape contained the locations of several Imperial bases, which would be valuable to the rebellion. Before they could escape, the droid bounty hunter IG-88 confronted them with a blaster. Wren detonated a second paint bomb, disorienting the bounty hunter. The duo returned to the blaster, with Wren hiding in a corner away from the stormtroopers. When the troopers managed to break through the door, Organa instructed them to defend her from IG-88. While the troopers and the droid bounty hunter exchanged fire, Leia and Sabine slipped outside. Organa handed Wren the data tape. Sabine thanked Leia before the princess returned to the building, expressing her hope that they could fight together in the future.

Imperial senator

Leia eventually succeeded her father in the Imperial Senate, becoming the youngest senator ever elected. Her aunts voiced their objections, suggesting she would be better off finding a suitable prince to marry, while the press dismissed her as a "princess playing dress-up" and not a genuine diplomat or politician. In the days leading up to her election, Leia compiled a list of her grievances, intending to address the Emperor directly and bluntly. However, when her father presented her to Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant along with all the other newly elected officials, she was overwhelmed by his disturbing aura of evil, rendering her speechless and causing her to drop into a half-curtsy. At some point, Organa encountered the Emperor's apprentice and enforcer, Darth Vader (neither aware of their biological connection as father and daughter), and interacted with him. During her early days in the Senate, Organa learned that betrayal often came from those who appeared to be the most friendly.

Despite her sincere desire for genuine change and reform, Organa soon realized that none of the other senators seemed to share her ideals. The Senate had become a mere ceremonial institution that obsequiously validated Palpatine's every decree, and no delegate ever dared to test the Emperor's patience. Unable to comprehend how the other senators could ignore the Empire's crimes in the Outer Rim Territories, Organa dedicated herself to assisting the suffering across the galaxy. On one occasion, she rescued an orphaned baby Wookiee from the ruins of a village destroyed by Imperial forces. Yet, to her dismay, the first question she was asked was about her attire, and the media continued to reduce her to the label of princess, disregarding her humanitarian work.

Over time, Leia's leadership and diplomatic skills garnered public attention and support, to the point where any hint of mistreatment would "set the HoloNet on fire." During her tenure as an Imperial senator, Organa had to interact with the Givin, a species with a proclivity for mathematics. She memorized a few equations that proved useful when dealing with the Givin and their custom of greeting maths. At some point, she advocated for a bill that would strengthen the labor rights of refugees, protecting them from exploitation. The bill was passed, costing the chief operating officer of one of Coruscant's largest manufacturing plants billions, which ultimately led to the COO placing a bounty on Organa and fellow bill supporter Mon Mothma.

Eventually, Leia joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic, viewing it as an opportunity to help the galaxy, shortly before her mission to Tatooine. Weeks before the mission, Organa attended a reception and ball at the Imperial Palace, as did many other members of the Imperial Senate. This occurred just a few days after she delivered a speech in the Senate advocating for increased Alderaanian mercy missions to outlying systems that the Empire had neglected or forgotten. Despite her popularity, her speech received mixed reactions, as many in the Core Worlds believed that the Empire was already providing adequate aid and that Alderaan's "meddling" was becoming excessive. During the ball, Organa danced with Imperial cadet Thane Kyrell; however, he noticed that she was not paying much attention to him, likely because she was preoccupied and had a lot on her mind.

Galactic Civil War

A diplomatic mission

During the Galactic Civil War, after the Alliance's headquarters were relocated from Dantooine to Yavin 4, and following a battle to obtain the technical readout of the Death Star, Organa volunteered for the mission to transport the plans, against her father's wishes. He reluctantly permitted her to go but requested that she seek out General Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine after intercepting the plans.

Originally, Admiral Raddus was intended to escort Organa to Tatooine to meet with Kenobi. However, Raddus's ship, the Profundity, was diverted to Scarif once the fighting commenced. A squadron of Rebels identifying themselves as "Rogue One" successfully obtained the plans and transmitted them to Raddus' ship. The plans were copied onto a datacard by a squadron of Rebel soldiers still aboard the Profundity, which had been disabled by the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Devastator. Darth Vader led a boarding party onto the ship and massacred the entire squadron, but not before a fleet trooper handed the disc to another man, Toshma Jefkin. He narrowly escaped Vader and boarded the Tantive IV, which promptly detached from the Profundity and fled the battle, setting a course for Tatooine with the plans for the superweapon. Vader, however, had spotted the Rebel ship and began tracking it to Tatooine, later issuing an arrest-on-sight order for Organa's capture.

Before jumping to lightspeed, Captain Antilles personally handed Senator Organa the datacard containing the plans and inquired about the Rogue One squad's message. Smiling, she responded with a single, enigmatic word: "hope." Minutes later, Leia learned from the ship's senior officers that the Tantive IV's impaired hyperdrive was leaving a residual energy signature that could allow the Empire to track the ship. To compound matters, she also learned that the ship's weapons and shields were barely functional due to the attack on the Profundity, which had affected the Tantive IV. The bosun then informed Leia that the Empire had issued a priority red directive to intercept all ships matching the description of a CR-90 corvette.

The crew of the Tantive looked to the princess for guidance, believing she could lead them out of their predicament. After a brief exchange with Jefkin, a man visibly traumatized by what he had witnessed aboard the Profundity, Organa and Captain Antilles grimly realized that Darth Vader himself was pursuing them. At a quarter of a parsec from their destination, the motivator on the ship finally failed, forcing them to rely on sublight speed for the remainder of their journey to Tatooine. Before they could reach the planet, however, their ship was struck by a Star Destroyer.

Captured by the Empire

As Organa and her ship approached Tatooine, Captain Antilles ordered the crew to return fire at the Star Destroyer, but their efforts were futile. The Devastator, the ship that had pursued them from Scarif, had caught them in a tractor beam directly above the planet. As stormtroopers led by Darth Vader boarded the Tantive IV, Organa raced through the ship's access hallways with the datacard in hand, desperate to find a way to deliver it to safety. Amid the shadowy corridors, she encountered R2-D2 and realized that the astromech could conceal the tapes.

Before she could give instructions to the droid about what she intended to do, Antilles approached her with an urgent plea: the senator needed to get away in an escape pod. Organa's plans were different, however. After a poignant farewell to her longtime friend, she instructed the captain to prioritize saving as many crew members as possible. Left alone with R2, she recorded a message for General Kenobi, imploring him to emerge from his exile and deliver the stolen plans to her father on Alderaan. Once the recording was complete, the princess inserted the data card into the astromech droid, telling him to take an escape pod and head to Tatooine. Then, she and R2 parted ways as the protocol droid C-3PO, his counterpart, came into view. Organa watched the droids hurry away, then drew her blaster and prepared to find her own exit from the captured ship.

Meanwhile, Vader captured and killed Antilles elsewhere on the ship, then ordered his troops to find Organa, capture her alive, and bring her to him so he could extract information. Retreating into the access corridors, the princess found herself trapped by a squad of stormtroopers led by TK-9091, who noticed the pale white of Organa's dress in the dimly lit hallway. Hoping to buy R2 some time to escape, the senator shot the trooper and tried to flee in the opposite direction, but TK-4601 fired a stun blast that rendered her unconscious, and she collapsed to the floor. As she lay there, the trooper, whose real name was Tarvyn Lareka, wondered how someone as beautiful as the princess could kill his Imperial comrades in cold blood. As Organa began to regain consciousness, she resisted the stormtroopers, but Lareka forced stuncuffs onto her and threatened to stun her again. Before she was taken to Vader, Lareka took off his helmet and looked Organa in the eye, reminding her that the troopers she fought were real people. This act also reminded Lareka of this fact as well.

The other soldiers pushed her back through the main corridors, past the dead bodies of the rebels who had died defending her, including Antilles. She was brought before Vader, who had seen the Tantive's escape from Scarif. Despite this, Organa defiantly pretended to know nothing about the Sith Lord's accusations, denying any involvement in the theft of the plans. Angered by the senator's defiance, Vader ordered her taken aboard the Devastator and instructed his subordinate, Daine Jir, to tell the Senate that Organa and the other passengers had died mysteriously.

Once on the Star Destroyer, Leia managed to overpower her stormtrooper guards and headed for a hangar, hoping to steal a shuttle and escape to Tatooine. But Vader had anticipated her actions and met her in the landing bay. After stunning the princess by telling her that the Imperial Senate had been dissolved, the Sith Lord took her to the ship's command bridge. As the Destroyer came out of hyperspace, Organa saw the Death Star in person for the first time as Vader promised that she would be its first "guest." Organa's presence on the Death Star was kept secret from everyone except those who needed to know.

Princess in Captivity

The captive princess was taken to the Death Star and escorted to Detention Block AA-23. Officers who recognized her as an Imperial Senator questioned her imprisonment, since that position should have granted her diplomatic immunity. Nevertheless, Organa was locked in Cell 2187, a small room from which she tried unsuccessfully to escape. Although he lacked concrete proof that the princess was involved with the Rebel Alliance, Vader was certain she was lying and returned to her cell with an IT-O Interrogation Unit, an interrogator droid equipped with a powerful mind probe. Organa was subjected to the droid's truth serum, a drug that painfully distorted her senses to force her to reveal the location of the Rebel base. Despite the persuasive hallucinations caused by the serum, Leia resisted and refused to give up the information.

After her interrogation, the man she had met years before, Grand Moff Tarkin, scheduled her execution, but the governor had one more way to make her talk: Alderaan. Organa was brought before Tarkin in the overbridge of the Death Star, where she mocked him by imitating his accent. To her horror, he gave her an ultimatum, threatening to destroy her homeworld with the station unless she revealed the base's location. Hoping to save both her people and her Alliance, the princess falsely claimed that the base was still on Dantooine. Tarkin and Vader both believed her lie, although one of the Navy Troopers on the bridge sensed that Organa was lying. However, that individual chose not to speak up, sympathizing with the pain the princess had endured under the interrogator droid.

With the weapon already positioned within the Alderaan system, Tarkin revealed his own deception and fired on the planet. Leia prayed that the Death Star would somehow fail, but Vader forced her to watch as her entire civilization was annihilated in a single blast, including her father—to whom she silently apologized as the Death Star's ray hit Alderaan—and mother. Bail and Breha died without knowing Leia was on the station above them, although they assured each other she was alive right before the explosion reached their palace.

After Admiral Conan Antonio Motti confirmed that the entire world had been destroyed, Tarkin ignored Organa's protests and ordered her taken back to her cell. Escorted by stormtroopers, Navy troopers, and Vader himself, Organa left the room silently but felt emotionally devastated and completely alone. The princess was returned to her cell to await her imminent execution. Remembering her father's voice, Leia mustered what strength she could, her only hope for justice resting in the memory banks of a droid she had sent to Tatooine.

A Fateful Encounter and a Daring Escape

While Organa was imprisoned by the Empire, her twin brother, Luke Skywalker, came into possession of the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO on Tatooine. Skywalker, who was equally unaware of his parentage, discovered his sister's message and delivered the astromech to Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was now going by the name "Ben." The group hired the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan on the Millennium Falcon, but they were shocked to find that the planet had been destroyed. During this discovery, the Empire captured the Falcon and brought it aboard the Death Star, forcing the fugitives to infiltrate the base, split up, and plan their escape. However, after learning that the princess was being held on the station, Skywalker convinced the others to launch a rescue mission to save her.

Disguising themselves as stormtroopers and pretending to hold Chewbacca as their prisoner, Skywalker and Solo entered the Detention Level and freed Organa. She was unimpressed by the duo's efforts until she learned that Kenobi had joined them. Cut off from the cell bay's exit by Imperial soldiers, Leia took charge. She grabbed Skywalker's blaster rifle and shot out the cover of a trash chute she had noticed when she was first brought aboard, leading her would-be rescuers down into a garbage pit. After surviving an encounter with a dianoga and narrowly avoiding being crushed by the trash compactor, Organa clashed with Captain Solo's abrasive personality and told the trio that they would do as she said in the future. The rebels were almost able to regroup aboard the Falcon—a ship that failed to impress the princess—when Leia and Luke were separated from the group by stormtroopers during their escape.

Pursued by Vader's troops, the twins found themselves trapped at a dead end, standing over a chasm within the battle station. With stormtroopers firing at them and no way to extend the bridge, Leia kissed Luke on the cheek for luck as he used a grappling hook to swing them across the gap. The two reunited with Solo and Chewbacca and headed for the Falcon. As the group boarded the freighter, Kenobi engaged Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel and sacrificed his life to allow the princess and the others to escape.

Luke was devastated by the old Jedi's death, prompting Leia—who had also experienced terrible loss—to comfort him as Solo piloted the ship away from the Death Star. After fighting off the station's sentry fighters, the ship jumped to hyperspace, mostly undamaged. Organa correctly guessed that the Empire had planted a homing beacon on the vessel to find the rebel base. Nevertheless, the group continued to Yavin 4, finally delivering the Death Star plans within R2 to the Alliance.

The Battle of Yavin

Upon arriving at the Yavin moon, Organa oversaw R2's transfer to General Vanden Willard at the Great Temple, the Alliance's base of operations. While Willard quickly expressed his sympathy for the tragedy on Alderaan, Organa wasted no time and quickly arranged for the data within the astromech droid to be analyzed. Using the beacon attached to the Millennium Falcon, the Death Star entered the Yavin system and began preparing to fire on the moon. Rumors spread among the Rebel flight crews that Organa had returned with vital intelligence on the station, but morale remained low. Pilots like Dex Tiree felt that the Rebellion's small forces were no match for the Empire, even with the plans the princess had secured. Short on personnel, Organa praised Skywalker's skills, prompting Willard to arrange a flight simulator test for the farm boy and allowing him to join the Alliance's Starfighter Corps.

After analyzing R2's schematics, the Alliance discovered a flaw in the Death Star's design that the turncoat scientist Galen Erso had deliberately created. General Jan Dodonna briefed Organa and the rest of the Rebellion, explaining that a direct hit on one of the station's thermal exhaust ports would destroy the entire base. With this information, the rebel pilots prepared to attack the Death Star in X-wing starfighters, small snub-fighters that could evade the station's larger defenses. During the preparations, Organa arranged for Solo to be paid the reward he demanded for her rescue and allowed the smuggler to leave, despite Skywalker's protests. Organa remained in the Alliance's command center as Red, Gold, and Green Squadrons engaged the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin.

Organa watched as TIE fighters picked off the Alliance pilots one by one. Darth Vader himself would have destroyed Skywalker if Solo hadn't returned to help the Rebellion aboard the Falcon and blasted Vader's fighter away from the battle. With no obstacles in his way, Skywalker successfully destroyed the Death Star just as it began its firing sequence, sending the personnel on Yavin 4 into celebration. In the moments after their victory, Alliance chief mechanic Nera Kase saw the princess mouth words up to the sky before rushing out to greet the returning pilots.

The Aftermath of the Disaster

After the surviving Rebel pilots returned from successfully reducing the Empire's greatest weapon to dust orbiting Yavin, the personnel of the Yavin 4 base honored the heroes with an award ceremony. As Organa waited for them to enter the hall, she felt completely alone, even with other Alderaanians present who shared her loss. With Alderaan destroyed and her parents gone, she would never become the queen they had prepared her to be. She was ready for a long war, since ruling a planet and running a rebellion had much in common. She would not let her grief stop her, and she would celebrate their victory. When she saw the Heroes of the Rebellion enter the hall, she no longer felt so alone. Organa, wearing an Alderaanian gown, presented the medals to newcomers Skywalker and Solo.

The time for celebration would soon end. Painfully aware of the loss of Alderaan, she asked the Rebels to observe a moment of silence to honor and remember those who had died when her homeworld was destroyed. It was brief, because Dodonna announced their need to evacuate Yavin 4, since the Empire now knew their location. Organa then exchanged banter with Solo and shared a moment of connection with Skywalker before they parted ways. Left alone, Organa noticed a lone female pilot paying respects to the memorial statue of her parents, Bail and Breha.

Hunted By the Empire

Afterwards, Organa changed into less formal attire and asked Admiral Gial Ackbar to arrange a meeting with Dodonna. The Mon Calamari directed her, and she approached Dodonna, who was busy searching for a location for the new Rebel base. She told him that she wanted to help scout for a new base location, but the General disagreed, saying that the best thing for her to do was to grieve her recent loss. Given that the Empire had placed a 10,000,000 credit bounty on her just hours before, he said the Princess would not leave Yavin "under anything less than a full military escort" and dismissed her.

Defeated, she left and briefly ran into Ackbar again, but they quickly parted ways. She continued to assist in the evacuation, but then she received word from Lieutenant Caluan Ematt, leader of the Shrikes—who was alone after the death of his team and on the run from the [Imperial Security Bureau](/article/imperial_security_bureau]. Organa then asked Solo to run an errand for the Rebellion and rescue Ematt from Cyrkon. Solo accepted the mission, and he and Chewbacca rescued Ematt with the Falcon.

Organa then focused on the evacuation effort once again, when she met the Rebel pilot from earlier, Evaan Verlaine, who revealed that the Empire was rumored to be hunting all surviving Alderaanians throughout the galaxy. Now aware of her people's situation, she enlisted Verlaine and R2-D2's help for a self-imposed mission to save the survivors of Alderaan. With the astromech, she recorded a decoy hologram of herself and sent it to Dodonna's quarters during the night to apologize for disobeying his orders. Meanwhile, the trio escaped from Yavin on a T-1 shuttle, but as they left, their shuttle was pursued by Skywalker and Wedge Antilles in their X-wing starfighters.

Verlaine outmaneuvered them and jumped to Naboo, landing in its capital, Theed. Posing as Imperial auditors, they came across a mural of the late Padmé Amidala (who, unbeknownst to her, was her biological mother), and Organa briefly saw the image's head turn to look at her, which she dismissed as an illusion. They were soon approached by Lord Junn, an old friend, who invited them to his villa. Organa asked Junn to arrange a meeting with Mul Sanaka, the owner of Club Deeja in Keren and employer of the Melodic Order—the cloister of Alderaanian musicians they were looking for. When he did, Organa, Verlaine, and R2-D2 went to the club and met Sanaka, with whom they tried to negotiate for the Alderaanians.

However, Sanaka and his Besalisk guards tried to capture them, already knowing her identity. As Organa and her companions resisted, Sanaka tried to kill her, but Uwa Pareece, the Melodic Order's leader, who had been discreetly following the princess, intervened. Organa then had her lead them to the Order, whom she invited to join her on her mission. Once they agreed, Organa returned to Junn's palace and made him explain why he had betrayed them to Sanaka. Finally, Organa demanded a luxury yacht large enough to relocate the Melodic Order, and he agreed to give her the Lord Junn. Soon after, the gathered Alderaanians left for Sullust in the Outer Rim.

Alderaan's Continued Existence

The two starships soon arrived in the Sullust system, where Organa, Verlaine, and R2-D2 encountered the Sullustan Tivvy, who led them to the Alderaan Enclave. During the journey, an Alderaanian rifle squad tried to apprehend them, but Organa and her companions quickly disarmed them and requested to see their leader, Preserver Jora Astane, who refused to submit to Organa's authority. She suspected Organa of being a traitor, especially after replaying one of her ships' transmissions: Tace's innocent disclosure of their location to her sister, Tula, an Imperial under the watchful eye of Commander Dreed.

Learning that Dreed's Imperial cruiser had entered Sullust's orbit, Astane ordered her men to kill Organa and Verlaine, forcing the two to escape into a polluted waterway beneath the Eyewell. From there, they herded rockrenders to attack stormtroopers in the battle against the Alderaanians in the Enclave above. Once the skirmish was over and the Imperials had been defeated, Astane finally accepted Organa as their sovereign.

At her request, Nien Nunb successfully led the Alderaanian survivors off Sullust, and Organa awarded him chalcedony waves from her late mother, only for Astane and Covis to bring Tace before her. Organa discussed the problem with Tace over tea. Knowing she was innocent, Organa decided to draw her sister out. She then appointed Pareece and Astane to negotiate with the Alderaanians living in Espirion and had Tace ask Tula about her location. The plan backfired when Dreed threatened to kill Tula because of the inquiry, prompting Organa to trade herself for Tula on Skaradosh, where she met Dreed as she placed herself back in Imperial custody. A group of her followers, including Verlaine and Nunb, attacked the Imperials before she could board Dreed's shuttle. On his Mellcrawler, Nunb smuggled them out of the system, outrunning Dreed's Star Destroyer on its way to destroy the Alderaanians on Espirion.

Even though she was taken aback by the sight of numerous starships filled with Alderaanian survivors, who had received her message, orbiting Espirion, Organa instructed the fleet to prepare for battle. She also observed the reunion of Tace and Tula before meeting with Pareece and Astane to discuss their failed mission on the planet below. Organa was angered by this, as she had hoped for Espirion's military assistance against the approaching Star Destroyer. However, after Verlaine's encouraging words, Organa delivered an inspiring message to her fleet, which R2-D2 then retransmitted to the Alderaanians on the planet, prompting Beon Beonel to dispatch the Espirion Multi to destroy Dreed's cruiser.

Following a celebration among the surviving Alderaanians, Organa informed Verlaine of her intention to rejoin the Alliance, as she had never intended to abandon it permanently, knowing that their people would never be safe under the Emperor's rule. Verlaine suggested that they needed their princess, but Organa proposed that they elect one, appointing Verlaine as her potential successor. Ultimately, Organa and R2-D2 made their way back to Yavin 4, where she was reunited with Skywalker, Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO.

Mission to Tibrin

Organa and Skywalker embarked on a mission to Tibrin alongside Jaahn Liddle and Tadd. By impersonating diplomats from Naboo's House Berenko, they gained permission to land in Tibrin's capital. They were greeted by Mariod Govi, and they commenced discussions regarding a possible alliance between the Ishi Tib and the Rebel Alliance. Suddenly, a squadron of stormtroopers launched an attack, and the Rebels fought to defend themselves against the Imperials. Skywalker was incapacitated by a grenade, and Organa fell from a platform, managing to grasp the ledge. Helplessly, Organa watched as the stormtroopers dragged Skywalker onto their shuttle and departed.

Disguised as an Imperial officer transferred from the Malevolence to the Stormbringer, Organa infiltrated the ship holding Skywalker captive. Using an explosion in the hangar as a distraction, she acquired a stormtrooper's clearance card and used it to locate Skywalker's cell. She then navigated through ventilation shafts to reach Skywalker's location. Just as he was about to be tortured, Organa appeared and stunned the Imperials guarding him. During their escape, they found themselves with no immediate escape route due to the overwhelming Imperial presence. Skywalker urged Organa to trust him, and together they entered an escape pod, launching it towards Tibrin. As the Stormbringer prepared to fire on the pod, Marsheem-class heavy cruisers emerged from Tibrin's moon and attacked the Stormbringer, completely destroying it. Later, they bid farewell to the Ishi Tib, expressing their gratitude for their assistance.

Aboard the Promise

While the Alliance Fleet was concealed in the Sujimis sector above Orto Plutonia, Organa, along with C-3PO, assisted in coordinating the Rebel efforts with the rest of the Alliance High Command. During her time on the Redemption, Organa suggested to Ackbar and Chancellor Mon Mothma that they dispatch someone to unlock a hidden supply of weapons for the Alliance with the Chekkoo clan of Rodia, a mission for which Skywalker volunteered.

Upon his return from Rodia, Organa and Ackbar met with Skywalker immediately after he landed the Desert Jewel on the Promise to discuss his encounter over Llanic, during which he had rescued a Kupohan ship from an Imperial attack. Despite his apology, Organa affirmed that he had done the right thing, as the ship carried crucial intelligence about a Givin cryptologist from Denon, Drusil Bephorin, who was willing to assist the Alliance if the Rebels could safely transport her and her family to Omereth. Organa and Ackbar assigned Skywalker, Nakari Kelen, and the Desert Jewel to the mission, but Organa cautioned Skywalker against blindly trusting Kelen. After their return from an errand for Kelen's father and the Jewel's modifications, Organa and Ackbar further debriefed Skywalker and Kelen, specifically instructing them to greet Bephorin with mathematical concepts to gain her trust.

The Dragon Void Run

Some time after the establishment of the outpost on Reamma, Organa dispatched rebel operatives Adame and Selentia to find Solo and Chewbacca with a specific mission in mind for the smugglers. Leia sent a holographic message to Solo, informing him that the Alliance needed his ship and that a reward would be provided.

Rejecting the proposal, Han confronted Leia on a rebel frigate. They argued about her desire to use his ship. As their argument continued while they walked through a hallway, General Airen Cracken, the head of Security and Intelligence for the Rebel Alliance, intercepted them. Cracken expressed his doubts about Solo and the mission in general. However, Organa vouched for him, even suggesting that the general could undertake the mission himself. Despite Cracken's hesitation, he agreed with Leia. They briefed Solo on the mission, which involved locating rebel informants, identifying a mole within the ranks, and preventing their assassinations. They told him about the legendary Dragon Void Run, a perilous race that traveled to three planets, each harboring a rebel informant. Due to the race's legendary status, Solo accepted the mission. To make his departure believable, Leia punched Han in the face, telling him never to return. Solo and his co-pilot departed the Alliance frigate and headed to the race.

Upon Solo and Chewbacca's arrival on the first planet, Solo was promptly arrested by Imperial authorities. Organa and Cracken observed this on a viewscreen. Although Cracken believed the mission was compromised, Leia called Han a "survivor," confident that he would overcome the situation. Chewbacca, meanwhile, located the first informant, a Duros named Bot. However, Solo was released by the Imperials, and the race resumed.

Solo and Chewbacca continued the race and encountered another informant, Dorae, on the second planet. After reaching the third planet, the duo found the final informant, an Elomin named Aran, and his bodyguard, a Falleen named U'Il. As they departed the third planet, everyone except the Elomin made their way to the cockpit. While Solo continued to race, the group discovered Aran had been murdered. Through deduction, Han concluded that Bot had committed the crime under the influence of brainwashing. The Duros was subdued, and the race concluded. Solo and Chewbacca brought the remaining informants back to the Alliance. It was revealed that the bodyguard, U'Il, was the informant carrying a master list containing names that the rebellion needed to protect. She handed the list to Organa. She and Solo discussed his extended stay with the rebellion beyond his initial expectations.

Attack on Cymoon 1

Alongside Skywalker, Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO, Organa spearheaded a mission to the Imperial factory world of Cymoon 1, with the objective of infiltrating and destroying Weapons Factory Alpha. After capturing a shuttle carrying an emissary of Jabba the Hutt, who was sent to negotiate with the Empire regarding the shipment of raw materials from Hutt-controlled space to Imperial facilities, Organa and Skywalker disguised themselves as bodyguards to escort Solo (who would pose as the envoy) and R2-D2 into the factory. Upon being greeted by Overseer Aggadeen, they entered the facility, only to reveal their true identities as rebels and incapacitate Aggadeen's stormtroopers. The Overseer revealed the location of the power core's before Organa knocked him unconscious.

Once the four reached the central power station, Organa, Solo, and R2-D2 prepared the power core for destruction. While awaiting Skywalker's return, Organa expressed her gratitude to the Corellian smuggler for taking such a risk for the Alliance, but also questioned Solo's underlying motives for doing so. Their conversation was interrupted by Skywalker's arrival with Imperial slaves. Although Organa was uncertain about Skywalker's decision and his determination to help the slaves escape with them, Solo accepted it and urged them to evacuate the facility as quickly as possible.

When Chewbacca alerted them to Vader's arrival, Organa instructed the Wookiee to eliminate the Dark Lord of the Sith, even if it meant sacrificing themselves, blaming him for the destruction of Alderaan. However, Vader sensed the danger and shielded himself from Chewbacca's shot, alerting the entire moon to their presence. Completely surrounded and having lost contact with Chewbacca, they stumbled upon a hangar, and, despite Organa noticing Skywalker's absence, she and Solo acquired an All Terrain Armored Transport walker for themselves, just as Skywalker engaged Vader in combat.

Organa, Solo, R2-D2, and several slaves boarded the AT-AT. Solo piloted it through the factory before nearly crushing Skywalker and Vader by stepping on a subterranean corridor. When Solo almost stepped on a Twi'lek slave, Organa reprimanded him, but he claimed that he only wanted to get them out of there, while R2-D2 and a pair of Jawas worked to make its cannons operational. Although the Sith Lord nearly tore the walker apart with the Force, the astromech droid informed them that the cannons were ready, and Organa pressed the button to fire. They not only temporarily incapacitated Vader, but also blasted their way out of the facility.

Once outside, their walker was met with even more blaster fire. Organa then realized that the Imperials had stopped the reactor's meltdown, and Vader caught up with them, destroying the walker's legs with his lightsaber, causing it to topple over. From the wreckage, Organa carried Solo and led the slaves to safety, when Skywalker met her and declared that he would complete their mission. Disregarding Organa's orders, Skywalker used his stolen speeder bike to destroy the power core. Soon enough, they reached the Millennium Falcon and barely escaped with their lives. On the ship, she thanked Skywalker for completing the mission, attempting to encourage him, but his morale was at an all-time low. Before long, the Falcon rendezvoused with the Rebel fleet.

An estranged wife

Organa convened with the rest of the Alliance High Command and voiced her desire to continue the offensive against the Empire. However, Ackbar and Mothma dissuaded Organa from her course of action, believing that she was overworking her team. The princess then met with Skywalker, who requested permission to go to Tatooine with R2-D2 in search of Kenobi's home. Later, Solo inquired about obtaining several parts needed to repair his ship, but Organa told him that he needed to earn what he wanted, offering him a mission to be her co-pilot while they scouted for potential locations for the new Alliance base. Aboard a stolen Lambda-class shuttle, the Invictus, they encountered a pair of TIE fighters, and Solo piloted the Invictus to an unnamed planet near the Monsua Nebula.

Upon landing, Organa followed Solo to one of his smuggling hideouts, where he offered the princess some Corellian wine to celebrate their survival. Organa, however, misinterpreted his gesture and refused to drink the wine, abruptly leaving the hideout. As Solo followed, claiming he would rather seduce a gundark, the Volt Cobra arrived; Sana Starros disembarked and revealed herself to be Solo's estranged wife, much to Organa's shock. Although Solo attempted to explain, Starros recognized Organa (and the bounty on her head) and had the Invictus destroyed using her ship's voice-activated weaponry.

Holding them at gunpoint, Starros contacted the Star Destroyer above them to negotiate Organa's bounty, while Solo tried to persuade her to let them go. However, Organa had other plans. Pushing Solo against Starros, catching her off guard, she drew a concealed EC-17 blaster from her clothes and aimed it at both "Solos." With TIE fighters and TIE/sa bombers already overhead, and Imperial pilots closing in to arrest her, Organa resisted, while Solo confessed that he was also a Rebel (and therefore, subject to capture), prompting Starros to take the two to her ship to escape the planet. While in hyperspace, Organa contacted the Alliance and was informed of Skywalker's captivity on Nar Shaddaa. She convinced Starros to transport them to the moon by agreeing to allow her to retrieve her "husband" once they reached the "Smuggler's Moon." Solo disapproved of the deal and confronted Organa about it, but she refused to listen to his explanation.

Upon arriving at Nar Shaddaa, they located C-3PO and Chewbacca, who were engaged in a fight with the bounty hunter Dengar after refusing to reveal Solo's location. Overwhelmed by Organa and Solo, Dengar was defeated when Chewbacca threw him off the roof. They then continued with their original mission: to rescue Skywalker from Grakkus the Hutt. Organa, Solo, Chewbacca, and Starros made their way to Grakkus' palace arena and realized that their blasters had been disabled by an EMP charge, Imperials were swarming the area, and a beast was causing chaos. Separated from Starros, they instead found R2-D2, who provided them with lightsabers. They promptly used the weapons to reach Skywalker at the center of the arena. However, instead of reuniting with him, Organa sought out Starros and rescued her from beneath a pile of rubble. Starros then explained that she was not Solo's real wife, and the two women reached an understanding before escaping Nar Shadda.

Eneb Ray's infiltration

Some time after the Battle of Yavin, Organa sent rebel spy Eneb Ray to Coruscant to infiltrate the Imperial Senate, posing as Senator Tharius Demo. After uploading shipping and procurement data for the Core sectors to the rebellion, he contacted Leia via hologram. She tasked him with extracting Nadea Tural and other rebel-sympathetic senators from the Arrth-Eno Prison Complex and preventing their execution. After the conversation ended, Ray proceeded to the prison complex on Coruscant. Upon breaking in, Eneb found the prisoners, who informed him that the Emperor would be visiting the complex.

Ray uncovered another spy within the complex, who helped him devise a plan to assassinate the Emperor. The two contacted Organa, who described the plan as "an enormous risk." Nevertheless, Ray and several other operatives attacked the Emperor, but the Sith Lord evaded them. Eneb pursued him and killed him. However, the real Emperor revealed that the person Ray had killed was merely a decoy. Ray turned around and witnessed the prison complex explode, killing everyone inside. Palpatine then electrocuted Ray, rendering him unable to complete any further missions.

War intensifies

Battle of Vrogas Vas

When the Alliance Fleet received news that Darth Vader had appeared over Vrogas Vas and that Skywalker had forced his ship to crash-land, Dodonna deployed a battalion to support the company stationed at the Rebel Refueling Base. Upon hearing this, Organa immediately set out to assist them, accompanied by Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO aboard the Falcon. Shortly after their arrival, Organa and Solo learned that Skywalker had brought down Vader at the cost of crashing his X-wing. Despite her concern for him, she would not spare any speeders. As a Commander, she oversaw the operation and deployed Cyan Squadron, one of whose ships was also shot down by Vader.

Subsequently, Organa decided to go to the location where he was last seen, accompanied by a platoon of Rebel soldiers. Amidst the dense fog, she and the other troopers advanced until Vader Force choked her two companions and confronted her. After a tense moment, Vader seemingly sensed an ambush, allowing Organa to escape and inform her friends of her location (thus, luring Skywalker to him). She escaped and found C-3PO, who handed her a comlink. She used it to order all surviving rebel pilots to converge on her position and bombard it with everything they had upon her signal. Organa then instructed C-3PO to return to Skywalker and waited for Vader to reappear before her, signaling all fighters to bombard their location.

However, the Imperial enforcer Karbin showed up with a squadron of ships and annihilated the Amber Wing. Karbin himself then engaged Organa and Vader, resulting in a duel. Organa seized the opportunity to flee into the Jedi Temple, waiting for an opportune moment. However, C-3PO contacted her via comlink, relaying that Solo, Chewbacca, and Skywalker were in peril. Faced with their potential demise, she abandoned Vader and Karbin to their confrontation. Instead, Organa tracked down the Millennium Falcon, discovering Solo, Skywalker, the droids, and Chewbacca trapped by Vader's ally, Dr. Aphra. Having previously established a micro-mine field as a trap, Organa stealthily approached Aphra and incapacitated her with a single punch. With Aphra in custody, Organa instructed all remaining Rebel forces to evacuate the planet; subsequently, they all escaped aboard the Falcon.

Fortifying Sunspot Prison

Following several weeks of questioning and four failed escape attempts, Organa and Starros escorted Doctor Aphra to the Sunspot Prison, a correctional facility operated by the Rebel Alliance. Organa, Starros, and the prison warden discussed strategies for interrogating the new inmate. Simultaneously, a squad commanded by former rebel operative Eneb Ray infiltrated the prison, assaulting the guards. This information was conveyed to the warden, as well as Leia and Sana.

Organa and Starros confronted the invading droid army, successfully destroying many of them. Leia attempted to reach the control room to confirm an "all clear" status. However, instead of the warden, Eneb Ray responded. He had seized control of the control room and taken the warden as a hostage. He then dispatched IG-RM droids to execute the prisoners. Organa managed to neutralize them, but not before they discharged their weapons. Following this, Ray released other inmates, compelling Organa and Starros to engage them. After battling numerous prisoners, Leia confined them to a single cell. Ray then deactivated the cell's sun shields, incinerating all the prisoners inside. Ray persisted in making threats. Consequently, Organa liberated Doctor Aphra, recognizing her necessity in reclaiming the prison.

Shortly after her release, Aphra began to reprogram one of the enforcer droids while it was attacking Starros. Organa intervened, disabling the droid before it could harm the smuggler. After a brief exchange, the trio resumed their journey through the cell blocks. Meanwhile, Ray was personally executing inmates in their cells, revealing the truth about Emperor Palpatine to one of them. Aphra, Sana, and Leia eventually reached the control room and confronted the droids guarding it. The trio, along with the reprogrammed enforcer droid, successfully regained control of the room. Concurrently, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker arrived at the base aboard the Millennium Falcon, only to be captured by Ray.

Sana, Aphra, and Leia located Ray with the captured Skywalker and Solo. Ray had strapped thermal detonators to the duo and threatened to detonate them unless Leia shot Doctor Aphra. He then revealed his identity, which had been previously concealed. Leia was astonished, believing him to be dead. Organa instructed R2-D2 to activate an ion pulse, which disabled the prison's gravity, as well as the trigger to the thermal detonators. Ray and Organa engaged in aerial combat. Through the combined efforts of Leia, Aphra, and Sana, Ray was defeated and apprehended.

Subsequently, the remaining staff and prisoners were evacuated. However, Doctor Aphra escaped, due to Organa and Starros' lack of intervention. As Ray was escorted away in restraints, Leia informed him that she hadn't abandoned hope for him. However, Ray, mentally broken, asserted that the rebels had no chance of victory and that she would eventually regret not heeding his warnings.

A Temporary Base

At a later time, the Rebel Alliance established a temporary base known as LX-Robynsun V on the Outer Rim planet Reamma. While the Alliance was adapting to the new base, a cargo vessel disappeared. Leia tasked Skywalker with retracing its path to locate it, as it carried essential medical supplies and other cargo. However, as Skywalker and R2-D2 prepared for the search, the cargo vessel arrived, canceling the mission.

Seizing the Harbinger

Organa and Skywalker attended a meeting with Jan Dodonna, Gial Ackbar, and Mon Mothma aboard a medical frigate. Ackbar reported that the planet Tureen VII was under siege by the Empire. The planet had secretly been providing assistance to the rebellion, and it was deemed time for the Alliance to reciprocate. The high-ranking members acknowledged that the planet was under a blockade, leading to starvation among the population. After three unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the Imperial blockade, Skywalker and Organa proposed stealing a Star Destroyer to infiltrate the blockade and deliver aid to the people of Tureen VII. Despite General Dodonna's initial reservations, due to the large crew required to operate such a vessel, Leia requested as many personnel as could be spared. Given their high ranks, Organa and Skywalker were authorized to proceed with the mission.

Following the meeting, Leia commandeered the Millennium Falcon, accompanied by Han Solo, Chewbacca, Sana Starros, R2-D2, and C-3PO, to attack the Star Destroyer known as the Harbinger. Luke enlisted the pilots of Red Squadron to participate in the assault as well. The Falcon was employed to launch proton bombs at an area near the Destroyer's main engine reactor. Red Three, Wedge Antilles, also launched torpedoes towards the main engine reactor. Although the shots struck their target, the reactor did not overload. Skywalker then piloted his craft into the main engine reactor, causing it to overload. The Imperial crew of the Star Destroyer abandoned ship, allowing the crew of the Millennium Falcon to seize control. The ship entered the Destroyer's hangar, with the crew of the Falcon launching an internal assault. Meanwhile, Skywalker secured the reactor room as the sentients advanced towards it. As a space battle raged outside, an explosion emanated from the Harbinger, leading the Empire to believe it had been destroyed.

A week later, a patrol of two TIE fighters briefly detected the stolen Star Destroyer but were swiftly eliminated. Skywalker speculated that the Empire might be aware of their location. However, Organa countered that if the government knew, they would have dispatched more ships. At the time, the Destroyer was operating on its secondary reactor and lacked a captain. Solo and Organa argued about who should assume the role of captain. Skywalker attempted to mediate, emphasizing the gravity of the situation and suggesting that it would likely be the Harbinger's final voyage.

Days later, a reactor overload became increasingly probable. Luke, R2-D2, and Chewbacca frantically attempted to resolve the issue. However, an explosion occurred, and the astromech droid jettisoned the reactor, enabling the Star Destroyer to enter hyperspace. Han remarked that the group had officially stolen their own Star Destroyer, to which Leia responded that the most challenging part was yet to come.

After the Harbinger exited hyperspace, the engines failed. Chewbacca attempted to repair the backup reactor to guide the Destroyer to Tureen VII. Solo attempted to order the crew to reroute to the Monsua Nebula to provide more time for repairs. However, Organa countermanded the order, recognizing the dire situation of the people of Tureen VII and the lack of time for repairs. The duo continued to dispute the merits of their respective plans and who should serve as temporary captain of the ship. Solo proposed a race to the Destroyer's bridge to determine the captain. Although Leia initially dismissed the idea, she subtly kicked Solo in the shin to gain a head start.

As the two traversed a hangar, Solo rode a speeder bike in an attempt to outpace Organa. After being struck by the bike, Leia inquired with a crew member about the location of the spacesuits. She subsequently donned a spacesuit and proceeded to the bridge, arriving before Solo and declaring herself captain. Simultaneously, a rebel shuttle with the deceased Admiral Verette attached to the front appeared at the rendezvous point. Sana Starros destroyed the ship, suspecting it was a trap. Meanwhile, an Imperial shuttle carrying Task Force 99 infiltrated the Star Destroyer undetected.

Following this, Solo observed that the Star Destroyer's hyperdrive, backup reactor, shields, and ion cannons were all malfunctioning to varying degrees, labeling the Harbinger "the worst Star Destroyer in the entire galaxy." Organa sought an update on the status of the ion cannons, inquiring with the Destroyer's maintenance team. Due to the team's disappearance, a group led by Luke and Sana investigated. Han still advocated for the Harbinger to halt for repairs, but Leia, considering the circumstances, pressed onward. Acknowledging the absurdity of the situation, Organa appointed Solo as the Destroyer's helmsman, referring to him as "the craziest pilot in the galaxy."

As this conversation unfolded, Starros and Skywalker encountered Task Force 99 in the ship's corridors. The squadron initiated an attack on Skywalker's group. Luke engaged the leader, Sergeant Kreel, while Starros and the other members of the group confronted the remaining members of the squadron. Organa and Solo, meanwhile, defended the bridge from the members Aero, Misty, and Mic. Solo steered the Harbinger towards Tureen VII, ramming it into the planet's base security Star Destroyers. As a result, the Destroyer's front shields and an engine were lost. The Rebel Alliance dispatched Blue Squadron to defend the Star Destroyer, and as they engaged the base's TIE fighters, Darth Vader arrived in his own personal TIE fighter, decimating numerous Alliance X-wings.

Organa directed Red Squadron to defend the Harbinger to allow the Star Destroyer more time to deploy the supplies to the surface of Tureen VII. Solo attempted to activate the Destroyer's ion cannons. Han and Leia attempted to secure the bridge, but were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Skywalker engaged Sergeant Kreel, ultimately utilizing the Force to incapacitate him. Later, the reactors regained full power when Chewbacca hurled Task Force 99 member Zuke into the reactor. Although the reactor power was restored, the controls remained disabled. R2-D2 piloted the ship remotely and operated the ion cannons as a result. Meanwhile, Starros and Chewbacca made their way to the Millennium Falcon, and Skywalker boarded an X-wing to defend the Harbinger. C-3PO, however, was inadvertently left behind, allowing himself to be captured by Task Force 99.

As the invading members of the task force advanced through the bridge, Solo detonated a thermal detonator on the bridge, enabling him and Organa to escape. The duo retrieved breath masks to provide them with oxygen in the vacuum of space. The two began to argue about their survival when the Millennium Falcon arrived to rescue them. Meanwhile, R2-D2 entered an escape pod and saved himself. The Harbinger was ultimately destroyed by the relentless Imperial fire. Red and Blue Squadron, as well as the Falcon, jumped to hyperspace before further destruction could occur.

Fleeing Skorii-Lei

During the Galactic Civil War, Organa found herself injured and unconscious on the aquatic planet of Skorii-Lei. Pash Davane, an engineer-turned-janitor, took in the wounded princess and contemplated her next course of action. Upon returning from the local fish market, Davane was attacked by Leia using her droid Bruce's arm. Leia threatened Pavane with a deactivated blaster to ascertain her motives. The janitor revealed that she had tended to some of Organa's wounds, and in turn Leia disclosed that she was transporting information crucial to the Alliance. Despite their ideological differences, Pavane agreed to assist Organa in escaping through the planet's oceans.

Some time later, the two donned wetsuits and prepared to depart when stormtroopers arrived at Pash's residence. Pash distracted and incapacitated the soldiers, and the duo fled into the city. While hiding in a random house, Leia collapsed from her injuries. There, she and Pash discussed what motivated the former to fight the Empire despite the losses she had endured. Although prepared to entrust Pash with the data tape containing vital Alliance information, Davane urged her to continue into the water. Pursued by security forces underwater, the duo managed to escape and rendezvous with Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca. Leia recovered on the Millennium Falcon and successfully persuaded Pash to join the rebellion.

The matter of C-3PO's capture

Following C-3PO's capture by SCAR Squadron, Solo, Skywalker, and Leia reconvened with the rebel fleet and decided against pursuing him, deeming him a mere droid and SCAR Squadron too formidable. However, R2-D2 defied this decision and embarked on a solo mission to rescue his longtime companion.

The Screaming Citadel

Shortly after the hijacking of the Harbinger, the rebellion established a temporary outpost on the Outer Rim world of Horox III. After Skywalker once again encountered the rogue archaeologist Aphra in a cantina, she offered to arrange a meeting with a Jedi Master if he accompanied her to the forest planet of Ktath'atn. Unbeknownst to Organa and the rest of the alliance, Aphra brought Skywalker to meet the Queen of Ktath'atn, who intended to devour the Jedi-in-training. Unaware of his location, Organa interrogated Skywalker's temporary astromech droid S4. However, the droid refused to divulge the information. Starros, having received a message from Aphra, exploited a loophole in the droid's programming to compel it to reveal that Skywalker had secretly accompanied Aphra. Organa, believing that Aphra had abducted Skywalker, devised a plan with Starros and Solo to rescue him.

As the group prepared to depart, Starros informed them of the Queen of Ktath'atn's annual meetings with visitors to exchange organic oddities. Realizing the potential fate of Skywalker, the trio embarked on a journey to Ktath'atn aboard the Millennium Falcon. However, upon arrival, they were immediately captured by Aphra's droid associates 0-0-0 and BT-1.

Nevertheless, the droids spared the rebels and reluctantly permitted Solo to pilot Aphra's ship, the Ark Angel II, to Aphra and Skywalker's location. Upon arriving, the archaeologist and the Padawan were fleeing from mutated creatures. Starros attempted to shoot Aphra, but Organa and Skywalker intervened. Organa threatened Skywalker with a court-martial if he disobeyed orders again. She then inquired with the group about which direction to take, to which Solo responded, "Any direction away from them!" The rebel group fended off the Queen's hive and entered a room filled with what Aphra identified as Abersyn symbiotes. Aphra discovered some blueprints for the Citadel and requested that Skywalker follow her. However, the rogue archaeologist led Skywalker, and the rest of the rebels, into a trap for the Queen and her hive. The Queen seized mental control of Skywalker and Solo, while Aphra allowed the rest of the group to escape.

Organa immediately began formulating a plan to rescue them, enlisting the assistance of Aphra's droid associates. 0-0-0 proposed transplanting an Abersyn symbiote into the dome of Skywalker's droid S4. Leia reluctantly approved the plan. BT-1 employed explosive missiles to breach the room they were in, and the group made their escape. They encountered Bombinax, the Queen's lieutenant, assaulting Aphra's Wookiee associate Krrsantan. Organa fired at Bombinax to distract him and "rescue" Krrsantan. The group entered the citadel and sealed the door. 0-0-0 immediately commenced a surgery on Krrsantan to transplant the symbiote into his body, much to Leia's dismay. By the time Bombinax breached the sealed door, the symbiote had infiltrated Krrsantan's consciousness and easily defeated him.

0-0-0 managed to persuade the feral Wookiee not to kill them, but rather to attack other Citadel personnel. With a new path forged in blood, the group proceeded to rescue Luke and Han. However, upon arriving at the Queen's facility, Solo had been enthralled by the monarch. Reluctant to shoot him, she was temporarily captured by the Queen's guard. Before being infected, Sana managed to disable Han. As all of this unfolded, Luke was able to turn the Queen of Ktath'atn's parasites against her.

Through the power of her words, Leia managed to break the spell that Han was under. Still possessing the power of the Queen's thrall, Solo was able to control the other troops and compel them to lower their weapons. Meanwhile, Luke struck down the Queen of Ktath'atn, disabling all under her control. With control of her hive now transferred to Solo, the smuggler decided to release all who were under her control. Leia instructed 0-0-0 to remove the parasite from Han. The rebels and the rogue archaeologists parted ways afterward, having liberated the people of Ktath'atn.

Enduring in the wilderness

During a mission with Skywalker, he was forced to pilot into a nebula to evade pursuing TIE fighters. The nebula disabled the ship, causing them to crash on an ocean planet. There, they had to survive in the wild on an island. Skywalker's familiarity with machinery, such as moisture vaporators, aided in their survival. However, they had to utilize the dedlanite from their blasters for the moisture vaporators, rendering their blasters unusable for hunting. One night, Organa and Skywalker lay on the ground, gazing at the star-filled sky. Alderaan was still visible, as the light from the explosion had yet to reach that region of the galaxy. Later, an explosion occurred in the ocean, and a native species of the planet emerged onto the beach. They followed the creatures back into the water and discovered that the Empire was destroying their underwater worlds in search of Organa and Skywalker. Consequently, they ignited a large fire on the beach to attract the Empire's attention. An AT-AT and shoretroopers emerged from the water. Organa and Skywalker successfully fought them off and commandeered their AT-AT. After disabling the AT-AT, they repaired the shuttle and returned to the Rebel Fleet.

A Potential Base on Odona

At a later time, Han Solo guided Leia to the remote world of Odona while searching for a new location for a rebel base. However, as their mission progressed, the duo became lost in the caves of the hostile planet, pursued by a six-legged creature. Solo saved them by shooting the ceiling of the cave, separating them from the creature. Organa expressed disappointment in Solo's lack of knowledge about the planet he claimed to know so well. As the duo engaged in their usual bickering, a trio of bounty hunters began firing at them, seeking to collect Solo's bounty. The duo became separated, with an injured Han ending up back in the caves while Leia returned to the Millennium Falcon. The hunters, led by Frax, a Nikto with a vendetta against Solo, pursued him into the caves.

Meanwhile, Organa armed herself and searched for Solo in the caves. After rescuing Solo, an enraged and wounded Frax killed his two partners for wanting to abandon Solo. All made their way out to the snowy landscape. Leia decided to seal the other entrance of the cave, and in response, Frax shot her, causing her to lose consciousness. Some time afterward, Chewbacca and Alliance soldiers rescued her and Solo; Frax had frozen to death. As they recovered in a medical frigate, Solo informed Organa that he intended to repay the life debt he owed her for saving his life on the mission, to which she replied that he owed her nothing.

Returning to Horox III

Organa, Skywalker, Solo, Starros, Threepio, and Artoo returned to the rebel outpost on Horox III only to discover it burned down with no survivors. On a wall, "Greetings from SCAR Squadron. Long live the Empire" was written in Aurebesh.

The Ashes of Jedha

On Jedha, Organa and the Millennium Falcon rescued Skywalker and a few Partisans and traveled to NaJedha, where they sought refuge. There, Organa conferred with Ubin Des, a former member of the Rebellion, about assisting the Partisans in preventing the Empire from mining the remaining kyber crystals from Jedha.

Organa, Skywalker, and Solo were presented before the Tognath named Benthic, formerly Saw Gerrera's second in command and now the leader of the Partisans. They were all required to wear bags over their heads to prevent them from learning the location of the Partisans' base. Organa proposed that the Rebellion would aid the Partisans in defending Jedha by providing them with supplies. After considerable hesitation, Benthic conceded that they needed the Rebels' support and agreed.

They subsequently participated in a mission to destroy a newly deployed mining machine established by the Empire. After Benthic and his team sabotaged it from within, Organa and Solo arrived and detonated the machine. Upon returning to the base, Skywalker intended to follow the pilgrim Chulco Gi to a Force temple. Leia, enraged by Skywalker's departure at such a critical time, accused him of being irresponsible, but he departed regardless.

After the Partisans finished their successful demolition of the Empire's device, they sought assistance from Trios, the Queen of Shu-Torun. She sent the Leviathan, a colossal mining vehicle rivaling a city in size, to Jedha's surface. The Partisans' attacks proved futile. Subsequently, Organa tasked Chewbacca with acquiring the Leviathan's blueprints from Shu-Torun and delivering them to the Partisans.

Organa then convened a briefing, outlining their strategy for attacking the Leviathan. A small team was to infiltrate the core security system, disable its anti-air defenses, and isolate the crawler's bridge. Afterwards, a larger team would join them, collectively commandeering the vehicle into the Death Star's blast crater. Organa, accompanied by Skywalker, Threepio, and Artoo, stealthily entered the Leviathan as the initial smaller team. Upon locating the control nexus, Skywalker departed to aid the other team in their battle against the Imperials, his role in shutting down the crawler complete. Organa, with Threepio and Artoo's help, deactivated the weapons, enabling the Millennium Falcon, carrying the larger team, to land safely. Despite nearby skirmishes, she remained to safeguard the control nexus. Suddenly, a voice echoed from behind. Turning, she found Queen Trios of Shu-Torun aiming a blaster at her.

Instead of firing, Trios instructed Organa to strike her. Organa complied, then destroyed the surveillance camera, realizing Trios was assisting them. She inquired why Trios had provided the crawler's schematics. Trios revealed that Darth Vader had murdered her father and installed her on the throne. Vader gave her a piece of Alderaan to teach her a lesson. And he did, but not in the way he had intended. She decided she would never let that happen to Shu-Torun. Unable to openly defy the Empire, she secretly sabotaged their efforts. Trios explained her willingness to sacrifice the Leviathan to dispel suspicion. Organa questioned if she was offering to be a Rebel informant. Trios affirmed, offering even more, including Shu-Torun's concealed resources. They shook hands, and Organa departed with the arriving Skywalker to aid the remaining Rebels. Trios remained behind, delaying the opening of passages for the Imperials, allowing the Rebels to escape while maintaining her facade. Skywalker asked Organa about Trios, and she replied that Trios was just what she was looking for, a little more hope. They regrouped and escaped the Leviathan aboard the Millennium Falcon just before it crashed into the Death Star's blast crater. Trios also narrowly escaped in a shuttle. The Rebels reassembled on NaJedha and wished Benthic and his Partisans well. Organa, Skywalker, Solo, Threepio, and Artoo then left the planet aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Baraan-Fa and Crait

During the Empire's attack on the Rebel fleet, Organa collaborated with Mothma to identify a suitable location for a new base. They selected Baraan-Fa and directed the fleet there. Upon arrival, Organa and Mothma continued their search. Organa suggested Sabanash's wetlands or the Moon of Ooloponi. She requested a squadron from Mothma to assess Crait's suitability. Mothma doubted Crait's viability as a desolate planet, but Organa cited Trusk Berinato's assurance to her and her father that Crait's mines were ideal. Mothma granted Organa's request.

Organa embarked on a mission to Crait with her team, Red Squadron, and the Millennium Falcon, carrying essential equipment. Upon landing, Organa met with Berinato and toured the mines. Following the tour, Organa shared a drink with Berinato and expressed skepticism about the Rebels using the mines as a base. Aware of Berinato's Imperial connections and the presence of stormtroopers, she attempted to persuade him to do the right thing, but he refused. Organa, Solo, and Red Squadron deployed V-4X-D ski speeders against SCAR squadron. After confronting SCAR squadron, Organa faced Berinato, who tried to capture her, but she disarmed him. She and her team departed Crait, leaving behind some equipment. Organa then briefed Mothma.

Mutiny on Mon Cala

Organa, her team, and Admiral Ackbar journeyed to Mon Cala to confer with Grand Admiral Dors Urtya, Mon Cala's regent and commander of its Mercantile Fleet. They landed on an island within a nature preserve, but their meeting was disrupted by a stormtrooper patrol and an Imperial gunship. Nevertheless, Organa and her companions evaded the stormtroopers and reconvened at a boat. Organa implored Urtya to commit the Mon Cala fleet to the Alliance's cause against the Empire. However, Urtya declined, citing the Empire's ongoing occupation of Mon Cala.

Organa, her team, and Ackbar departed Mon Cala aboard the Millennium Falcon and proceeded to the Mako-Ta Space Docks. There, Organa contacted Trios, seeking information about the Imperial prison system to facilitate the rescue of King Lee-Char. She then prepared a report and attended a Rebel High Council meeting, where she informed them of Urtya's refusal. However, Organa proposed rescuing King Lee-Char. Despite concerns from Mothma and General Davits Draven, Organa persuaded them to approve her mission.

Organa and her team infiltrated the Dex Acquisitions Depot on Meor Ain, gaining entry by posing as Chewbacca's prisoner, who was acting as a bounty hunter named "Violent Bok." Inside, they searched for the Clawdite actor Tunga Arpagion. Upon entering his cell, Organa was shocked to find him impersonating her father. Recognizing Arpagion, Organa punched him for his deception. They subdued Arpagion and brought him aboard the Millennium Falcon, where Organa convinced him to aid their mission by impersonating Moff Tan Hubi, whose bio-signature would grant them access to the prison to free the King. Organa then outlined her plan: attend an opera on Mon Cala where Hubi would be present, kidnap Hubi, and have Arpagion impersonate the Moff at the party while they freed Lee-Char.

Organa deployed R2 and C-3PO as server droids to administer a drug to Hubi via his preferred beverage, a grabd accelerator. She then observed Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca as they navigated the ventilation system and abducted Moff Hubi from the refresher at the Moncaladrome. After Arpagion assumed the Moff's identity, Organa and her team departed the Moncaladrome and traveled to Strokill Prime.

Organa, the captive Hubi, and her crew journeyed in a submersible to the Imperial base. Evading sea monsters, they arrived at the facility and infiltrated it using codes provided by Trios, only to find King Lee-Char imprisoned and on life support. Organa spoke with Lee-Char, regretfully informing him of Raddus's demise and imploring him to pledge the Mon Cala Mercantile Fleet to the Rebellion. Lee-Char was eager to assist but unable to move due to his life support systems. Skywalker located a camera droid to record Lee-Char's message to his people. However, Hubi activated a wall button, alerting Imperial forces that the Moff Hubi on Mon Cala was an impostor. Stormtroopers stormed the cell, killing Lee-Char as he finished his message and accidentally killing Moff Hubi. Organa led the crew back to their ship, narrowly escaping the planet.

Meanwhile, Arpagion's deception was exposed, but he was rescued by newly arrived rebels. Urtya, experiencing a change of heart, played Lee-Char's recording, and the Mercantile Fleet attempted to break through the Imperial blockade. With the aid of Organa, Ackbar, and the Rebel fleet, a portion of the fleet successfully joined the Rebellion.

Mako-Ta Space Docks

With the addition of twelve new Mon-Calamari cruisers, the Rebels consolidated their forces at the Mako-Ta Space Docks and completed the installation of hyperdrives, courtesy of Queen Trios. Organa and the rest of High Command decided to host a celebration for the troops before their forces dispersed. Following a speech by Mothma, Ackbar's Alpha Group, General Dodonna's Beta Group, General Hera Syndulla's Gamma Group, and General Vanden Willard's Delta Group prepared to depart, only to discover that their hyperdrives had been sabotaged and that Trios had vanished. Organa watched helplessly as the cruisers' hangar doors, comm systems, artillery batteries, hyperspace systems, and propulsion engines were deactivated, and the Empire's Death Squadron, led by Darth Vader aboard his command ship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, arrived in the system.

Vader swiftly destroyed Willard's flagship, Yavin's Hope. Trios fled to her ship and ordered its launch, but a Rebel strike team led by Organa and Colonel Bandwin Cor boarded her ship, eliminating her crew. Trios managed to reach an escape pod and pleaded for Organa's forgiveness, vowing to do anything to prevent Shu-Torun from becoming another Alderaan before escaping.

Organa witnessed the destruction of ships commanded by Lajaie and Bob Hudsol. Eventually, the Rebels discovered an override to the closed bay doors, and Organa watched again as Skywalker led the newly formed Rogue Squadron into battle. A Rebel technician then accessed Trios' files and discovered an override code to restore all systems. However, the codes were located on the Executor. Organa devised a plan: she and Draven would lead a squad of Special Forces commandos to the Executor, disguised in Trios' shuttle, to retrieve the codes.

As the group received clearance to land on the Executor, Vader returned to the ship to meet with Trios. In the hangar, the Rebels killed the Imperial officer who greeted them but were soon confronted by Vader. The Rebels fled and attempted to access a computer inside, obtaining the codes while the rearguard was captured by Vader. Organa led the remaining forces to the hangar to find a ship to escape, discovering only a lone TIE fighter. Draven then volunteered to stay behind with the special forces to allow her to escape with the codes. She flew back in the stolen TIE, but Skywalker pursued her and attempted to shoot her down. Unable to communicate due to the lack of a TIE pilot helmet, Organa demonstrated her allegiance by shooting down another TIE. Skywalker realized it was a friendly and ordered Rogue Squadron to protect the TIE. They landed on the MC80A Home One Type Heavy Star Cruiser Republic. Organa informed the ship's commander, General Dodonna, of the codes she had obtained, and their ship escaped the system.

Organa and Skywalker were shocked when Dodonna stated that they could not risk their ship to rescue the remaining forces. They eventually convinced him to assist, with the Republic acting as a distraction while Organa led a group of shuttles to rescue forces from the Space Docks. Given the losses sustained by the Alliance leadership, Mothma contacted Organa to promote her to the rank of general.

Saponza's Gang

Organa spearheaded the recruitment of Saponza's Gang into the Alliance. Collaborating with Solo, Mothma, Jennica Pierce, and the criminal underworld, the gang successfully rescued former Senator Johhar Kessen from Imperial custody. They also disrupted Kosh's contraband smuggling operation and liberated Tatooine from Imperial control. Following the gang's victory at Fort Ironhand, Organa sent the gang a congratulatory holo message.

Lotho Minor investigation

At some point, Leia, Han, Luke, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were dispatched by the Alliance to Restore the Republic to investigate Lotho Minor as a potential base location. Upon arrival, Solo criticized the planet, prompting Organa to retort that the Millennium Falcon was a fitting addition to the garbage planet. Ignoring Solo's complaints, they persisted in their investigation until they encountered native droids and a male Duros named Akar Duel. Duel, seeking to commandeer the Falcon, directed the droids to aim their blasters at Organa and the others. After C-3PO convinced the droids to embrace independence, they turned on Duel and boarded the Falcon to depart the planet, Organa concluding that Lotho Minor was unsuitable for a Rebel base.

Bogano

At some point, Leia visited Bogano, a verdant planet in the Outer Rim Territories, to determine its suitability as a Rebel base. Upon arriving, Leia encountered her friend and fellow Rebel, Luke Skywalker. Although Skywalker was tasked with scouting other worlds, he claimed the Force led him to Bogano. Leia and Luke then spotted a small animal and decided to follow it. The pair arrived at the Bogano Vault, where Leia and Luke shared their impressions of the planet. Leia's initial assessment of the planet's viability for a Rebel base was proven incorrect when the animal led them to stormtroopers engaged with several animals of the same species, indicating the Empire's awareness of the planet. Together with Luke, Leia defeated the stormtroopers, who intended to sell the animals on the black market, and then departed the planet to continue her search for a suitable base location.

End of the Emperor's reign

A new base

Approximately three years after the Battle of Yavin, Organa played a key role in overseeing the construction of the Rebellion's newly established Echo Base on the icy planet of Hoth. When Kes Dameron and Shara Bey became trapped while using an A-Wing laser cannon to carve out an ice tunnel, Organa spoke to them after their rescue by Heroes of Yavin Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca, reaffirming their value as fellow Rebels. Also present at the base was a new Rebel recruit named Vulaada Klam, who used her pet Qaberworm Gurtyl to herd tauntauns, which the Rebels had begun using as mounts. Captain Magna Tolvan initially ordered the Qaberworm to be killed, but Organa recognized Klam and Gurtyl's skill in herding. Furthermore, Gurtyl was incredibly important to Klam. Ultimately, Organa overruled Tolvan's order and allowed Klam to continue working with her pet, a decision Tolvan learned about from a fellow Rebel upon returning to Echo Base after a mission.

At one point during her time on Echo Base, the base's reactor malfunctioned due to the extreme cold, rendering the heaters inoperable. As a result, Rebel personnel had to be relocated to ships. Organa moved tauntauns onto the Millennium Falcon, much to Solo's dismay. She received transmissions from the repair crew through the Falcon's cockpit. They informed her that the reactor was a YT-2600 model and that it would explode and irradiate the base within ten minutes. Solo and Chewbacca volunteered to replace the dissipator with a spare they had stored on the Falcon. Minutes later, Solo informed Organa that they needed to evacuate the base immediately, without elaborating on their actions. Despite wanting Solo to return to the ship, Organa ordered the base to be evacuated without him. Shortly after, Solo informed Organa that the reactor had been stabilized and that they could re-enter the base.

Weighing heavily on Organa's mind were the harsh working conditions and frigid temperatures. She delivered a speech to the personnel at Echo Base, emphasizing the importance of perseverance. Two days later, while on a tauntaun patrol with Han Solo and Hera Syndulla, Organa learned how to properly control the riding beast.

After Chewbacca went missing, Organa and R2-D2 searched for him in the corridors of Echo Base. They soon discovered a door that appeared to have been severely damaged. Organa entered and found Chewbacca in the arms of a sleeping wampa. Organa inadvertently woke the wampa. As Chewbacca and R2-D2 attempted to repair the door, Organa distracted the wampa. She ran into the corridor, with the wampa in pursuit. However, with R2's assistance, the door closed on the wampa's cave.

Battle of Hoth

Following a run-in with one of Jabba's bounty hunters on Ord Mantell, Solo bade farewell to General Carlist Rieekan and Organa, but her lack of honesty about her feelings angered him. However, when Skywalker went missing after his patrol, Solo set out on the Tauntaun Murra to find his friend during the night, worrying Organa. While they were missing, Rogue Two Zev Senesca, the squadron leader of Skywalker's Rogue Squadron during his absence, erased their current betting pool concerning how soon Organa would tire of Solo's attempts at impressing her, replacing it with a pool concerning which of them would find Skywalker first. Though several of the pilots wrote their names, Rogue Four Derek Klivian objected to the pool, feeling it was a morbid game over their commander's life. Before Senesca could respond, Organa revealed she was standing at the doorway by stating the pool was not morbid. She walked in and explained that, by betting in the pool, the pilots were certain Skywalker was alive. Taking the marker from Senesca, she bet on every pilot, explaining it was what she and the other Rebel leaders did every day. Certain that Rogue Squadron would find Skywalker and Solo, and as everyone watched her, she gave the marker back and bid the Force be with them. After she left, every remaining pilot added their name to the pool.

The following morning, Senesca located Skywalker and Solo, and Organa was relieved when they returned to the base. However, as an Imperial probe droid had alerted Vader and the Imperial fleet of their location, arriving soon on Hoth, Organa helped coordinate the ensuing evacuation, giving instructions to pilots, and signaled the ships to leave the planet. Once the base was overrun by Imperial ground forces, Organa and C-3PO were forced to escape Hoth aboard the Millennium Falcon with Solo and Chewbacca.

Escaping the Empire

With a damaged hyperdrive, the Falcon was unable to leave the system and escape the Imperial blockade, which prompted Solo to pilot the ship into a nearby asteroid field, hoping that the Imperials would be unwilling to follow them, to repair the ship in the cave of an asteroid of great size. Using a fusioncutter, Organa helped in repairing the ship, when Solo appeared, drawing closer to her before both ended up in a passionate kiss that lasted until C-3PO's arrival. Organa withdrew and walked away, conflicted. Afterwards, Organa would reflect upon what happened in the cockpit when the ship was attacked by mynocks.

Rushing to shoo them away, Organa, Solo, and Chewbacca exited the ship, but Solo quickly realized that they were inside something other than a cave. Narrowly escaping the "cave," which was really the inside of an exogorth named Sy-O, who wanted them to stay as beloved parts of its internal ecosystem, and the asteroid Sy-O resided in, the Millennium Falcon was once again pursued by Imperial forces. Unable to make the jump to hyperspace due to unfinished repairs, Solo decided to land on the back of the command bridge of the Avenger, shutting down all systems to avoid detection. The plan worked; as the Imperial fleet prepared to exit the Anoat system, Solo detached the ship from the hull. With a faulty hyperdrive, the group decided to go to the Bespin system, where an old acquaintance of Solo, Lando Calrissian, owned a mining colony. However, they were unaware that they were being tracked by Boba Fett, one of the mercenaries hired by Vader to locate them.

Escaping to Cloud City and Rendezvous Point Delta-Three

Arriving on Bespin, Organa and the others were greeted by Calrissian, whom Organa was immediately skeptical of. He agreed to repair the hyperdrive of the Millennium Falcon, and in the meantime, Organa and the others stayed at Cloud City. However, unbeknownst to them, Calrissian had made a deal with Vader to hand over the rebels in exchange for non-interference from the Empire. Captured by Vader, where the Dark Lord waited for Skywalker's arrival, Leia and the others were taken to a carbon-freezing facility, where Solo was to be frozen in carbonite to test if the chambers were suitable for trapping Skywalker. As the smuggler was lowered into the freezing pit, Organa's parting words were "I love you," to which Solo responded that he knew. (Listen (help·info)).

On their way to Vader's ship, Organa caught sight of a recently arrived Luke Skywalker and tried to warn him, but she, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were taken away by Imperial forces. Before long, Calrissian betrayed Vader by disarming the stormtroopers with the help of his men, setting the Rebels free. Though Chewbacca almost strangled Calrissian, Organa let him live when he told them of Solo's location at the East Platform. With R2-D2 joining them, they attempted to save the frozen Solo from being taken away by Fett, but they were too late—the bounty hunter had already left on the Slave I with Solo. All the while, Skywalker dueled Vader until he lost his right hand, lightsaber, and learned that the Dark Lord was his father.

Skywalker plummeted down a shaft, eventually finding himself dangling from a weather scanner vane beneath Cloud City, and instinctively called out to Organa. Aboard the Millennium Falcon, the princess was escaping with Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Calrissian. Sensing Skywalker's presence through the Force, she insisted they turn back to rescue him. After retrieving Skywalker, TIE/ln starfighters pursued their ship into orbit, where they were confronted by the Executor. Fortunately, the astromech droid enabled the hyperdrive, allowing the Falcon to evade the Imperial threat. While aboard the Falcon, Organa, still upset with Calrissian for his deal with the Empire, introduced him to Skywalker. She then offered comfort to her friend, who chose not to reveal Vader's paternity, instead sharing that Obi-Wan Kenobi had been unresponsive. Organa reassured him that the Jedi Master would eventually answer, and if not, Skywalker possessed the strength to forge his own path. Realizing they couldn't save Solo but could aid the rebellion, Organa disregarded Calrissian's concerns about the Empire and decided to return to the Rebel fleet, commandeering the Falcon for the Alliance. Furthermore, she reminded Calrissian of his betrayal to the Imperials, a transgression she believed would take considerable time to overcome, even though the Cloud City administrator felt he deserved recognition for evacuating the team from Bespin.

They made their way to the Mid Rim to link up with the Fourth Division at Rendezvous Point Delta-Three. There, they provided assistance to the Division's and Green Squadron's ships in breaking free from Commander Ellian Zahra's Hunter Fleet's blockade. Subsequently, Organa directed all of Zahra's TIE fighters to pursue the Falcon. As Calrissian and Chewbacca piloted the Falcon into an attack run, Organa and Skywalker took control of the turrets. Organa, along with the Falcon and the 4th division, successfully escaped. Although her other forces had destroyed the Eighth Division, Zahra was compelled to report her failure to Vader, who was already aware of her animosity towards Organa. Wishing to preserve Skywalker's life, Vader granted her permission to eliminate the Rebel princess if possible, but forbade any harm to the Falcon. Having escaped to Backup Rendezvous Point Gamma-Nine, Organa proceeded to meet with Commander Grek aboard his vessel. They deliberated on how the Empire had located them and the Eighth Division at Malastare, leading Organa to conclude that the Empire had cracked their codes. Consequently, the rebels understood that any contact between cells would result in the discovery and destruction of both groups. Organa and the others found themselves unable to warn the remaining scattered rebels due to this breach, and Calrissian even expressed fear that they might be the last vestiges of the Rebel Alliance.

Shortly thereafter, Calrissian pledged to journey to Tatooine to determine if Fett had delivered Solo to Jabba. If not, he planned to seek out any leads on the bounty hunter. Organa chose to remain behind to support the Rebel fleet, but she sent Chewbacca along with their new ally to ensure his arrival on the desert world and prompt return. Organa then engaged in a conversation with Skywalker regarding a prosthetic hand, as the young Jedi continued to grapple with the revelation of Vader's identity as his father. Organa, along with 3PO and R2, accompanied Skywalker when he received the new hand and observed Calrissian and Chewbacca's departure aboard the Millennium Falcon to locate Solo. Organa then addressed Commander Grek's crew, pilots, and the Pathfinders, discussing the Empire's relentless pursuit of the Alliance. She proposed a strategy to locate and contact the other cells without relying on compromised codes. Organa consented to utilize Grek's Operation Starlight.

Return to Cloud City

Organa, accompanied by Calrissian, Skywalker, and R2, made their way back to Cloud City to aid Skywalker in retrieving his lightsaber. Upon landing in Cloud City, she proceeded to the carbon-freezing chamber. There, Organa dedicated herself to comprehending the mechanics of the decarbonization sequence. Her studies were interrupted when she was discovered and stunned by a stormtrooper. Subsequently, Organa was frozen in carbonite.

Skywalker later liberated Organa and other prisoners from their carbonite encasements. Organa then took the lead, guiding the prisoners in their fight against the Imperial Garrison's stormtroopers and their escape aboard a Sentinel-class landing shuttle.

Aboard a Nebulon-B frigate, Organa extended a warm greeting to Skywalker upon his return from his mission to Tempes. Overjoyed by his safe return, she requested that he display his newly acquired lightsaber to the Alliance officers on board, aiming to instill hope in both herself and them.

Encounter with Zahra

Commander Grek received a transmission originating from the Seventh Division. Despite understanding that responding would jeopardize their position, Organa issued the command to answer the transmission. Shortly after the Hunter Fleet initiated their assault on the division, Organa, along with the Fourth Division, joined the Seventh. During the ensuing battle, Commander Zahra boarded Organa's ship. She then disabled the safety mechanisms on the ship's main reactor and specifically requested Organa's presence. Aware that the ship would explode if the reactor's limiters were not reactivated, Organa acquiesced and entered the engine room armed with Grek's blaster.

Upon Organa's arrival, Zahra revealed that she held Organa responsible for the deaths of Tarkin and her family. However, before she could fully exact her revenge, she received orders to board her flagship, the Tarkin's Will, as it retreated from the battle. Skywalker intervened to rescue Organa, prompting Zahra's departure. Organa then shared with Skywalker the depth of hatred she witnessed in Zahra's eyes, expressing her belief that this enemy was unlike any they had faced before.

Operation Starlight

Following the battle, Organa initiated Operation Starlight by outlining a plan to reunite the scattered Rebel divisions without resorting to communication methods that the Empire could intercept. She allowed C-3PO to present their plan to steal a linguistic droid capable of speaking Trawak, an extinct language. Organa dispatched Calrissian aboard the Millennium Falcon to carry out the mission.

After the mission's successful completion and the droid's reactivation, Organa discussed the terms of his service and his role in translating messages for the Rebel Alliance. She then sent Starlight Squadron on a mission to inspect rendezvous points for Rebel cells, providing them with the new Trawak codes. When Starlight Squadron found themselves ambushed and Lobot began to suffer fatal consequences from interfacing with the linguistic droid, Organa made the difficult decision to have the droid contact the squadron, despite the risk to Lobot's life. This decision sparked a conflict between Calrissian and Kes Dameron, leading Organa to order Calrissian's temporary imprisonment. After C-3PO reconstructed the Trawak language and deactivated the linguistic droid, Organa checked on Lobot's condition and had him taken to the medical bay, where she confirmed his survival. When Starlight Squadron managed to reestablish contact with the group aboard the frigate, they informed Organa and Dameron that Shara Bey had to be left behind on the Tarkin's Will. Organa reassured Dameron that his wife would be safe.

Aboard the Redemption, Organa and Dameron engaged in a conversation about their loved ones: Poe Dameron, Shara Bey, and Han Solo. They exchanged stories about them before receiving news of a signal from Lieutenant Bey. Organa allowed Dameron to speak with her first, after which he shared with Organa the intelligence Bey had gathered during her time on the Tarkin's Will.

Auction for Han Solo

Organa received a message from Amilyn Holdo, revealing that Solo was to be put on auction by Crimson Dawn. She presented the holomessage to Skywalker, Chewbacca, and C-3PO aboard the Millennium Falcon. Following C-3PO's translation, Chewbacca recounted his past encounters with Crimson Dawn to Organa and Skywalker, suggesting enlisting Calrissian's assistance in dealing with them. She tasked Chewbacca with speaking to him. Skywalker expressed his concerns about the mission and Organa's safety. She reassured him that both would be fine.

In the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, Organa and Calrissian discussed their strategy for rescuing Han Solo. Upon exiting hyperspace, they observed the presence of numerous capital ships from various crime syndicates, all gathered to bid on Han Solo. They attempted to navigate to the far side of the planet to avoid detection, but a Black Sun ship emerged from hyperspace directly in their path. The Millennium Falcon managed to evade the oncoming Black Sun fighters, but ultimately crash-landed on the surface of Jekara.

Operation Yellow Moon

Following Mothma and the Rebel leadership's directive to disperse the fleet, Organa and C-3PO found themselves aboard Captain Volk Aymeric's Nebulon-B frigate, the Remembrance, when the ship and the rest of the convoy were attacked by TIE fighters. Despite the Ranolfo's critical condition, Aymeric was compelled to abandon them to safeguard Organa. She then received notification that she was to rendezvous with the remainder of the Alliance leadership on Zastiga, with Nien Nunb and Lieutenant Ematt serving as her transport pilots. Aboard the Mellcrawler, they arrived at the planet, where Organa was greeted by R2-D2 and Skywalker, who informed her that Calrissian was attempting to infiltrate Jabba's Palace to gather more information on Solo's whereabouts, before escorting her to the top-clearance meeting.

During the assembly, Organa and the Generals were informed about the construction of the second Death Star, positioned above Endor, which they understood needed to be destroyed before it became operational. After pledging to maintain secrecy, Organa was escorted to her quarters by Skywalker, where she formulated a strategy to present at the meeting the following day—Operation Yellow Moon—designed to divert Imperial attention towards her, rather than the impending mission to Endor. Following a confidential exchange with Mothma, Organa received permission to participate in the mission, with her crew consisting of Nien Nunb, Kidi Aleri, Antrot, and Major Lokmarcha.

While traveling through hyperspace, Leia reviewed intelligence pertaining to their mission. A dispute erupted between Kidi and Lokmarcha. Kidi expressed her desire for amnesty to be granted to her former colleagues in the Imperial Intel Agency after the war, while the Dressellian asserted that they would face imprisonment or execution if he were in charge. Leia intervened to resolve the conflict, stating that they would address the issue after every General, Admiral, and Moff had surrendered, and the Imperial Starfleet and Stormtrooper Corps had been defeated.

They soon reached Basteel's capital, Eladro City, where she met with Bon Yoth to determine the optimal location for the first hyper-transceiver—within the cave system above his house. They were faced with a climb of one kilometer to reach the surface. During this ascent, they were attacked by nocturnal predators. She swiftly ascended to the surface, where they fled from the light. As the sun began to set, the temperature plummeted, but Nein Numb arrived in the Mellcrawler just as the sun dipped below the horizon. Despite their success, they found themselves pursued by Khione and her Shieldmaiden. They proceeded to the Sesid system, where they placed another transceiver on a volcanic island on Sesid. They were soon pursued by Imperials until the intervention of Aurelant and his Draedan pirates aboard the Daggadol. Initially, they feared that the Draedans would betray them, but thanks to his maneuver to extract them from the planet using Sesid's specialized escape pods, they made their way to Jaresh, where they met with Nyessa, installed the final transceiver, and participated in the Riot on Jaresh, after which the Shieldmaiden unsuccessfully attempted to capture the Mellcrawler.

After briefing her team about the true mission, Organa decided to alter the operation, issuing a warning to any incoming Rebel ships to evacuate the area. Upon reaching the rendezvous point in Galaan's orbit, they alerted the Sapphire Rogue and other vessels before being ensnared in the Shieldmaiden's tractor beam. They were transported aboard the star destroyer and confined to interrogation rooms. Khione entered Leia's cell and brought Lokmarcha inside. The commando had concealed an ion bomb within his clothing and sacrificed himself. Leia donned the captain's uniform, while Antrot, Nein, and Kidi pretended to be her prisoners. When stormtroopers uncovered the deception, Antrot created a diversion and was shot as Nein launched in the shuttle Tydirium. All the ships they had warned returned and destroyed the Shieldmaiden.

With Aleri's assistance, Organa then contacted Skywalker, who informed her that the majority of the fleet was nearing assembly, and that Solo remained frozen in carbonite within Jabba's palace. They arranged a rendezvous on Kothlis, where he would share his plan for rescuing Solo. Despite Mothma's attempts to dissuade Organa from the perilous plan, they proceeded with it nonetheless.

Visit to Ord Mantell

In order to carry out the rescue of Han Solo, Leia needed a suitable disguise to deceive Jabba the Hutt. Consequently, Organa, Chewbacca, and the droid R2-D2 journeyed to Ord Mantell to meet Maz Kanata, who was tasked with providing her with the disguise. Leia inquired of Kanata how she would furnish them with a cover story for Jabba, to which Maz cautioned patience. At that moment, the bounty hunter Boushh discharged shots at the group. While taking cover behind crates, Kanata explained to Leia that the bounty hunter would be the source of her disguise. Chewbacca and Organa engaged the bounty hunter, while R2-D2 operated a crane. Leia managed to disarm Boushh, leading the bounty hunter to charge the princess with a lance. After a brief struggle with Boushh, Leia evaded the fight to allow R2-D2 to disable the bounty hunter with a crane. Subsequently, Organa adopted Boushh's armor as her disguise. She expressed her gratitude to Kanata for her assistance in obtaining the outfit, and then departed aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Detour to Arkanis

During their journey from Ord Mantell to Tatooine, Leia received a communication from Evaan Verlaine. Rebel Alliance command had received word from Lando Calrissian that his ship had been shot down by bounty hunters on Arkanis, and that he was on the run. Leia contacted Lando to inform him that they were coming to his aid. In a clearing, Lando encountered Leia in Boushh's attire, mistaking her for the bounty hunter. He attempted to fight, but Leia subdued him before revealing her identity. She led him back towards the Falcon, finally scolding him about Han's predicament. Lando explained that everything at Cloud City was a "beautiful double cross" that had hinged on Han's survival through his usual means, but he had not anticipated the carbonite freezing. Leia criticized him for relying on schemes, to which Lando countered that scoundrels try to make the best of situations. They overheard Chewbacca being captured by bounty hunters in the distance, who dragged him to a cantina to meet with their boss, Bossk. Lando suggested that she summon the Rebels for assistance, but she worried that the Empire had too strong a presence in the area and that such an attack might alert Jabba and jeopardize any rescue plans.

Leia entered the cantina, disguised as Boushh, to congratulate Bossk and inquire about Calrissian. The Trandoshan replied that he could deal with the smuggler later, as Jabba's price on the Wookiee was substantial. "Boushh" departed, stating that he would see Bossk on Tatooine. Suspicious, Bossk dispatched his crew after their associate, and they located "him" at a campfire with Calrissian bound. The trap was sprung, and they fired on a decoy as Leia stunned them from behind with a bolo-gun. However, Bossk leaped down from his ship above. The two exchanged gunfire while Lando pleaded to be freed to fight. Leia struck some rocks, causing Bossk to fall and jam his blaster. As she attempted to negotiate an exchange for Chewbacca, Bossk's crew regained consciousness and fired at her. She shot both, wounding them instead of killing them. As Lando broke free, she knocked him to the ground and shot him in the chest. Believing Calrissian to be dead, Bossk agreed to the swap, and the bounty hunters departed. Lando sat up unharmed and impressed, remarking that Leia had "a little scoundrel in her."

Solo's rescue

Following Calrissian, R2-D2, and C-3PO's infiltration of Jabba's Palace to rescue Solo, Organa arrived with Chewbacca as her "prisoner" to collect a portion of the bounty Jabba had placed on Solo's head. Unbeknownst to Organa, Fett had alerted the crime lord, and as such, Jabba was already aware that the person under Boushh's helmet was not him, but he was still willing to pay the impostor, whom he believed to be a short, insignificant smuggler. Jabba offered 25,000 credits for Chewie, but Leia demanded 50,000 and no less. This angered Jabba, who knocked C-3PO to the ground. When Jabba inquired as to why he needed to pay 50,000, Leia brandished a thermal detonator and threatened the crime lord, alarming his guests. Jabba laughed and offered 35,000 for the Wookiee, an offer Organa accepted, and Chewie was taken by two Gamorrean guards to be imprisoned.

Later that evening, Organa freed Solo from his carbonite encasement. After revealing her identity, the two shared a kiss. However, they were immediately discovered by Jabba and his court, prompting Organa to use her armor to signal Skywalker and Calrissian that she had been captured. After unsuccessfully attempting to plead with Jabba, Solo was sent to the dungeons and placed in the same cell as Chewbacca. Meanwhile, having now seen Organa's true identity, Jabba decided that she would become his new favorite slave. As a guard brought her to Jabba, Organa attempted to threaten him, but the Hutt responded sarcastically and licked her face. Jabba then ordered two of his servants, Jess and Damaris, to prepare Organa for enslavement.

After being taken to the women's quarters, Organa was cleaned and dressed in a dancing-girl costume. During this time, Jess recounted how Jabba's favorite slave before her, Oola, was killed when the gangster fed her to his rancor. Jess also assured Organa that she would be treated well if she didn't cause trouble, but Organa rejected her advice and insisted that Skywalker would rescue her soon. Once she was returned to the audience chamber, Organa was chained to Jabba's throne and kept beside the gangster. At some point, Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna grumbled to Organa that he hoped she would be a better dancer than Oola. Throughout the night, Organa resisted Jabba's attempts to draw her closer, though eventually they both grew tired and fell asleep.

The following morning, Jabba and Organa were awoken by Skywalker's arrival at the palace. He was presented before them by Fortuna, who was mind-tricked into granting Skywalker's entry. Organa watched in silence as Skywalker tried to convince Jabba to release his friends. Jabba refused to bargain with the Jedi and dropped him into a pit with his rancor. While Skywalker managed to kill the beast, Jabba was enraged and punished Organa by strangling her. Jabba declared that Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca were to be taken to the Great Pit of Carkoon and eaten alive by the sarlacc.

Though she was spared from execution, Organa was forced to accompany Jabba on his sail barge, the Khetanna, while her friends were transported on a smaller skiff. During the ride, she was allowed to leave her master's side momentarily to observe her friends from a window, but Jabba eventually forced her to return to him on his throne. Jabba then informed Organa that she would soon learn to appreciate him. The crime lord celebrated his plans by making Organa share a drink with him.

When they finally reached their destination, Organa patiently waited until Skywalker launched his attack with his new lightsaber. She destroyed the barge's controls to plunge the vessel into darkness and leaped over Jabba's tail. Seizing the slack of the very chain with which Jabba had enslaved her, Organa wrapped its length around the crime lord's massive neck. Fueled by her hatred for Jabba, Organa unknowingly tapped into the dark side of the Force to gain strength as she strangled him to death. Fortuna watched in awe as she choked and killed Jabba before growing fearful that she would attack him next. R2-D2 then severed her chain, and they headed for the top surface of the sail barge upon being summoned by Skywalker, interrupting Fortuna's attempt to approach Organa. The majordomo, who had long desired to kill Jabba himself, considered applauding her method of execution in an attempt to gain the Princess's favor, as he had begun to suspect that she intended to claim the Hutt's throne for herself. On the top surface, the astromech droid and C-3PO jumped off the vehicle's edge while Organa met with Skywalker. Aiming the deck cannon at the heart of the vessel, the two initiated the barge's destruction and swung to the skiff where Calrissian, Chewbacca, and Solo awaited them. Picking up the two droids, they piloted the skiff away just as the Khetanna exploded, and Fortuna, who would nonetheless manage to survive, watched.

Organa later briefed the Rebel chronicler Dora Mar about the rescue mission. Organa shared with Mar the story of Jess, though she remained uncertain about her survival. The princess also spoke about Oola and requested that Mar record her story as well. Although Mar pointed out that neither of them were part of the Rebellion, Organa insisted that they be included in their records because they were part of the story and deserved to be remembered.

Battle of Endor

Upon departing Tatooine, Organa traveled to Sullust with the rest of the crew (excluding Skywalker and R2-D2) aboard the Millennium Falcon to reunite with the remainder of the Rebel Alliance's fleet, which was assembling for its most significant operation to date—the assault on the second Death Star, located in the Endor system. During the briefing, she volunteered for Solo's ground assault to disable the deflector shield protecting the space station, as did Chewbacca and Skywalker (along with his droids). Prior to the mission, Mothma attempted to reason with Organa on behalf of her deceased parents, despite knowing that Organa would disregard her advice.

On the Tydirium, as Vader had planned, the team touched down on the moon, knowing his son was on the shuttle. They traversed the forest, encountering Imperial scout troopers, who were then chased by Organa and Skywalker on a commandeered speeder bike. Although they dealt with the troopers, she was ejected from her speeder and lost consciousness, separating the two. An Ewok, specifically Wicket, roused her, and Organa quickly became friends with him. Two more scouts discovered them, but Organa and Wicket eliminated them. En route to Wicket's village, Bright Tree Village, they found two other Ewoks being held by two stormtroopers. Wicket scaled a nearby tree and, with Organa's assistance, trapped the stormtroopers using a vine. Upon arriving at Bright Tree Village with Wicket and the other Ewoks, they gave her a dress as thanks for helping them escape the stormtroopers.

Some time later, she found out that her companions were destined to be a feast in honor of C-3PO, whom the Ewoks believed to be their god. When she attempted to intervene, they threatened her with spears. Skywalker used the Force to levitate the protocol droid, demonstrating his divine "magic" to the tribe, which resulted in their release. Later that evening, Organa listened as C-3PO recounted their story to the Ewoks, which led Chief Chirpa to declare them members of the tribe.

Skywalker decided it was time to confront Vader, so he left his friends, and Organa followed him out of the gathering to inquire about his distress. Skywalker revealed that Vader was both his and her father, and that he was her brother, a fact she had always sensed; he then departed to face the Sith Lord alone. Solo appeared and questioned Organa, becoming jealous of Skywalker, but soon apologized and offered comfort.

The subsequent day, Organa participated in the battle alongside the team, which followed their initial infiltration of the shield generator and capture by Imperial reinforcements. While the Ewoks created a sufficient distraction for them to secure their position at the doors, Solo's attempts to hotwire the machinery failed, and she sustained a blaster wound to the shoulder from stormtrooper GR-792—who missed a fatal shot due to fellow trooper RZ-440 accidentally kicking his leg. Seemingly trapped by the approaching stormtroopers, Organa concealed her blaster as they approached and listened as Solo professed his love, after which she shot both stormtroopers, killing GR-792 and incapacitating RZ-440. Using Chewbacca's stolen All Terrain Scout Transport, they deceived the officers into allowing them to enter and destroy the shield generator, which then enabled Calrissian and Nunb, along with Antilles, to fly into the Death Star's core and destroy it from within.

Triumph and matrimony

In the aftermath, Solo assured Organa that Skywalker had survived, something she already knew through the Force. Solo stated he would not interfere in their relationship, but she informed Solo that Skywalker was her brother, and they kissed. Subsequently, they arranged for the Alliance to join them at Bright Tree Village, where they celebrated their victory, and where Skywalker eventually rejoined them. Organa and her companions stood together, reflecting on their shared experiences and smiling at their triumph.

During the celebrations on Endor, Organa attempted to dissuade their Ewok allies from consuming captured stormtroopers, and she requested Solo and Chewbacca to meet with General Hera Syndulla to obtain food rations. Syndulla agreed, but Solo had to concede that the Ghost was superior to the Millennium Falcon, which he reluctantly did. Upon Solo and Chewbacca's return with the food, Organa reassured Solo that the Millennium Falcon was the better ship and distributed the food to the Ewoks.

Following the battle, Leia informed Skywalker that the Ewoks were crucial to their victory. Two concerned Ewoks, Wicket and Kneesaa, approached them, seeking assistance in resetting the traps used in the Battle of Endor. After agreeing to help, they encountered a massive Gorax and fled.

It cornered them at the forest's edge, overlooking a swamp. Nearby was a log trap—an improvised battering ram held by ropes—which Wicket and Kneesaa had already reached. As Skywalker distracted the Gorax, Leia aided the Ewoks. While Skywalker used his Force abilities to distract the giant, Leia struggled to sever the ropes holding the battering ram. Skywalker provided Leia with his lightsaber to cut the ropes, and the log trap pushed the Gorax into the swamp.

Two days after the Battle of Endor, Solo proposed to Organa shortly after discovering an Imperial outpost. Leia and Han had a small wedding ceremony in the Ewok village Temple, where Leia wore a meadow green dress, and only those they trusted were in attendance. This included Mothma, Calrissian, Chewbacca and Logray. Skywalker officiated the wedding, with C-3PO translating much of it. During the ceremony Skywalker requested a moment of silence for those who could not be there. Leia thought of her parents and felt as though her mother was attaching the Rhindon Sword to her waist and her father was pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Although they did not keep the ceremony a secret, Han and Leia did not publicize it. After their wedding, the couple left Endor for their honeymoon aboard the Halcyon at Mon Mothma's suggestion, but their time on the luxury Star Cruiser involved a battle with Imperial forces. Organa began to tap into her Force abilities during the conflict.

Naboo

Twenty days after the Battle of Endor, following the Beltire Liberation and the Battle of Cawa City, Mothma assigned Organa, accompanied by Lieutenant Shara Bey, to a diplomatic mission on Naboo to enlist the aid of the old Republic member in reestablishing the Senate and forming the New Republic. Upon her return to Naboo after years, Governor Donta Gesset greeted them on behalf of Queen Sosha Soruna. Escorted into the Theed Royal Palace, the Queen readily accepted Organa's invitation. Subsequently, a planet-wide blackout occurred, with all orbital sensors jammed, caused by Imperial climate disruption arrays as part of Operation: Cinder, led by Lerr Duvat.

Captain Korro alerted them, and Bey and Organa deduced it was the Imperial remnant's doing, requesting pilots and ships. Due to Naboo's demilitarization years prior, they were forced to utilize N-1 starfighters from the palace, dating back to the Invasion of Naboo thirty-six years earlier, and manually pilot them without astromech droid assistance. Sensing a dark presence momentarily, specifically Darth Maul, Organa volunteered for the mission, while the Security Forces evacuated the city. Alongside Soruna and Bey, she embarked to destroy the Imperial satellites, with Bey diverting the incoming TIE/ln fighters.

During the battle, she rescued Bey. Calrissian and Nunb on the Mellcrawler II, along with other Rebel Fleet ships alerted to Operation: Cinder after a raid on an ISB black site, saved them from a new wave of TIE fighters. As Soruna destroyed the last satellite, the fleet destroyed Duvat's Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Torment, saving Naboo and allowing Organa and Bey to reunite with Solo and Kes Dameron, respectively.

However, the remaining Imperials still aimed to execute Operation: Cinder, forcing the rebels to defend Theed. Leia conceived a plan to defeat the Imperials by activating an ion pulse from a security system installed long ago, which would disable all weapons and vehicles outside the Theed Royal Palace. However, the power relays needed to activate it were damaged and required repair. Joined by Danger Leader Shriv Suurgav and recent Imperial defectors Iden Versio and Del Meeko, Leia took Del and together the two teams managed to restore power. Leia then took up a position on the front lines and ordered all rebel forces to fall back to the palace as the pulse was detonated, rendering all Imperial tech useless and saving the day. After the battle, Leia revealed that she knew both Iden and Del were members of Inferno Squad, a unit which had caused more than a bit of trouble for the rebellion in the past. However, she surmised that fighting the Empire meant something to both and formally welcomed them into the New Republic after they expressed a desire to fight for the right side.

Jedi learning

Training on Ajan Kloss

Following the Battle of Endor, Organa commenced training in the Jedi arts under her brother's guidance. At Skywalker's suggestion the two of them trained on Ajan Kloss. She then constructed her own lightsaber, which emitted a blue blade, and trained in lightsaber combat, becoming proficient enough to rival Skywalker and occasionally defeat him in sparring matches. She also practiced meditation with Skywalker, learning the basics of the Force to levitate herself and sense other beings. Luke shared his insights on the Force, explaining how it offered visions of the future, past, and the departed, based on his experiences. Leia believed this helped explain the visions of their mother she retained after her death. She demonstrated rapid learning and adaptation during her training, earning Skywalker's praise as a fast learner.

Discovering a holocron

During her training with her brother, Organa and Skywalker discovered a holocron containing the story of Qi'ra and her attempts to eliminate the Sith. Organa was puzzled by its unusual appearance, but Skywalker assured her it was a holocron and activated it, promising answers. It contained recollections by "The Archivist". As the Archivist recounted Qi'ra's goals to kill Vader and Palpatine, Skywalker regretted that she never sought their help. Organa suggested that Qi'ra relied solely on herself, lacking trust. The Archivist suggested that the Rebel Alliance had perhaps been engineered by Palpatine, which Skywalker said was wrong, but Organa pointed out that while he didn't create it, he definitely used it. When the Archivist described the presence of Darth Vader as feeling like you were in the presence of an animal eating its own young, both Organa and Skywalker latched onto that idea and contemplated it more.

At the story's conclusion, the Archivist stated that Qi'ra failed to defeat the Sith and witnessed the destruction of her Crimson Dawn empire, even theorizing that Qi'ra had been killed by the Empire or its remnants as she had never seen her again. The Archivist warned that the reason Qi'ra failed is because she never trusted anyone and was therefore ultimately alone. Organa was shocked by the contents of the story. She and Skywalker both agreed that the Archivist was wrong in saying Qi'ra failed, Organa pointing out that Qi'ra's Syndicate War kept Palpatine occupied long enough for the Alliance to regroup. Organa expressed her wishes that Qi'ra had come to come to the Alliance, and wished that Qi'ra had been alive to see them win against the Empire, unaware that Qi'ra was actually still alive.

End of her path

Organa, however, envisioned a different galactic service path, feeling a stronger pull away from the Jedi life. The pivotal moment that solidified her decision to cease her training occurred on her final night with Skywalker. While they were getting dressed together, Organa experienced a vision, sensing the demise of her yet-to-be-born son should she continue down the Jedi path. Although Skywalker hoped for his sister's eventual return to training, Organa relinquished her lightsaber to dissuade him, requesting he bestow it upon a worthy student in the future. As of yet, Skywalker hadn't fulfilled this request, and Organa remained unaware of the lightsaber's whereabouts.

Despite ending her Jedi studies, Organa cherished every moment spent learning from Skywalker. She integrated his teachings into her daily life and her career within the Galactic Senate of the New Republic, continuing to expand her knowledge over the years.

New Republic

Return to Politics

After concluding her Jedi training, Organa re-entered the political landscape. Shortly before an Imperial emergency summit on Akiva, Organa created a propaganda holovid. This recording announced the destruction of the second Death Star, the passing of Emperor Palpatine, and the dawn of the New Republic to the entire galaxy, urging citizens to contribute to the Empire's ultimate defeat.

Following the rebellion on Akiva, Leia took on the role of senator representing the Alderaan sector in the newly formed Galactic Senate, situated in Chandrila's Hanna City. In her senatorial capacity, she orchestrated the retrieval of the second Death Star's wreckage, redirecting it to the Alderaan Flotilla, which then utilized the debris to construct a space station that became their new home. During her time as a senator, Captain Lina Graf approached Organa and Chancellor Mothma, seeking a vessel to transport her to Mustafar in search of her brother, Milo Graf, based on a prophetic dream. Mothma declined to provide a ship solely based on a dream, but Organa, recognizing Graf's determination, shared the location of a bar on Emita where she could find the pilot and smuggler Jaxxon T. Tumperakki, describing him as audacious enough to accept the mission. Graf then sought Tumperakki's assistance, invoking Organa's name, although he initially expressed reluctance to engage with Organa and her associates.

Balancing family and service

Knowing that her husband, along with Chewbacca, was engaged in a campaign to liberate Kashyyyk, Leia made unsuccessful attempts to rally support within the Galactic Senate for troops and ships to aid in freeing the planet. However, the New Republic was too consumed with combating the Empire and securing liberated territories.

While her husband Solo received information from the smuggler Imra suggesting a reduced Imperial military presence on Kashyyyk, Leia cautioned against trusting Imra. Leia's warning proved accurate when Han and Chewbacca encountered a trap on Kashyyyk. Although Han managed to escape, Chewbacca was captured and imprisoned within the automated facility of Ashmead's Lock. Han later contacted Leia from the fringes of Wild Space. Their conversation was disrupted by an attack from Imperial forces.

Despite the family crisis involving Han, Leia accompanied Chancellor Mon Mothma to a clandestine meeting with the Imperial Grand Vizier Mas Amedda on the aquatic planet of Velusia. When a disheartened Amedda offered to surrender, Chancellor Mothma and Princess Leia declined, instead instructing him to devise a method for securing the Galactic Empire's surrender. Upon returning to Chandrila, Leia requested a meeting with the New Republic starfighter pilot Norra Wexley. After the New Republic Defense Force refused to assist her in locating Solo, Norra resigned from the Navy and embarked on a mission to find Han, accompanied by her son Temmin Wexley, his B1-series battle droid Mister Bones, the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus, Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, and the New Republic soldier Jom Barell.

Princess Leia later participated in a high-level New Republic meeting with Admiral Ackbar, Mon Mothma, and advisors Hostis Ij and Auxi Kray Korbin to deliberate on the war effort. Although Leia was frustrated by the constant disagreements within the New Republic leadership, she considered it a preferable alternative to the dictatorial regime of the late Darth Sidious. While meditating with a potted plant from Endor, Leia received a premonition that her unborn child would be a son, a warrior, and an angel.

Following the New Republic's successful capture of the planet Kuat and the crucial Kuat Drive Yards, Princess Leia contacted Admiral Ackbar via hologram to commend his victory. Chancellor Mothma then joined them, informing them that she had been contacted by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, the leader of the Galactic Empire. With the Empire facing defeat, Grand Admiral Sloane agreed to participate in bilateral peace talks on Chandrila. Despite Leia's skepticism about Sloane being the enigmatic Operator, she reluctantly joined her colleagues in accepting Sloane's offer.

Searching for Han Solo

Sometime later, Senator Organa lost contact with her husband, Han Solo. She traced him to Takodana but grew concerned when he didn't respond to her communications. She dispatched Commander Versio and the newly reformed Inferno Squad with the mission of finding and locating Solo.

Liberation of Kashyyyk

Subsequently, Leia and Chancellor Mon Mothma welcomed the liberated rebel prisoners from Ashmead's Lock, who had been freed by Norra and her team. At Hanna City Spaceport, Leia inquired about her husband's whereabouts from Norra. Norra assured the Princess that Solo and Chewbacca were safe but had remained on Kashyyyk to liberate the Wookiees. Unbeknownst to Leia and Mothma, the prisoners were part of Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax's scheme to assassinate the New Republic's military and political leaders on Chandrila. Rax, who was the Operator, had secretly implanted the prisoners with inorganic bio-chips, granting him remote control over their actions.

A month later, the Galactic Senate accepted Rae Sloane's offer for bilateral peace talks between the Republic and the Empire. Chancellor Mothma scheduled the peace talks to coincide with Liberation Day, a public holiday commemorating the rescue of the Ashmead's Lock prisoners. Sympathetic to the plight of the enslaved Wookiees, Leia attempted to persuade the Chancellor to dispatch military forces to liberate Kashyyyk. However, Mon Mothma declined to authorize an official incursion to avoid jeopardizing the upcoming peace talks. When Mothma offered to negotiate the liberation of Kashyyyk with Sloane, Leia insisted that the freedom and dignity of the Wookiees were non-negotiable.

Prior to the Liberation Day celebrations, Leia received information from the New Republic slicer Conder Kyl indicating that a New Republic probe droid in the Kashyyyk system had intercepted a communication from the Imperial Grand Moff of Kashyyyk Lozen Tolruck, ordering the Star Destroyers orbiting Kashyyyk to bombard the planet following a mass Wookiee revolt. Determined to rescue her husband and Chewie, Leia convinced Evaan Verlaine to co-pilot the Millennium Falcon to Kashyyyk. This timely decision spared her from being assassinated by Rax's unwitting agents.

Leia later contacted Captain Wedge Antilles via hologram, requesting the assistance of his squadron on Kashyyyk. Upon arriving in Kashyyyk, Leia's ship, the Millennium Falcon, and Phantom Squadron engaged the Imperial Star Destroyers Dominion, Vitiator, and Neutralizer in aerial combat. Their starships were soon reinforced by Admiral Ackbar's flagship Home One. Solo and his team successfully hijacked the Dominion and used it to destroy the Vitiator. Consequently, the Neutralizer surrendered to the New Republic, ending Imperial rule on Kashyyyk.

Leia shared an emotional reunion with her husband aboard the Dominion's hangar bay. After exchanging playful banter about rescuing each other, the couple reaffirmed their love. When Solo inquired about naming their baby, Leia insisted that their child was not a bandit and referred to him as an angel. The couple then embraced. Later on Kashyyyk, Leia and Han bid farewell to their friend Chewbacca, who remained on his homeworld to reunite with his family. Upon learning of the recent attack on Chandrila, the couple returned to the capital with Wedge in tow.

Subsequently, Princess Leia provided Norra and her team with her personal and financial backing in their pursuit of Grand Admiral Sloane, whom they believed was responsible for the attack on Chandrila. Due to her actions on Kashyyyk, Leia had become a political outcast within the New Republic establishment. While the New Republic no longer offered bounties for Imperial fugitives, she vowed to do everything within her power to assist her newfound friends.

Tidings from Jakku

Several months later, Leia was heavily pregnant. She was cared for by the protocol droid T-2LC, known as "Elsie," who served as her nanny and affectionately called her "mum." Following the advice of Doctor Harter Kalonia, Han purchased jogan fruits for his wife. While discussing political developments with her husband, they received news via hologram from Norra Wexley that the Imperial fugitive Grand Admiral Sloane had fled to the desolate Inner Rim world of Jakku. Leia encouraged Norra to continue her investigation but urged her to exercise caution.

Norra and her team traveled to Jakku, where they discovered that the majority of the Galactic Empire had relocated. While Norra, Jas Emari, and Mister Bones infiltrated Jakku, Sinjir and Temmin returned to Chandrila with information regarding the Imperial presence. After receiving Sinjir and Temmin, Leia contacted Chancellor Mothma and requested her presence at her residence. Following Mothma's questioning of Temmin and Sinjir, Leia defended their mission. Chancellor Mothma responded that the New Republic was responsible for hunting Sloane, not Princess Leia and her associates. However, Mothma commended Leia for her efforts to liberate Jakku.

Leia expressed her belief that the New Republic had an opportunity to end the war, now that the Empire was concentrated on Jakku. Chancellor Mothma agreed to raise the issue with the Galactic Senate but decided to send a fact-finding mission first. Unbeknownst to Leia, Mothma's political rival, Senator Tolwar Wartol, had installed a listening device inside T-2LC. Seeking to discredit Chancellor Mothma, Wartol leaked information about the Imperial presence on Jakku to the media. Later, Leia and Han allowed Temmin and Sinjir to borrow the Millennium Falcon and travel to Jakku. However, Wartol dispatched guards to prevent them from leaving, intending to sow discord among Mothma's allies.

War's end

While watching the morning news with her husband, Leia and Han witnessed Senator Wartol informing the media about the Imperial presence on Jakku. After meeting with Sinjir and reassuring him that they had not betrayed him and Temmin, Leia shared Sinjir's suspicion that there was a listening device inside her residence. Sinjir enlisted the services of his lover Conder, a slicer who had previously assisted Leia. Conder located a listening device inside T-2LC, and Solo removed it. Leia and Solo promptly informed Chancellor Mothma, who confronted Senator Wartol.

Leia and her unborn child remained on Chandrila while Han, Sinjir, Temmin, Conder, and Jom Barell embarked on an undercover mission on Nakadia, the new capital of the New Republic. The five investigated five senators who had opposed Chancellor Mothma's resolution to send New Republic forces to Jakku. They subsequently uncovered a conspiracy orchestrated by the Black Sun and Red Key crime syndicates to prolong the Galactic Civil War by bribing and coercing the senators. Han and his team thwarted the conspiracy by rescuing Senator Nim Tar's child. Sinjir then impersonated an advisor to the Chancellor and offered them pardons and political favors in exchange for changing their votes. This ploy succeeded, and the New Republic dispatched military forces to Jakku, initiating the final battle of the Galactic Civil War.

While awaiting her husband's return, Leia discovered that she could sense her unborn son through the Force. She described his presence as a pulsing, living band of light. At times, the light would dim, while at other times, it would surge through a vein of darkness. Leia also realized that her son could sense her emotions. After Solo returned from Nakadia, the couple discussed the Battle of Jakku. When Solo remarked that it felt strange to stay behind, Leia reassured him that they had their own adventure and were witnessing the dawn of a new era. Leia then felt her baby turn inside her again, troubled by something she could not feel and understand.

In the final days of her pregnancy, Leia requested gifts for the baby from both Lando Calrissian and Chancellor Mothma, even making Mothma, who had considered delegating the task to her secretary Auxi, feel guilty for not selecting the gift herself. However, Mothma's eventual compliance with Leia's request would ultimately save her life, as Senator Wortal had planted a bomb intended to detonate in Mothma's office. Leia rushed to the Senate tower, fearing that her mentor had died. There, she encountered Sinjir Rath Velus and lamented that she should have anticipated a second attack on her. Upon seeing Mothma alive and well, Leia ran to her old friend, pausing only to assist Sinjir by physically removing a sparking baton from a guard's hand to help him navigate through the crowd. Mothma quickly diffused the situation, explaining that Sinjir was now her advisor and should be allowed through. The two women embraced each other, grateful that Mon was still alive.

With the Battle of Jakku turning in the New Republic's favor, Chancellor Mothma received a peace overture from Grand Vizier Mas Amedda. Leia, along with Chancellor Mothma and her new advisors, attended the surrender ceremony, which took place in a crystal cave north of Hanna City, beneath an ancient tintolive tree. Leia observed as the Chancellor and Grand Vizier signed the Imperial Instruments of Surrender and the Galactic Concordance, formally ending the Galactic Civil War and facilitating the Empire's surrender. During the signing, Leia entered the third hour of her labor. However, she only informed Han after the ceremony. They then hurried to the birthing chamber at the heart of Hanna City.

Motherhood

Leia gave birth to her son, Ben Solo, on the very day the Empire surrendered to the New Republic. Numerous friends and family members visited the new parents. Rumors circulated that her brother Luke paid a visit before embarking on a secret mission, while others noted his absence. Stories about Ben's birth spread throughout the public. One account claimed that the Princess endured three full days of labor. Another tale described a swift and painless birth, with Leia simply calming herself and meditating to create a serene atmosphere. Other stories asserted that her son was born with a full head of black hair and a complete set of teeth.

Shortly after Ben's birth, Han Solo stood in the nursery, gazing at his son when Ben began to cry. Leia entered the room in response to Han's call, asking her to use the Force to soothe his cries. Leia instead instructed her husband to pick him up, and upon doing so, Ben burped, stopped crying, and snuggled into his father's arms. When Han expressed his concern that he would never share the same bond with Ben as Leia due to her connection to the Force, Leia simply reassured her husband that their connection was different because he was his father and that he didn't need the Force at all.

Following Ben's birth, Han and Leia decided to remain on Chandrila, although Sinjir Rath Velus observed that Leia was eager to venture out and assist in liberating worlds still under the control of Imperial Remnants.

Leia found Ben to be a typical baby, experiencing the full spectrum of emotions. Leia cherished many memories with her son, witnessing his first steps and hearing his first word. She also witnessed him harness the Force during a toddler tantrum, sending a toy flying across the room.

In 7 ABY, Han and Leia received a visit from their longtime friend Lando Calrissian, who enlisted Han's help in saving Cloud City. Leia gave Han her blessing as he joined Calrissian's crew. Later, Leia assisted them by instructing New Republic Captain Krull to allow the group of "New Republic agents" to pass through their blockade and depart Substation Grimdock, and later revealed to them that the pilot they hired, Taka Jamoreesa, was an undercover New Republic bodyguard. Upon Han's return, Leia was delighted by her husband's promise to spend more time together.

As Ben grew, he inherited his mother's Force sensitivity. However, he struggled with the dark side. Organa sent her son to train under her brother in 15 ABY, as Skywalker had begun to rebuild the Jedi Order, hoping that he would learn to control his obsession.

New Republic senator

Assisting Syndulla

In 9 ABY, Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Empire was planning his return to the galaxy. He had previously been taken to Peridea due to the actions of Organa's old ally, Commander Ezra Bridger. Around this time, Leia's name was included on a list of heroes on the gauntlet of Baylan Skoll, a former Jedi Knight and an ally to the effort to find Grand Admiral.

After being informed of rumors regarding Thrawn's return, General Hera Syndulla spoke with Mon Mothma and other senators, requesting resources to aid in searching for the missing Jedi and the Grand Admiral. However, the request was soon declined. Undeterred, Syndulla took a small squadron of X-wings and decided to continue with the search regardless. Organa was soon informed of this, though supported Syndulla's actions and decided to cover for her. The New Republic were quick to respond to this however, and Organa soon contacted Captain Carson Teva and told him that she could only cover for them for so long. Teva passed the message down to Syndulla, who searched for her friends Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano. Tano was eventually found and pursued the hunt for Thrawn and Bridger, whilst Syndulla was left to deal with the consequences from the New Republic.

During the prosecution of Syndulla by Senator Hamato Xiono for disobeying direct orders, Organa sent C-3PO to represent her in the trial and defend her friend. Before claiming that Organa had only recently become aware of the situation, the protocol droid presented a data transcript on the senator's behalf to prove that Organa had personally authorized Syndulla's reconnaissance mission to Seatos while she was unaware of Xiono's vote against it. C-3PO also added that Organa was willing to overlook the alleged mistake, with the request that further concerns be addressed directly to her. As Xiono reluctantly claimed to be satisfied, Mothma dismissed the case despite knowing that Organa did not authorize the mission beforehand as claimed.

Late New Republic Era

Twenty-three years had passed since the Battle of Jakku, and Organa was still serving as a senator in the Galactic Senate of the New Republic. She was stationed on Hosnian Prime and affiliated with the Populists, a significant, though unofficial, political group. The Populists championed the idea that individual planets should maintain complete control over their own affairs, while the Centrists advocated for a more centralized galactic government and a larger military force. Following the departure of Mothma, the former chancellor, from office, the friction between these two factions grew to a point where it threatened to paralyze the Senate.

During this time, Organa was present at a dedication ceremony for a new statue honoring her father, Bail Organa, on Hosnian Prime. At this event, Organa addressed the Senate, attempting to inspire its members to put aside their disagreements and take action. However, her efforts were unsuccessful, further highlighting the Senate's ineffectiveness. Losing hope in the government's ability to function, Organa decided to resign from her position as senator at the end of her current term.

After the ceremony, Organa had a private meeting with Lady Carise Sindian, a Centrist senator, who informed her of the death of Lord Mellowyn, the Supreme governor of Birren, who had passed away without any heirs. Because Mellowyn was a distant relative of her adoptive father, Bail Organa, Leia was next in line to inherit the position according to the rules of the Elder Houses. While Organa had no interest in royal matters, Sindian wished to uphold the tradition. Organa assured Sindian that she would have her staff look into the matter immediately.

Later, during a Senate session, Organa witnessed Yendor, a Twi'lek emissary from the planet Ryloth, appeal to the Senate for assistance in investigating a Nikto cartel that was endangering his home world. This cartel was led by a Kajain'sa'Nikto named Rinnrivin Di, who operated from the planet Bastatha. After Yendor's plea, the Senate debated the validity of his claims and whether they should take action. Feeling somewhat responsible for being part of a government that allowed this to happen, Senator Organa volunteered to personally investigate Rinnrivin Di's cartel on Bastatha. She was pleased at the prospect of some action before her retirement, until Senator Ransolm Casterfo, the junior senator from the Centrist planet Riosa, suggested a bipartisan investigation and offered to accompany Organa.

Shortly after the Senate session adjourned, Organa visited Casterfo in his office—a departure from senatorial customs, which would have required him to visit her in the morning. Upon her arrival, Casterfo welcomed Organa into his office, which she discovered was filled with Imperial memorabilia. Disgusted by his fascination with the Empire, Organa engaged in a heated debate with Casterfo, where he expressed his admiration not for Palpatine, but for the ideals of the Empire, and his desire for a reformed Empire under better leadership. Organa countered that Palpatine was not the only problem with the Empire, and that he had only been a child while she was fighting in the war. Organa then departed Casterfo's office, with the understanding that C-3PO and the rest of Organa's staff would schedule their trip to Bastatha at a later time.

A few days later, Organa and Casterfo, along with Leia's chief of staff Greer Sonnel, 16-year-old office intern Korr Sella, X-wing pilot Joph Seastriker, and C-3PO, began preparations for their journey to Bastatha. The voyage aboard Organa's personal vessel, the Mirrorbright, was tense, as Casterfo and Organa avoided each other following their confrontation in Casterfo's office. However, by the time they arrived at the planet, Casterfo apologized for his insensitivity to Organa's personal experiences during the war, and they agreed to put the past behind them in order to accomplish their mission.

Organa and Casterfo maintained a polite demeanor as they disembarked the Mirrorbright to greet the local officials, and they received a welcome to Bastatha from Nikto Magistrates Tosta and Xun. The senators and their team were invited to dinner and escorted to an opulent casino. While the group was offered a lavish meal, Organa insisted on participating in a game of Sabacc. The Niktos anticipated that she would lose money in the challenging game, but Organa, having learned the game from the best, intended to impress her hosts with her skill rather than her etiquette.

While Leia's actions pleased her Nikto hosts, Ransolm felt uneasy about his colleague's fraternization with what he considered "lowlifes." During their time at the casino, Leia noticed a group of visitors from the planet Daxam IV. One of the members of the group was an elderly woman who seemed to be observing her while trying to remain inconspicuous. After leaving the casino, Organa and Casterfo argued about her approach to interacting with constituents and the alleged "terrorist" activities of the Rebel Alliance. Later, Leia received news from Greer that a "business delegation" was coming to meet her.

This "business delegation" turned out to be a group of kidnappers dispatched by Rinnrivin. Without any shots being fired, Rinnrivin's subordinates whisked Organa away on a hoversled for a private meeting with Rinnrivin at his underground headquarters. The crime lord attempted to gain favor with the New Republic senator by serving vintage Toniray wine from Alderaan and presenting a holocube of her killing Jabba, an act that had earned her the respect of the Nikto people, who called her "Huttslayer." However, Leia rejected Rinnrivin's attempts to bribe her into persuading the New Republic to lift its ban on the sale of illegal spice.

Organa's meeting with Rinnrivin was interrupted by Casterfo, who had located her using a tracking device he had placed in her cloak. After a brief skirmish with Rinnrivin's guards, the two senators escaped on a hoversled and alerted the Bastatha authorities. Rinnrivin and his henchmen fled before the Bastatha security forces could secure his underground lair. However, Leia and her team managed to uncover information about Rinnrivin's operations, including his funneling of funds to shadow corporations in the Outer Rim. They suspected that Rinnrivin was part of a larger criminal organization.

After returning from Bastatha, Organa and Casterfo addressed the Galactic Senate and called for further investigations into Rinnrivin's cartel. Their speeches were met with partisan conflict, with the Populists accusing Casterfo of endangering Leia's life and the Centrists accusing Leia of withholding critical information. Subsequently, Lady Carise took the floor to propose the creation of "First Senator," a powerful position that would wield significant authority over the economy and military. While many senators were suspicious of Lady Carise's motives, Casterfo managed to persuade the Senate to adopt the motion by highlighting the pervasive gridlock in the New Republic. Consequently, the Populist attempt to block the motion failed.

While Organa and her Populist colleagues Tai-Lin Garr and Varish Vicly were disappointed by the outcome, they decided to shift their strategy by nominating a Populist for First Senator to prevent a Centrist from holding the position. Given Organa's reputation as a powerful and charismatic senator, Tai-Lin and Varish convinced her to run for First Senator. Despite her hesitation, Organa agreed to form an exploratory committee to consider the possibility, encouraged by her staff, including C-3PO, her aide Korrie, and her pilot Sonnel. Leia later contacted her husband, Han, via hologram to discuss the recent developments. Although Han expressed his disappointment, he understood her commitment to preserving the New Republic.

The following day, Leia and Lady Carise finalized their negotiations regarding the Supreme governorship of Birren. During their discussion, Leia revealed her adoption by Bail and Breha Organa. Given that neither Leia nor her son Ben desired the governorship, Leia consented to support Lady Carise's claim to the position in exchange for maintaining the secrecy of her true parentage. In conversation with Lady Carise, Organa conceded that the role of First Senator held some appeal. Furthermore, Leia dispatched Greer and the skilled starfighter pilot Seastriker to the aquatic world of Pamarthe to investigate potential pilot recruitment by Rinnrivin. However, the Republic pilots discovered that Rinnrivin was employing a mysterious militia known as the Amaxine warriors, operating from a base on the Centrist planet Daxam IV.

Leia, Greer, and Joph analyzed their findings, noting the Amaxines' tendency to operate in Centrist-dominated regions. Suspecting collusion between Centrist senators and Rinnrivin's cartel, Organa sought assistance from Casterfo, whom she considered the only trustworthy Centrist. Over a private dinner at the hanging gardens of Hosnian Prime, Organa shared her concerns about the Amaxine-Rinnrivin connection with Casterfo, persuading him to visit Daxam IV. During their meal, Casterfo confided in Leia about his difficult childhood on Riosa, which fueled his hatred for Darth Vader and the Emperor. In turn, Leia recounted her torture at Vader's hands, omitting the fact that he was her father. This meeting fostered an unexpected friendship between them.

The next day, Leia and Tai-Lin convened in the New Republic senatorial complex's banquet hall to discuss her impending nomination for First Senator. There, Leia found a hastily written note containing the single word "RUN." Reacting swiftly, Leia successfully evacuated the senatorial complex's conference hall just moments before a bomb detonated, devastating half of the building. While Leia's quick thinking prevented fatalities, several senators and staff sustained injuries from the explosion. Leia herself escaped with only a concussion. After receiving treatment, Leia sent a voice message to assure him of her safety.

Accusations of orchestrating the bombing for political advantage flew between the Populists and Centrists. Despite this infighting, Organa and Casterfo committed to continuing their investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxines. Upon viewing news footage depicting a suspected Twi'lek bomber, Leia decided to travel to Ryloth with C-3PO, Korrie, and Joph to examine the planet's archives for information on Rinnrivin's cartel. Simultaneously, Casterfo and Greer would journey to Daxam IV to investigate the Amaxine presence, under the guise of purchasing an antique Imperial artifact from a local dealer.

On Ryloth, Emissary Yendor, a Galactic Civil War veteran familiar with the former rebel leader, greeted Leia and her team. Within the Ryloth archives, Leia and her team discovered that Rinnrivin had been a minor spice dealer who had mysteriously risen to prominence in the past seven years. Leia and Korrie wondered if Rinnrivin's sudden success was linked to the Centrists. Later, Senator Organa attended a private dinner hosted by Yendor. During her absence, C-3PO, Joph, and Korrie contacted Casterfo, who revealed the existence of Rinnrivin's clandestine satellites orbiting Ryloth. C-3PO accessed one of the satellites and discovered that Rinnrivin was hiding on the Expansion Region planet of Sibensko. Although Leia was displeased with Joph's independent action, she was gratified that he had pinpointed Rinnrivin's location.

After departing Ryloth, Leia and her team learned that Rinnrivin was visiting the upscale planet of Harloff Minor, situated near the former galactic capital, Coruscant. Seeking to question him, Leia postponed her return to Hosnian Prime and traveled to Harloff Minor aboard the Mirrorbright. Organa and Rinnrivin met at a refined restaurant. Rinnrivin denied any involvement in the "Napkin Bombing," denouncing it as a terrorist act. While Leia acknowledged Rinnrivin's flattery regarding her suitability for First Senator, she rejected his renewed bribery attempt and used the opportunity to return her "Huttslayer" holocube, asserting that she did not need reminders of the past. However, Leia had secretly equipped the holocube with a transmitter to monitor Rinnrivin's movements.

Upon returning to Hosnian Prime, Organa learned of her colleague Varish's recovery from her injuries. She also received a holographic message from her husband, informing her of his participation in the fourth stage of the Five Sabers race. After hearing news reports in which Populist and Centrist media blamed each other for the Napkin Bombing, Leia spoke with her aide Korrie, who expressed fears about the New Republic's potential collapse. Addressing Korrie and Joph, she speculated that the Senate's internal strife could lead to a division. Privately, Leia feared the imminence of another war.

Later that night, Casterfo returned to Hosnian Prime and briefed her on his encounter with the Amaxine warriors on Daxam IV. Casterfo explained that he had gained the Amaxines' trust by feigning Imperial sympathies. He revealed that the Amaxine warriors had amassed considerable forces and starfighters in preparation for a conflict. Having confirmed the connection between the Amaxines and Rinnrivin's cartel, the two resolved to investigate the Amaxine warriors' potential involvement in the Napkin Bombing. Rinnrivin also informed her that the Amaxines' main base was situated on Sibensko, which also served as Rinnrivin's hideout. Leia agreed to guide the official investigation into the Napkin Bombing in the "right direction," while Rinnrivin pledged to investigate potential collusion between his fellow Centrists and the Amaxines.

With Leia's approval, Joph and Greer traveled to the shady space station Chrome Citadel to arrange a smuggling "cover job" to Sibensko, a location known for its criminal activity. As Leia's nomination as the Populist candidate for First Senator approached in a few weeks, Organa began preparing for her trip to Sibensko. She discussed her travel plans with Senator Casterfo, who cautioned that New Republic law prohibited the use of New Republic pilots and ships for illegal activities such as traveling to a known criminal hub like Sibensko. Leia invited Casterfo to accompany her on this trip to lend credibility to their mission in the eyes of the divided Galactic Senate.

While Leia's friendship with Casterfo deepened, a significant crisis arose unexpectedly. During a visit to Birren, Lady Carise discovered a keepsake chest and a music box that revealed Leia's true parentage as Darth Vader's daughter. As a clandestine agent of the First Order and a prominent Centrist politician, Lady Carise recognized an opportunity to sow discord between Casterfo and Leia and to undermine Organa's political standing. Aware of Casterfo's hatred for Darth Vader, she informed him of Leia's parentage.

Feeling betrayed by Leia, Ransolm disrupted the Senate hearing on Organa's nomination for First Senator by revealing her true parentage as Darth Vader's daughter. After Casterfo presented her keepsake chest and music box as evidence, Leia confirmed her lineage as Darth Vader's daughter. This revelation alienated much of the Galactic Senate, except for her friends Tai-Lin Garr and Varish Vicly, and effectively ruined her political career. After barricading herself and her staff in her senate office, Leia sought solace in a holographic recording of her late adopted father, Bail Organa. She then composed a message to her son to comfort him regarding the recent revelations about their family's ancestry.

While Korrie angrily departed due to Leia's perceived indiscretion, C-3PO, Joph, and Greer remained loyal to her. Leia and her remaining team resolved to stop Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxine warriors. The next day, Leia confronted Casterfo in his office. Casterfo retorted that he had been foolish to share his most personal and painful life stories with Leia, never suspecting that she was Vader's daughter. When Leia revealed that she had not disclosed her true parentage to her son, Casterfo pointed out that Ben was no longer a child but a man. After destroying one of Casterfo's glass display cases and knocking a noodle carton from a servant droid's hands, Leia stormed out of Casterfo's office.

After regaining her composure, Leia addressed the Galactic Senate to formally withdraw her nomination for First Senator and to request a leave of absence. She also used the opportunity to clarify her and her brother Luke Skywalker's origins as the offspring of the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, the man who had become Darth Vader. Organa also identified her birth mother as the late Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala. Following her speech, Lady Carise seized the opportunity to cast doubt on Luke Skywalker's integrity, given his long period of seclusion. In response, Leia highlighted her brother's contributions to the Rebellion and the New Republic, including his role in destroying the first Death Star.

Fortunately for Leia, Tai-Lin Garr defended Luke, reiterating that the New Republic did not hold children accountable for their parents' actions. While accepting the withdrawal of Leia's candidacy, he defended Leia's past record and emphasized that she retained his personal friendship and support. The Senate then deliberated on her request for a brief leave of absence from her duties. After some discussion, the Senate reluctantly approved her request. Ransolm, feeling guilty about his actions, did not oppose her request and remained silent throughout the proceedings. Leia and her team then prepared to depart for Sibensko aboard a junker ship. Despite Greer's affliction with a bloodburn attack, the team proceeded with their mission.

For their mission to Sibensko, Leia disguised herself as an indentured servant, wearing a heavy robe and veil. Greer and Joph posed as a Mandalorian and Ubese bounty hunter, respectively, while C-3PO pretended to be Leia's minder. The New Republic team docked their junker ship in an underwater city in Sibensko's southern region. Using a tracker, Leia determined that Rinnrivin was located somewhere within the underwater city. Upon landing, Leia and team discovered that they were transporting a cargo of detonators to Hosnian Prime. While Greer and Joph loaded the cargo, Leia and C-3PO ventured into the city.

The two accessed a computer terminal in a cantina. C-3PO downloaded banking records that demonstrated the Amaxine warriors had transferred billions of credits in start-up capital to Rinnrivin Di's cartel over the past seven years. Additionally, C-3PO discovered Rinnrivin's connections to unnamed sources on Centrist worlds. Leia feared that the Amaxine warriors were planning a major military buildup or that a coalition of Centrist worlds was preparing for war. Furthermore, C-3PO uncovered information about a large Centrist base within the underwater city.

Leia contacted Joph and informed him of the Amaxine military presence on Sibensko. She decided to send C-3PO back with his data to rendezvous with the pilots while she went to spy on the Amaxine military base. Since Joph and Greer were scheduled to depart in an hour, Organa planned to stay longer to spy on the Amaxines. C-3PO reluctantly departed to return to the freighter. Before Leia could proceed further, she was cornered by Rinnrivin and two of his bodyguards, who had detected Leia's tracking device on his holocube. Because Leia had accessed classified information regarding his operations, the crime lord intended to eliminate the intruders.

However, Leia shot one of the Nikto henchmen with her blaster and then targeted the central strut supporting the hydraulic tunnel above Rinnrivin, crushing the crime lord and his remaining bodyguard to death. Leia then reiterated her orders for Joph and Greer to leave with C-3PO. Unbeknownst to Leia, the Sibensko base served as the Amaxine warriors' headquarters and contained their entire army. Leia then took a lift down to the Amaxine base and discovered that it housed a squadron of starfighters. She then encountered six Amaxine warriors, who attempted to apprehend her. However, Organa fled up a landing platform that took her to the surface of the ocean.

Shortly thereafter, Leia was attacked by a Y-wing and B-wing starfighter. Before the Amaxine starfighters could finish her off, Han arrived in a modified racer and shot down the Y-wing. After boarding Han's racer, the wife and husband shot down the remaining B-wing fighter, which crashed into the underwater city's ammunition depot. This triggered a massive explosion that wiped out the entire Amaxine base and eliminated the Amaxines and Rinnrivin's cartel as threats to the New Republic. However, the explosion also destroyed much of the hard evidence on the two factions' financial records, which concealed their link to several Centrist senators and the First Order.

After returning to Hosnian Prime, Leia confided in her husband, Han Solo, about the political fallout resulting from the revelations of her parentage. While many of her former Populist allies had abandoned her for being Darth Vader's daughter, she expressed relief that Tai-Lin, Varish, and her former rebel comrades Ackbar, Nien Nunb, Lando, and Mon Mothma had stood by her. Leia also discussed her mixed feelings about Ransolm Casterfo's motives for betraying her. Solo advised his wife to resign from the Senate once her term was up and to join him traveling around the galaxy for a change. Leia then informed Han that she planned to address the Senate about her investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxines but that she needed to obtain a quorum.

Due to the political fallout resulting from the revelations of her parentage, Leia struggled to obtain a quorum to address the Senate. However, Casterfo cast a deciding vote in her favor. Leia related this turn in fortunes to her husband, who was preparing to depart for the hyperspace championship round of the Five Sabers which had been postponed due to family commitments. After Han had left, Leia discussed her plan to address the Senate with her remaining friends Tai-Lin and Varish, who expressed suspicion about Ransolm's motives for voting in her favor. Tai-Lin then informed Leia that he was planning to stand as the Populist nominee for First Senator.

The following day, Senator Organa briefed the Galactic Senate about her investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxine warriors. She revealed that Rinnrivin had been funding the Amaxine warriors, who were responsible for the Napkin Bombing. To back her testimony, Organa's chief of staff supplied each senator with an extensive data packet. Leia's testimony evoked finger-pointing between the Populists and Centrists. In addition, Organa submitted visual logs from her Sibensko mission and reported that Amaxine base had been destroyed during the firefight with the Amaxine fighters. When a senator accused her of justifying murder like her father, Leia warned the Senate that her investigation had foiled a conspiracy by the Amaxine warriors to wage war on the Republic. She warned that the Amaxine warriors were not the only threat to the New Republic and urged her colleagues to end their political bickering and not to let their views of her cloud the evidence.

Leia's former friend Senator Casterfo then addressed the Senate to support her findings. He vouched for Senator Organa's integrity and then offered visual logs from his trip to Daxam IV, which showed the Amaxines' training facilities and some measure of their military might. He also testified that the Amaxine warriors advocated war and admired the "Old Empire." Casterfo's testimony vindicated Leia's findings and aroused several senators. Due to Casterfo's courage and selflessness, Casterfo regained Leia's respect. However, Casterfo's action earned the ire of Lady Carise, who was covertly working with the First Order to undermine the New Republic.

The day after Senator Organa's final address to the Senate, Casterfo visited his former friend. The two reconciled with Casterfo praising her for her good work in the Sibensko mission. Ransolm then announced his intention to support further investigations into the Amaxines and Rinnrivin's cartel. While Leia did not thank him for supporting her testimony, she praised the junior senator for putting the greater good ahead of his own political faction and ambitions. She told Casterfo that he was the kind of politician that the galaxy needed. With Leia's political career at an end, she counselled Casterfo to work with other like-minded senators to prevent a war, even if it meant leaving the Centrists. Casterfo agreed to do his best to protect the Republic before departing.

Ten days following her final speech to the Galactic Senate, Leia accompanied Tai-Lin Garr on his first campaign rally for the position of First Senator. While visiting one of Hosnian Prime's parks, Leia encountered her former aide Korr Sella, who apologized to the Senator for abandoning her. She offered to serve Organa again, a request which Leia accepted. While Tai-Lin was mingling with the crowd, Leia spotted Arliz Hadrassian, the woman she had earlier encountered on Bastatha and witnessed in Ransolm's holos of Daxam IV. Before Leia could react, Hadrassian assassinated Tai-Lin with a blaster. Before turning the blaster on herself, Hadrassian told the Senator that she was lucky that Hadrassian was thinking strategically.

Following Tai-Lin Garr's assassination, the Galactic Senate unanimously declared an official period of mourning. Based on the data from Sibensko, both Populist and Centrist senators believed that Hadrassian was the mastermind behind the Napkin Bombing, Rinnrivin's rise, and the Amaxines. While most senators believed that Hadrassian's suicide ended the danger to the Republic, Leia disagreed and urged the authorities to investigate the source of Hadrassian's money, pointing out that a former Imperial soldier and small-time businesswoman could not bankroll an entire militia. During Tai-Lin Garr's memorial service, she raised the matter. However, her friend Varish was more concerned with mourning Tai-Lin Garr's loss.

Two days after Tai-Lin Garr's assassination, Leia heard a news report that her friend Casterfo had been arrested for aiding Hadrassian and the Amaxine warriors. After consulting Greer, Organa ascertained that the Centrists had framed Casterfo by planting fake footage of him shaking hands with Hadrassian. Before Casterfo was deported to face imprisonment, trial, and sentencing on his homeworld Riosa, Leia spoke to him and offered to help her former friend. While Casterfo was pessimistic that her help would succeed, he apologized for breaching Leia's trust. In return, Leia apologized for initially assuming that he was an Imperial loyalist. Based on her final conversation with Casterfo, Leia determined that the Centrists were behind the recent crisis and were eliminating dissenters among their ranks.

Before resigning as Senator, Leia took the opportunity to settle scores with Lady Carise for revealing her parentage and conspiring against Casterfo. Claiming Lady Carise had violated her oath to secrecy as Supreme Governor of Birren, Organa convinced the Elder Houses to strip the Lady of all her royal titles permanently. A smug Leia personally delivered the news to a distraught Carise and chastised the younger woman for her obsession with royalty and privilege. Later that evening, Leia organized a private meeting in the Senatorial complex hangar bay that was attended by several New Republic military personnel including Joph, Greer, Nunb, Ematt, Ackbar, Kalonia, Snap Wexley, and Zari Bangel. With the Galactic Senate too preoccupied with petty squabbles to defend the New Republic, Leia announced the formation of a new paramilitary organization called the Resistance.

Resistance

The new rebellion

Following the Resistance's establishment, Leia Organa assumed its leadership, transitioning from being addressed as Princess to General. The entire Resistance leadership consisted of individuals closely connected to the General, including Ackbar, Idrosen Gawat, and Amilyn Holdo. In the aftermath of the revelations concerning Leia and Luke's true lineage, her son Ben developed an obsession with perpetuating Darth Vader's legacy, influenced by Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Ben destroyed Skywalker's Jedi temple and his fellow students, embraced the dark side, and became a Knight of Ren. Abandoning his former identity, the renamed Kylo Ren ascended to a high-ranking position within the First Order, a remnant of the Old Empire. Han Solo and Organa, each blaming themselves, separated, while Skywalker retreated into exile, though Organa and Solo suspected he had sought out the first Jedi Temple. While General Organa continued to lead the Resistance, Solo and Chewbacca resumed their smuggling endeavors.

During the Cold War period, Leia approached and enlisted two new Resistance recruits: Rose and Paige Tico. They were escaping the genocide on Hays Minor. As the First Order gained power, many Twi'leks feared another occupation of their independent homeworld, Ryloth, and therefore pledged their allegiance to Organa and the Resistance. Meanwhile, First Order stormtrooper LB-1033 began to formulate various conspiracy theories about Organa's birthplace and her connection to Alderaan.

Prelude to Jakku

As the brewing conflict with the First Order intensified, Organa received reports of the Rapier Squadron's involvement in a dogfight against First Order ships over Suraz 4, as they attempted to protect the Yissira Zyde, which was ultimately captured by the First Order. Seeking any information about the Order, Organa traveled to the squadron's base of operations to meet the squadron's leader, Poe Dameron—who had independently investigated the whereabouts of the NK-Witell-class freighter and located it at a First Order staging point in OR-Kappa-2722.

After Dameron recounted the encounter, Organa observed that his actions had been reckless, but his commitment to doing what was right (driven partly by a thirst for adventure) and his exceptional piloting skills reminded her of her brother. Consequently, she extended an invitation to Dameron to join the Resistance. He immediately accepted, and in the ensuing months, as he undertook missions for the Resistance, Dameron became one of Organa's most trusted operatives. Ultimately, his skills and determination led Organa to recruit him for Operation: Sabre Strike, tasking him with stealing the Hevurion Grace (and its navicomputer data) from its owner, [Hevurion] senator and First Order sympathizer Erudo Ro-Kiintor.

Attera Campaign

During a reconnaissance mission in the Atterra system, the bomber crew of the Cobalt Hammer encountered Reeve Panzoro and his grandmother Casca Panzoro. They were subsequently brought to D'Qar, where they informed General Leia about the First Order's destruction of their planet. They were members of a local resistance group known as Bravo Rising. Reeve detailed the supplies they urgently needed, and Leia authorized the mission. The campaign proved successful, but at the cost of 3 MG-100 StarFortress SF-17s bombers.

Search for Lor San Tekka

Following the successful completion of a difficult operation by Karé Kun and Iolo Arana, Leia Organa commended Poe Dameron while tasking C-3PO with extracting data from the starship's computers. Later, while Dameron rested, Organa scrutinized the information retrieved from the Hevurion Grace. The next day, she summoned Dameron to her office to inquire about his perspective on their predicament, a conversation that triggered his memories of the despair of the Imperial Era as described by his parents. Inspired by Dameron, she decided to locate her brother and reignite hope throughout the galaxy. Organa then set out to find Lor San Tekka, believing he possessed a vital clue to her brother's whereabouts.

After the conclusion of Sabre Strike, General Organa sent Poe Dameron on a mission to locate the explorer Lor San Tekka. When Poe affirmed his understanding of the stakes, she reminded him that he had grown up in a galaxy where the Empire had already been defeated, learning about it only through stories. When Poe recounted his past encounter with the First Order, both agreed that the faction's power did not yet match that of the Old Empire. During their discussion, Organa commended Poe for obtaining information from the Hevurion Grace before it could reach Supreme Leader Snoke. She emphasized the absolute necessity of preventing the First Order from finding her brother, Luke Skywalker.

Leia informed Poe that Tekka held the key to finding Skywalker and expressed her trust in his ability to complete the mission. For this task, Leia authorized Poe to select a small team consisting of four additional pilots and a technician. Leia anticipated that Poe would not encounter significant trouble due to D'Qar's isolated location. When Poe assured her that he would choose capable individuals, Leia cautioned him to remain vigilant, acknowledging the potential for missions to unravel. For the mission, Poe carefully selected his fellow Black Squadron pilots Temmin Wexley, Kun, L'ulo L'ampar, Jessika Pava, and the technician Oddy Muva.

For their initial assignment, Poe and his team journeyed to the rocky planet Ovanis, where Tekka had previously visited the Crèche cult. However, Poe was shadowed by Agent Terex of the First Order Security Bureau. With Leia's assistance, Poe and his comrades secured entry into Megalox prison on the high-gravity world of Megalox Beta through bribery. Poe intended to interrogate Grakkus, who had encountered Lor San Tekka years prior. However, Terex pursued them there as well.

After facilitating Grakkus's escape from the planet, Poe discussed the information Grakkus had provided with General Organa. After reviewing the information on her datapad, Leia confirmed its authenticity. When Poe inquired about leading Black Squadron to the worlds Lor San Tekka had visited, Leia confided her suspicion that a spy was leaking Black Squadron's movements to the First Order.

Espionage Activities

Poe Dameron later undertook a solitary operation to acquire intelligence from Galaxy Beacon journalist Suralinda Javos regarding the First Order's illicit rearmament efforts, which violated the Galactic Concordance. Javos aimed to leverage the story to advance her career. However, Javos and Poe were ambushed and captured by First Order agent Lieutenant Weel. After evading Weel, Javos accompanied Poe back to the Resistance base. General Organa met with Javos, who apologized for exploiting Poe. Experiencing a change of heart, Javos chose to join the Resistance and share any information she possessed about the First Order.

Subsequently, one of the Resistance's droid spies on the Outer Rim world of Kaddak uncovered a wealth of intelligence about the First Order, including Snoke's location. General Organa dispatched her spymaster C-3PO, Poe, and the technician Muva to Kaddak to retrieve the droid. On Kaddak, they discovered that the spy was the BX-series droid commando N1-ZX, who insisted on disclosing the information only after being returned to the Resistance base. Poe soon realized that this was disinformation planted by Terex to expose the Resistance base and that Oddy Muva was a spy. Black Squadron and Terex's Ranc Gang proxies subsequently engaged in a battle over a desert planet.

Starling's Work in the Unknown Regions

During the cold war with the First Order, Organa Solo collaborated with spy Vi Moradi, code-named Starling, to gather intelligence on the Order's movements throughout the Unknown Regions. After exiting hyperspace, Moradi transmitted crucial information to Organa on an encrypted communication frequency. The general provided Vi with another set of coordinates to investigate. However, the First Order Star Destroyer Absolution swiftly captured her, but after extensive interrogation, Moradi managed to escape with First Order Captain Cardinal.

The Map Leading to Skywalker

Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, with the two factions nearing war, Lor San Tekka finally contacted the Resistance, informing them that he possessed the map to Luke Skywalker and was located on the desert world of Jakku. Believing that her brother could resolve their crisis, Organa considered the planet an ideal location, predicting that the First Order would be defeated on the same world as the Empire. Meeting with Dameron, she tasked the pilot with retrieving the map, but stipulated that he would proceed without Black Squadron's assistance, fearing that the arrival of four X-wing fighters on the planet would reveal their sensitive mission. Although she believed the mission to Jakku represented their best chance to gain an advantage over the First Order, their enemy also arrived and attacked the town of Tuanul. Witnessing this, Dameron entrusted his astromech droid, BB-8, with the map fragment. Furthermore, the First Order attack squadron was led by none other than Organa's son, still using the name "Kylo Ren." During his conversation with Tekka, the old explorer reminded Ren that he could not deny his heritage as the son of Organa and Solo, but the dark side warrior murdered Tekka, took Dameron captive, and ordered the massacre of the village.

Organa, who had been repeatedly asked by PZ-4CO, as prepared by Major Ematt, to record her memoirs, agreed to share a lesson on duty in relation to Operation Yellow Moon, after previously rejecting all seven of her requests over forty-four days. Upon finishing, Ematt interrupted them, informing her that she was needed in the D'Qar command center. Around the same time, the First Order seized control of the refueling station Colossus. Resistance agent Kazuda Xiono sent a message to the Resistance requesting assistance, but Organa was unable to provide support due to her forces being stretched thin. However, she did provide Kazuda with the coordinates to the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar. She then wished Xiono the Force's blessing in her response. While awaiting news, Organa engaged in a quiet conversation with Captain Snap Wexley and an attending droid, until Lieutenant Taslin Brance presented her with a readout indicating that Tuanul had been destroyed, Tekka had perished, and Dameron's X-wing fighter had been destroyed, likely resulting in his death as well. However, she suspected BB-8 had survived and instructed C-3PO to utilize the tracking system to locate the spherical droid. Subsequently, she met with her personal envoy, Commander Korr Sella, and dispatched her to the Senate to persuade them to take action against the First Order.

Elsewhere, Dameron and BB-8 had indeed survived, with Dameron having escaped Ren's command ship, a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer named the Finalizer, with the assistance of a treasonous stormtrooper, whom he named Finn. The two were separated, but Finn encountered BB-8 and a scavenger named Rey in Niima Outpost. They escaped the First Order aboard a ship very familiar to Organa, the Millennium Falcon itself, leading to their discovery by none other than Chewbacca and Organa's husband, Han Solo. Because the two smugglers transported the trio to Maz Kanata's castle on the planet of Takodana, C-3PO located BB-8 within the castle thanks to his droid network. Alerted to the finding, Organa prepared to recover the droid until news reached her that the First Order had used its superweapon, Starkiller Base, to destroy the Hosnian system, then-current seat of the New Republic. Dameron managed to return to D'Qar aboard the Beloved Bophine but dreaded reporting his failure to Organa. During their meeting, Dameron recounted the events, including his escape from imprisonment with the help of a treasonous stormtrooper. Organa allowed Dameron to express his feelings before informing him that his droid had been located. Understanding that there was a bounty on the droid and knowing the type of clientele Kanata's castle attracted, Organa told him that the First Order likely knew BB-8's location as well, meaning they needed to launch their operation fast.

After Organa sensed a disturbance in the Force, she deployed a Resistance squadron to Kanata's castle, led by the recently returned Dameron. In the aftermath of the Battle of Takodana, Organa, C-3PO, and a team of Resistance troops arrived at the ruins of Kanata's Castle in a transport ship, where she saw Chewbacca and Solo upon exiting the craft. Though their meeting was briefly interrupted by C-3PO, the protocol droid quickly departed after realizing she and Solo wanted to speak, allowing Organa and her husband to reunite for the first time in years. The two briefly joked about their appearances before Chewbacca greeted her, and Solo then informed his wife that he had seen their son, Kylo Ren, during the battle. He also told her about Finn, who was the very stormtrooper who had helped Dameron escape, and Rey, who had tried to take BB-8 back to the Resistance, but that the latter had been abducted by Ren on Takodana. At some point he also warned her that they would be unable to find her brother with the map BB-8 had recovered, as Solo had already seen that it was an incomplete fragment. After traveling back to D'Qar, Dameron, now reunited with Finn, brought the former stormtrooper to see Organa as she was speaking with several other Resistance members. She complimented him on deserting the First Order and saving Dameron, but, when he mentioned that Rey had been taken captive, she revealed that Solo had told her about the young woman and apologized for what had happened.

Desperate for any information about Starkiller Base, which was the very location Rey had been taken, Organa promised Finn that she would do everything she could to help her, though she noted he first needed to tell them everything he could about the superweapon. Afterwards, Organa conversed with other senior Resistance officers, and using Finn's information about Starkiller, they planned an attack on the superweapon, the location of which they learned by tracking the trajectory of the shots that destroyed the Hosnian system. Organa had tasked Wexley, Karé Kun, and Jessika Pava with putting together a reconnaissance run on Starkiller Base. During the flight, as Wexley's recon pod failed, Kun recalled that Organa had once stated every heist needed luck, telling Wexley that he was not out of it yet. Shortly afterward, Wexley would manage to pilot his pod back to her X-wing. Elsewhere, at the Resistance base, while Organa and the others waited for Wexley and Kun to return from the flight, C-3PO informed her that the map BB-8 was carrying was only a fragment and that it matched no system on record. Organa thought she had been foolish to think she could find her brother, but she tried to avoid Solo after he started speaking to her. Shortly after, however, they finally talked about their son, with Organa expressing that she wanted him back. She told her husband that he could succeed where Skywalker had failed, as her brother was only a Jedi, while he was Ren's father. Afterward, at a Resistance briefing discussing Wexley's recon mission, Organa was informed that the First Order was charging their superweapon to target their system. Thus, she agreed with Solo's idea to "blow up" the weapon, prompting the Resistance attack plan to destroy the base's thermal oscillator in Precinct 47. Solo also agreed to take Finn to the planet to disable its defensive shields, though he refused to tell Organa how he planned on getting the Falcon onto the base, citing that she would not like the strategy.

As the Resistance prepared for its starfighter attack run, Solo was about to depart to Starkiller Base with Chewbacca and Finn when Organa approached him. They both recognized they still loved each other even after everything that happened; Organa asked him to try and bring Ben back home if he saw him. Thus, Solo departed to Starkiller Base and successfully arrived using the strategy he had not wanted to tell her: making their landing approach at lightspeed to get through the shield's fractional refresh rate. Yet during the next phases of the battle, as she oversaw the operation, she felt Solo's death at the hands of their son through the Force and collapsed into a chair in grief as curious and concerned Resistance personnel watched. However, Solo's actions had allowed the starfighter attack, led by Dameron, to destroy the oscillator and, with it, Starkiller Base. As Dameron and his squadron flew away from the oscillator, Poe contacted Leia, telling her of the target's destruction. Leia, reeling from the loss of Han, ordered Poe and his squadron to head back immediately, citing the fact that the loss of Black Squadron would take away the Resistance's ability to fight at all. Despite her protests, however, Poe and the squadron continued with rescue efforts for the Resistance's ground team.

When those who had been involved at Starkiller Base arrived back at the Resistance base, Organa gave Rey, who had witnessed Han's death, a sympathetic hug. Upon their return, it was revealed that R2-D2 had the rest of BB-8's missing part of the map that would reveal Skywalker's location. Organa looked on with fellow members of the Resistance as the two hologram maps fit together, revealing the location of her brother. Sometime after, Organa wished Rey luck by telling her "May the Force be with you" before she departed D'Qar. Organa and the rest of the resistance bid Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 goodbye as they set off in search of Skywalker.

At some point following the Battle of Starkiller Base Organa wrote an entry in the Smuggler's Guide, a logbook that had passed through the hands of many criminal figures before ending up in Solo's possession for the third time. In the Guide, Organa reflected on her and Han's relationship, and wrote that she was putting the logbook back in the Millennium Falcon.

D'Qar's Evacuation

In the aftermath of Starkiller Base's destruction, Organa expressed her condolences to Inferno squad following the loss of its Squad Leader, obtained intel about the Dreadnought, and subsequently dispatched Inferno Squad to request reinforcements. The Resistance was compelled to abandon their base on D'Qar, fearing a retaliatory strike from the First Order. Organa commanded the Resistance fleet from the cruiser Raddus, while Dameron was tasked with diverting First Order forces long enough for the Resistance transports to escape. The escape was disrupted by the arrival of a First Order fleet comprising several Resurgent-class Star Destroyers and a Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought, the latter of whose defense systems were neutralized by Dameron shortly after the base had been fully evacuated.

Although the fleet successfully jumped to hyperspace, Dameron defied Organa's explicit order to cease further attacks on the dreadnought, resulting in casualties that reduced Resistance forces to 400 personnel aboard four ships. Incensed by the losses, Organa demoted Dameron to Captain, striking him in the process. Shortly thereafter, the fleet was attacked by a First Order armada led by Snoke's ship, the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy, and Organa realized that they had somehow been tracked through lightspeed. During the attack on the Raddus, the ship's bridge was targeted by a squadron of TIE fighters led by Kylo Ren. Sensing his mother aboard the ship, Ren hesitated to fire, as Leia also sensed his presence. However, Ren's escorts fired instead, and Leia closed her eyes as the torpedoes obliterated the bridge, killing Ackbar and many of the other Resistance leaders and blowing Leia out into the vacuum of space.

Despite being ejected into the lethal vacuum without an EVA suit, Leia managed to survive by using the Force to protect her body. Floating in space, Organa questioned whether this was the end of her freedom-fighting lifetime even though Luke had taught her that the future was always in motion and difficult to see. However, she recalled that every time she used the Force to see a glimpse of her own future, it never seemed clear, concluding that there would not be a good ending for her anyway. Knowing she still needed to return a beacon to the Raddus so that Rey could find the Resistance and bring Luke back with her, Leia propelled herself back to the ship to use the short corridor leading to the bridge as an airlock and was let back in by Finn, Dameron, and Kaydel Ko Connix. The exposure left her critically injured and hospitalized, leaving her old friend Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo in command of the remaining Resistance forces. Of everyone on the bridge when the torpedoes hit, Organa was the only survivor.

The Crait Conflict

Though incapacitated, Leia shared brief mental contact with Luke, who had reopened his previously closed connection to the Force, and she said her brother's name. Shortly thereafter, Leia awakened, seemingly recovered, but having previously been exposed to the hazards of outer space, she suffered from a lack of oxygen to her tissue and solar radiation. After discovering that Dameron and some of the other crew members had revolted against Holdo and were holding her hostage in disapproval of her leadership, Organa neutralized Poe and joined the remainder of the Resistance forces, who were evacuating the Raddus as there was no chance to destroy the Supremacy. Holdo offered to stay behind, eventually sacrificing herself to ram the Raddus into the Supremacy at lightspeed, cleaving it in half and destroying much of its escort fleet instantly.

The remaining Resistance forces escaped to an old Rebel Alliance base on the planet Crait, which was subsequently attacked by the First Order after Resistance fighters Finn and Rose Tico were betrayed by a slicer named DJ. During the battle, the Resistance broadcasted a distress signal to their allies, but received no response, with Leia lamenting that the galaxy had lost hope.

In that moment, she was reunited with her brother Luke via Force projection, during which she was comforted and given Han Solo's dice from the Millennium Falcon. Her brother reassured her that "no one's ever really gone" before engaging in combat with Kylo Ren, thus allowing Leia and the others to escape, leaving the dice on the floor of the base. Collapsing from the mental toil required to sustain such a lifelike illusion, Luke died on Ahch-To, becoming one with the Force. However, he died contented and at peace, which Leia sensed.

Rebuilding the Resistance

Aboard the Falcon

Meanwhile, Organa and the rest of the group managed to escape aboard the Falcon. Having finally reunited with Organa, Rey voiced her concerns regarding the diminished state of the Resistance. Organa, however, gave Rey assurance, stating that the rebellion possessed everything necessary to rebuild and rise again. Shortly after, turning her attention to Chewbacca, she remarked that, with both her brother and her husband now gone, it was just the two of them left.

Now out of the First Order's reach, Leia and Chewbacca found themselves in the cockpit as the Falcon jumped to hyperspace. Seated in the co-pilot's chair, Leia's thoughts drifted to her late husband in the captain's seat, leading her to confide in Chewbacca that she was merely seeing echoes of the past. Subsequently, Nunb arrived, and Leia asked him to take her place, explaining that he had as much claim to the co-pilot's seat as anyone. Upon entering the room where Poe, Rey, Finn, and BB-8 were celebrating their reunion, she overheard Poe expressing his belief that the Force had abandoned him. In response, she declared that the Force resided within all of them, describing it as "life's music, the song they made," causing Finn to realize that he would never fully grasp its workings. She then expressed her pleasure at their coming together and mentioned her need for rest due to her less-than-perfect health, requesting a meeting with Dameron afterward to discuss matters.

In Search of Former Comrades

Following the Resistance's devastating loss of its leaders, Organa determined that the Resistance needed to begin a process of rebuilding by finding new leaders. She sent Poe and Black Squadron out to find potential allies.

After receiving messages from his Black Squadron teammates, who had journeyed to the planet Ikkrukk in search of allies and found themselves embroiled in a conflict with First Order forces under the command of Colonel Barrut, Dameron approached Organa, pleading for permission to go to Ikkrukk and rescue his friends. However, Leia denied his request, acknowledging the First Order's overwhelming military strength despite the damage inflicted upon them. She knew that with each passing moment, their control over the galaxy grew stronger, assuring Dameron that her decision was the right one and that another mistake could spell their end. To reassure Dameron of her concern for the pilots, Organa emphasized that his friends had been vital to numerous missions and were not only soldiers but also her friends, fully aware of the risks involved.

Afterward, Organa pondered whether it was wise to risk the Millennium Falcon and other members on a mission to Ikkrukk, uncertain if they were truly needed despite her desire to help them. When Poe reminded her of their commitment to leaving no one behind, Organa retorted that she was, for the third time, an aging woman tasked with rallying a galaxy against insurmountable odds. Dameron countered by asserting that the message they needed to convey to the galaxy was that joining the Resistance meant no one would be left behind. Recognizing the validity of Poe's point, Leia reinstated him to the rank of Commander and authorized him to rescue his friends, wishing him the Force's guidance, but forbade him from taking the Falcon. On Ikkrukk, Black Squadron emerged victorious against a small First Order contingent but failed to secure the planet as an ally, as many of its leaders feared the First Order.

Upon discovering that many former rebels and other potential allies had vanished without explanation, Organa dispatched Temmin Wexley and Karé Kun to recruit Wedge Antilles and Norra Wexley to their cause, while she and her allies sought refuge on Ryloth as a temporary base. On Ryloth, Leia persuaded her longtime friend Yendor, a former rebel pilot and the head of the Ryloth Defense Authority, to provide them with temporary shelter. Organa was offered a luxurious suite within the RDA's headquarters by Yendor's son, Charth Brethen, but she declined, preferring to remain close to her people.

After more Resistance recruits arrived during the Twi'lek holiday Longest Night, Organa sent a team, including Dameron, the Wexleys, and Antilles, to Corellia to retrieve a stolen First Order list of potential Resistance sympathizers from the Correllian Collective. While on Corellia, the team freed a group of prisoners, among them Organa's former friend and fellow New Republic Senator Ransolm Casterfo. Organa had also assigned a Resistance team under the command of Shriv Suurgav to steal starfighters from the planet of Bracca.

Even though the Ryloth government did not oppose the Resistance, they also did not offer any support for their temporary refuge on Ryloth. The Ryloth Defense Authority was not officially controlled or connected to the government and permitted the Resistance to remain without needing the approval of the planetary government. However, eventually, the First Order received a tip that the Ryloth Defense Authority was harboring the Resistance at their secret base. The Authority and remaining Resistance troops planned a defense and retreat of the base. During the retreat, Yendor's daughter, Hahnee Brethen, was killed assisting Organa's escape. Organa told Yendor over comlink about the death of his daughter, as she felt she owed it to him to be the one to tell him. Organa, Rey, Yendor, and the other Resistance members escaped Ryloth, traveling to a location supplied by the Collective. They reunited with the Corellia and Bracca teams, and Organa was able to reunite with Casterfo.

Mission to Mon Cala

Eventually, the Resistance established a camp on the garbage planet of Anoat. Leia stayed there until she learned from Lieutenant Connix that the planet of Tah'Nuhna had been destroyed by the First Order. Upon hearing this news, the general knew what she had to do. She instructed Chewbacca and Rose to prepare the Falcon and boarded the ship. She then picked up Rey, who had become embroiled in a fight with a massive Anoatian pit beast, and subsequently went to Mon Cala to seek their assistance. Following a brief altercation, she met with Admiral Ackbar's son, Aftab Ackbar, and visited the Mourning Shrines with him.

Gathering on Garel

Shortly thereafter, Leia embarked on a clandestine mission to Garel with Dameron, C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8 to meet with an arms dealer. Upon landing at the Garel City Spaceport, C-3PO began to calculate the odds of a successful meeting with the weapons supplier as Dameron attempted to silence him, prompting Leia to explain to Dameron that the protocol droid simply wanted to be helpful. After Dameron's sarcastic reply, Leia exited their stolen First Order transport with Dameron following, but not before instructing the droids to remain on board and avoid trouble. However, this order was soon disregarded as BB-8 and R2-D2 received a distress signal from what they believed to be a local militia opposing the First Order. They soon discovered that it was a young Duros girl named Likana who would later assist them in sabotaging a First Order communications tower to prevent the testing of a new communications system.

Upon returning to their stolen transport, C-3PO recounted their story to Leia and Dameron. Knowing that C-3PO was incapable of lying, she accepted his outlandish tale. She then looked at Likana and praised her bravery, surprising the young girl. Nevertheless, Leia cautioned her against making a habit of putting herself in such danger before turning to Dameron and alluding to his reckless actions aboard the Raddus. After Dameron reprimanded C-3PO for the droid's own reckless behavior, the protocol droid offered a counterargument, stating that they were all part of the Resistance, which caused Leia to smile. Later in 34 ABY, the droids of Lotho Minor recounted the story of Organa and her friends liberating them from Akar Duel to bounty hunter Bazine Netal.

Training Rey

Some time after the Resistance's escape from Crait, Organa took Rey as her apprentice, guiding her in the ways of the Force. Organa was aware that Rey was the biological granddaughter of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and trained her despite this knowledge, drawing from her own experiences to understand that certain bonds transcend bloodlines. She trained Rey to the best of her ability, acknowledging that she was not a Jedi Master but had learned from the best, her brother Luke, and had even heard the voices of Obi-Wan and Yoda over the years of her life.

Palpatine's return

Following a mysterious broadcast from the presumed-dead Darth Sidious promising revenge, General Organa dispatched agents to gather information regarding the broadcast. The Resistance learned from Armitage Hux that the Emperor had indeed returned from the dead and had allied himself with the First Order. They discovered that Sidious and the Sith Eternal's fleet, the Final Order, were located on Exegol. General Organa granted Rey and her team permission to search for the enigmatic planet.

Saving Ben

Rey's quest for Exegol led her to the wreckage of the second Death Star on the ocean moon of Kef Bir, where she engaged in a duel with Kylo Ren. During the battle, Organa sensed the confrontation and realized what she had to do to save her son, Ben Solo. Prior to that moment, Leia had kept a secret: unknown to anyone but herself, Leia's attempt to save herself from the vacuum of space during the attack on the Raddus had taken a heavy toll on her. In the intervening months her health had continually deteriorated, and she would constantly hear her brother's urging to let go and be one with the Force, an action she consistently resisted as she did not wish to leave Rey nor the rest of the Resistance without first preparing them adequately. Upon sensing the confrontation, however, Organa knew that it was time.

After being led to her quarters by Lieutenant Connix, Organa used the last of her strength to reach out with the Force and call out Kylo's birth name to him. Before doing so, she let the voices and faces of her family surround her, even seeing the face of Anakin Skywalker. In that moment, she accepted her father's apology and returned his love, finally reconciling with him for the first time. Upon calling for Ben through the Force, Organa collapsed and died, the last of her strength spent. The only witness to her death was R2-D2, who proved true loyalty to her at that moment, as he had also been present at her birth. Organa's final act helped to redeem her son.

Legacy

As the heir to three notable families, Leia Skywalker Organa Solo chose to pass on her inheritances to three heirs: Rey, her Jedi apprentice; Poe Dameron, her military protégé; and ultimately Ben Solo, her only son. The Skywalker legacy was given to Rey, while Dameron would carry on the Organa legacy as the new leader of the Resistance, and for Ben she wanted her son to reclaim his legacy as a Solo.

Rey retreated to Ahch-To after deciding to abandon her mission and live in isolation. Luke Skywalker then appeared as a Force ghost and told her that he had been wrong for exiling himself there and that she must confront her grandfather, Darth Sidious. Skywalker then revealed Leia's lightsaber to Rey and told her that she should take both weapons to Exegol.

Upon learning of Leia's passing, Poe Dameron and Chewbacca were deeply saddened by their loss. Chewbacca was particularly affected, crying out in anguish. Doubt began to creep into Poe's mind as they wondered if they could still accomplish their mission without her guidance. Lando Calrissian approached Poe and offered advice on how they had once defeated an Empire with nothing.

After his redemption, Ben Solo journeyed to Exegol to confront Darth Sidious alongside Rey. Together, they were overpowered by Sidious, who drained their life force. However, Rey eventually rose to the challenge and destroyed Sidious, using both Anakin and Leia's lightsabers to reflect Force lightning back at him. Rey was empowered by generations of Jedi that had passed into the Force that resided within her, Organa's voice one of those that encouraged her to act. This act took all of Rey's strength, however, and left her body lifeless. Ben Solo was able to heal and revive Rey, albeit at the cost of his own life force. When Ben Solo's body disappeared, Organa's body back on Ajan Kloss became one with the Force simultaneously as Maz Kanata looked on.

Later, Rey carried both Skywalker's and Organa's lightsabers to Tatooine and buried them at the Lars moisture farm, and then ignited her own lightsaber. When asked her name by an elder, the Force ghosts of Skywalker and Organa appeared in the distance, giving her their approval that she was family to them. Finally acknowledging where she belonged, she replied that her name was Rey Skywalker; she took on the surname to honor her mentors and in recognition of the family she had chosen for herself.

One century after the Battle of Hoth, the Exogorth Sy-O, which Organa and her friends had briefly hid from the Empire inside of in the Hoth asteroid belt, remained confident it would meet them again, believing the atoms that had once made up their bodies were no different from the people themselves. It remembered feeling the Force in Organa, although Sy-O did not know the word to describe the energy field and believed it would find them again through the Force, confident they would laugh together at their past griefs and that they would come to know each other.

Personality and traits

At the age of ten, Leia Organa displayed a remarkable aptitude for social perception. When her older cousin Niano made a disparaging remark, she responded by accurately outlining his own deeply held insecurities. She exhibited similar skills upon her first encounter with Obi-Wan Kenobi, correctly deducing that he was withholding information and believed that the less he revealed, the less he would give away, while the exact opposite was true. Kenobi observed that, like her birth mother, Leia possessed fearlessness and stubbornness. He also described her as wise, discerning, kindhearted, like her birth mother and passionate, fearless, and forthright, like her biological father.

Adult Organa possessed a commanding presence and exceptional leadership qualities, serving as a courageous and quick-witted diplomat who was unafraid to voice her opinions, even when facing formidable figures such as Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. Organa also maintained her composure even in embarrassing situations to perform daring feats, like diving into a garbage chute or strangling the infamous Jabba the Hutt. However, she was also capable of quieter acts. Growing up in the early days of the rebellion, she became skilled at keeping secrets, a trait beneficial to the greater good but detrimental to those around her. Her close friend Raymus Antilles recognized her as an ever-enigmatic individual, never revealing more than was necessary to her allies to ensure their protection.

Intelligent, fierce, and determined, Organa would accomplish any task she set her mind to, prioritizing duty above her personal needs, likely due to her upbringing. She only "gave as good as she got," which was one of the reasons Han Solo had taken a liking to her. Despite her self-discipline, Organa possessed a fiery temper that she often struggled to control and was eager to prove herself, to be recognized for what she could do instead of for her title of nobility. Certain individuals within the Rebel Alliance gossiped about Organa's perceived coldness, with some even referring to her as an "ice princess." However, rebels such as Miara Larte recognized the immense burdens Leia carried in service to the Alliance and saw no reason to judge her demeanor.

Despite her commitment to Alderaan's values of pacifism, Organa believed in self-defense and in fiercely fighting for the galaxy's freedom. She never cared much for being royalty, for her priority was to help those who needed her, and not wealth nor recognition. A woman of action, eager to get things done and making positive differences in the galaxy, Leia was impatient, a trait she shared with her brother, Luke. He believed that Leia's strength of will, which allowed her to continue despite events such as the destruction of Alderaan and the loss of her son, was a manifestation of her power in the Force. However, she also admitted to herself that some of her strength was fueled by desperation and even hatred at times. She truly hated her birth father for everything he had done and refused to remember Darth Vader as her father, seeing Bail Organa as the individual who deserved that name. While she did fear that she could become like Vader if she learned the secrets of the Force, she resolved to never become like the Sith Lord. Even though she did experience a hunger to grow in her Force power after using it on Madurs, which concerned her, she knew she had unlocked her powers out of a desire to help others.

Leia deeply regretted that her actions on the first Death Star indirectly led to the destruction of her homeworld. She was conscious of the fact that she alienated many people because of that. Constantly questioning whether she did the right thing, she came to the realization that she would willingly sacrifice those innocent lives again if it meant stopping the Empire. In her eyes, the cause was greater than any one person. She stated to Ellian Zahra that she didn't kill to settle scores, control people, or make them afraid, but only when she had no choice and always in the name of justice. As Leia grew older, however, she placed more value in protecting lives than destroying her enemies; "jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up" could not be a winning strategy against forces like the First Order if there were no people to fight for the cause. She had the wisdom to realize that the Resistance having a leader with this foresight was better than having a hero who took unnecessary risks. Aware of how others looked to her for leadership, she looked to other members of the Resistance like Poe Dameron to take on these responsibilities when she was gone.

Powers and abilities

Force powers

As the biological daughter of the Chosen One, Leia, like her twin brother, Luke Skywalker, possessed immense strength in the Force. Following the Battle of Endor, Organa believed that she did not possess power in the Force comparable to her brother's and felt incapable of emulating him, but Solo reassured her by stating that she did not need to be like her brother. During the skirmish on Madurs, after all of her attempts to control the Force had failed, she simply allowed herself to exist within it as defeat seemed inevitable, which allowed her to call out for help and summon an edont. Afterward, Organa understood she had been able to use the Force because she felt it inside herself, instead of looking for it outside, and resolved to speak to her brother about learning its secrets.

Leia possessed a strong Force sense. At a young age, she unknowingly used the Force to sense others' feelings and thoughts, showing wisdom and insight beyond her years. She was also able to resist interrogation by both Reva Sevander and many years later, (unknowingly) by her father, Darth Vader. Luke believed that her strong "gut feelings" were another manifestation of her abilities; after her birth, she was left with a lasting impression of images and feelings of her birth mother, that she was "very beautiful, kind, but sad." After Skywalker revealed on Endor that they were siblings, she was shocked but deep down, she had always known this to be true. She sensed the lingering dark presence of Darth Maul in the Theed Royal Palace, dating back to the former Sith's duel against Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn during the Battle of Naboo. Many years later, Leia's power remained strong; she felt a disturbance in the Force when the Hosnian System was destroyed by Starkiller Base. Through the Force, she later sensed Han Solo's death on Starkiller Base at the hands of their son while she was on D'Qar. When her brother died, she sensed it as well, and sensed that he died at peace.

Leia actively demonstrated the ability to sense her brother's presence through the Force. When Luke failed to contact Kenobi while hanging underneath Bespin's Cloud City, weak and helpless, he called out to Leia with the Force, apparently out of instinct. She sensed him, and thus asked to direct the Millennium Falcon to his location. After the second Death Star blew up, she assured Solo that Skywalker had not been on it at the time.

Though not formally trained at this time, Leia could use her Force abilities in other ways; she could use a lightsaber with enough skill to fight in the battle of Nar Shaddaa. She unconsciously drew upon the dark side to gain the strength to compress the neck of Jabba the Hutt with a chain to the point of asphyxiation.

After being blown into space, Leia used the power of the Force to both remain alive in the vacuum of space and fly back to the safety of her vessel, where she was able to press the button to enter her ship. The exposure and effort left her in vital need of medical attention.

Despite not completing her Jedi training, Leia was able to preserve her consciousness after death much like her brother, likely being taught by him how to do it.

Despite her short time training, Leia became skilled enough in lightsaber combat to briefly get the better of her brother, although according to Luke, she wasn't as naturally talented in lightsaber combat as he was. She first demonstrated lightsaber skills while rescuing Luke from Grakkus Jahibakti Tingi, where she used one to fight off the stormtroopers Kreel had brought in. On the last night of her training, Leia was able to fight on par against her brother, and even best him in one duel when they were practicing together.

Other abilities

Renowned for her leadership and diplomatic skills, Organa was a capable mediator and had training in public speaking. She felt very comfortable leading dangerous missions. Often, Organa used her strategic and quick thinking to carry out carefully laid plans of infiltration or trick enemies.

Thanks to her aunts' insistent lessons, Organa was proficient in self-defense as well, including how to resist interrogation. As competent with weaponry as she was with words, Organa had great accuracy when using blaster pistols, rarely missing her shots. She could use blasters of all shapes and sizes, shooting several stormtroopers during her escape from the Death Star and destroying a TIE fighter with an AT-AT's heavy laser cannon during the Attack on Cymoon 1.

Organa had years of flight training; indeed, she could pilot a Lambda-class shuttle, and the Millennium Falcon, even admirably by evading TIE/ln starfighters while Solo and Chewbacca hastily tried to repair its hyperdrive during their escape from Hoth. Much like seasoned Rebel pilot Shara Bey, Organa could manually pilot a Naboo N-1 starfighter through Naboo's planet-wide storms without an astromech droid and destroy several climate-disruption arrays before saving Bey from a TIE fighter. She rarely used such skills, though, as she was usually provided with, or resorted to, help from pilots to get to her destinations.

During her youth on Alderaan, Organa learned how to ride, becoming an Alderaanian junior champion in steeplechase. Leia also knew how to plant and care for orchids as her adoptive mother, Breha planted Malastarian orchids. Leia also learnt and studied dance and would practice with her father until her feet were sore.

Equipment

Leia wielded a Defender sporting blaster pistol, which was called "Satine's Lament," which she used to defend herself from Imperial stormtroopers, used it again during the Battle of Theed, and to stun Poe Dameron aboard the Raddus.

While rescuing Luke Skywalker from Grakkus Jahibakti Tingi, Organa used a lightsaber to fight off stormtrooper, with her commenting that she had always wanted to use one.

During her Jedi training, under her brother, Organa wielded her own lightsaber which had a blue blade. The lightsaber hilt was coloured silver and copper with mother-of-pearl inlays. It had an elegant symmetry with silver and gold hues that referenced her upbringing on Alderaan.

During the awards ceremony held on Yavin 4, Organa chose a simple, flowing white dress featuring hanging sleeves, a design by Delva Racine. On Hoth, her cold-weather attire consisted of a Rebel-issued all-weather vest paired with gray military snow boots equipped with bindings. While visiting Bespin, Lando Calrissian provided Organa with an elegant leisure suit, composed of a burgundy tunic and a delicate blue cloak.

For her marriage ceremony with Han Solo, Organa chose a green dress adorned with floral embroidery, featuring open sides that allowed for leg movement. She carried a bouquet of wildflowers, and her hair was styled loosely, with two braids framing her face interwoven with lacing that matched the tie securing her bouquet.

Behind the Scenes

A Look at the Production and Carrie Fisher

The character of Leia Organa was brought to life by Carrie Fisher in both the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy. George Lucas, the director, personally supervised the audition process, with Terri Nunn, who later became the lead vocalist for the band Berlin, being the runner-up for the role.

In Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Aidan Barton (the son of editor Roger Barton), played the infant Leia alongside her brother, Luke. Julie Dolan lends her voice to the character in the video game Star Wars: Uprising, the animated series Star Wars Rebels, and the LEGO series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. Carolyn Hennesy provides her voice in the animated series Star Wars Resistance. Ingvild Deila portrayed Leia in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In the animated microseries Star Wars Forces of Destiny, Shelby Young voiced Leia. Misty Lee provided the voice for Leia in the video game Star Wars Battlefront II, while Rachel Butera voiced Organa in the Resurrection DLC. In the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, a young, 10-year-old Leia is portrayed by Vivien Lyra Blair.

Following Fisher's passing in December of 2016, Rian Johnson, the director of Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, confirmed that Fisher had completed filming all of her scenes in the preceding July and that Leia would indeed be present in Episode VIII. On January 6, 2017, reports surfaced indicating that Disney was "scrambling" in the aftermath of Fisher's death, and that Colin Trevorrow, the director of Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, was scheduled to meet with Kathleen Kennedy and other executives to determine how to adjust the storyline of Episode IX, which could potentially impact Episode VIII as well. Shortly after this meeting, Lucasfilm made the announcement that they had decided against digitally recreating Fisher's character for any future films. On March 24, 2017, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that Fisher's role in The Last Jedi had not been altered after her death, and that her performance would remain as originally planned. On April 7, 2017, Todd Fisher, Carrie Fisher's brother, revealed that Leia Organa would appear in Star Wars: Episode IX through previously recorded footage. However, Kennedy soon confirmed that Fisher would not be in the film, and that the team had "pretty much started over" on it given her passing. The casting announcement for Episode IX later revealed that Fisher would appear in the film after all using unseen footage from The Force Awakens.

On October 29, 2014, a Leia costume was incorporated into The Sims 4 for a Halloween-themed update, allowing players to dress their Sims in-game. This costume is purely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay.

Character's Evolution

In George Lucas's rough draft of the original film, Leia was conceived as a fourteen-year-old princess (mirroring the age of Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace), the pampered daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae. In that initial concept, she had two brothers, Biggs and Windy, whose characters underwent significant revisions by the fourth draft (although they were absent in the intermediate versions). The third draft established her as Leia Organa, Princess of the peaceful world of Organa Major. By the fourth draft, Organa Major was renamed Alderaan. Interestingly, when George Lucas was crafting background material for licensees in 1977, he indicated that she had several brothers and that she was uncertain whether her parents had survived the destruction of her home planet. However, no one from the House of Organa had yet made contact with the Rebels.

According to producer Gary Kurtz, Luke and Leia were not initially intended to be siblings. Luke's sister was originally planned to be a separate character on the other side of the galaxy, who would appear in a later episode that was never realized. The decision to make Leia Luke's sister was incorporated into Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi "to tie everything together neatly".

Hair and Costume Design

Organa's distinctive "cinnamon bun" or "donut" hairstyle emerged after an extensive design process that explored various options. A drawing by concept artist Ralph McQuarrie depicted Organa with what Star Wars Insider described as "unkempt contemporary looks." Other ideas included slicked-back hair and austere styles. Fisher herself recalled having to try on at least thirty different hairstyles. Ultimately, the iconic donut style was conceived by hairdresser Patricia McDermott, who devised the style and tested it on Fisher during costume fittings shortly before the commencement of filming for A New Hope. George Lucas commented on Leia's "cinnamon bun" hairstyle in Time magazine: "In the 1977 film, I was working very hard to create something different that wasn't fashion, so I went with a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look, which is what that is. The buns are basically from turn-of-the-century Mexico." Fisher, however, stated Lucas approved of the hairstyle by simply saying "That's okay." In 2017, the Smithsonian's traveling exhibition "Star Wars and the Power of Costume" featured a photograph of Mexican revolutionary colonel Clara de la Rocha as one of the inspirations for the style, alongside images of Native American Hopi tribe women sporting a similar "squash blossom" hairstyle.

The costume designer for the films implemented a "no lingerie in space" policy, which prohibited Fisher from wearing a brassiere. To maintain modesty, adhesive tape was employed as a substitute for the forbidden undergarment.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Television Show

During the making of Obi-Wan Kenobi, writer Joby Harold sought a compelling reason for Obi-Wan Kenobi to depart Tatooine, leading him to create the character of young Leia Organa as a catalyst for Kenobi's action. She was intended to evoke a maternal instinct in Kenobi, reminding him that life extends beyond adhering strictly to rules. She was also meant to reveal Kenobi's human side and encourage him to trust others. Harold expressed excitement about expanding on the details of Organa's story that were hinted at in her message to Kenobi in A New Hope, such as her reasoning for seeking his help. Harold also aimed to make Organa as significant as Luke Skywalker. The goal was to portray Organa in a way that honored Carrie Fisher's performance in the original trilogy and showcased her inheriting the best qualities of both Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. Harold also sought to illustrate how Organa's adoptive parents shaped her into the person she becomes. Harold found it challenging to write her in a way that come across as her being spirited and not just an adult writing for a child. He drew inspiration from the films Paper Moon and Midnight Run to inform Organa and Kenobi's relationship following her rescue on Daiyu. A code name was used to keep Organa's appearance a secret.

Director Deborah Chow extended the role to young actress Vivien Lyra Blair, who dedicated a summer to filming for the series. In a chemistry test between Blair and Ewan McGregor, the actor who played Kenobi in the series, they recited the lines for one of their conversations on Daiyu. Chow believed that Blair captured the essence of Organa and Carrie Fisher. McGregor noted that Blair possessed all the wit and cheek of Fisher's portrayal of Organa. The two actors developed a closer bond during filming, which mirrored the evolving relationship between Organa and Kenobi in the series.

Feminist Symbol

In January 2017, images of Leia, both as a princess and a general, were prominently displayed during the Women's March, not only in the United States but also internationally. According to feminist writer Anne Thériault, Princess Leia stood out as the most empowering feminist character of all, one who "keeps fighting when things seem impossible." Actress Meredith Salenger, who played the female Jedi Barriss Offee in several Star Wars animated series, hailed Organa as "the beginning of the strong woman role" evident in modern storytelling.

Her Birth Mother

George Lucas expressed his desire for one of the Skywalker twins to recall their mother, which explains Leia's description of her as "very beautiful, kind but sad" in Return of the Jedi.

Upon the release of Revenge of the Sith, many viewers questioned how Leia could claim to remember her mother when she had only known her for a brief moment. There has been some debate about whether Leia is referring to her biological mother, Padmé Amidala, or her adoptive mother, Breha Organa. StarWars.com, the official Star Wars website, stated in a Q & A section that Leia is remembering Padmé, but this may no longer be canonical.

In an interview in the November 2005 edition from the UK magazine Total Film, producer Rick McCallum was asked about this incongruence, to which McCallum teased that the ultimately-unrealized Star Wars: Underworld television series could have answered that.

Chronological Order

Dark Droids 1 depicts Leia Organa as already aware of the Death Star II. However Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, in which Leia is informed of the Death Star II, takes place after Dark Droids.