A highly controversial moment of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker makes even less sense than it originally seemed based on Leia Organa’s book Star Wars history. Despite Star Wars: The Force Awakens being released nearly a decade ago, the sequel trilogy remains a controversial subject among Star Wars movies and TV shows. There have been a number of problems with the nominated sequel trilogy over the years, although Rey choosing the last name Skywalker at the end of The Rise of Skywalker remains one of the biggest complaints to date.
Many argued that this name change made little sense because Rey didn’t have a fair claim to the name or because the decision came out of the blue. However, The Rise of Skywalker makes it clear that Rey had Luke and Leia’s approval to adopt that name as her own. The big question is why Leia Organa felt so strongly about this in the first place.
Leia Organa gives Rey her blessing to claim the Skywalker surname
The Rise of Skywalker Makes It Clear That Luke and Leia Approve
At the end of The Rise of SkywalkerRey visited Lars’ home on Tatooine to bury Anakin Skywalker and Leia’s lightsabers. While doing so, an older woman finds Rey and asks her name, at which point Rey introduces herself as “Rey Skywalker.” This immediately proved controversial, as did many choices in The Rise of Skywalkerbut the film tries to protect itself from scrutiny on this subject.
As Rey buries the lightsabers and adopts the name Skywalker, the Force ghosts of Luke and Leia appear, smiling at her. This appearance of Luke and Leia as Force ghosts is clearly intended to symbolize their approval of Rey becoming a Skywalker. While this may work to support Rey’s claim to the name, it raises other questions, particularly regarding Leia’s own feelings and use of the name.
Leia didn’t want to be seen as Skywalker
Skywalker wasn’t a name Leia chose for herself
While many have disagreed with Rey becoming a Skywalker, the much more pressing question is why Leia would have an opinion on the name to begin with. Star Wars made it very clear that Leia never identified as Skywalker or used the name herself. In fact, the Obi Wan Kenobi show goes to great lengths to confirm that Leia is “an Organa in every way.” Even outside Star Wars shows and movies, Leia’s strained relationship with the Skywalker family tree was evident.
Star Wars made it very clear that Leia never identified as Skywalker or used the name herself.
In the canonical book Star Wars: BloodlineWritten by Claudia Gray, Leia intentionally hides her identity as a descendant of Anakin Skywalker. Leia holds a key position in the New Republic (unsurprisingly, given her considerable contributions to the Rebellion during the Dark Times), and she seems very aware that exposing her lineage, even when she still holds so much animosity toward her father biological and everything he did, could ruin that role and her perception throughout the galaxy. Given Leia’s desperation to keep this truth hidden, it’s strange that she would give Rey her blessing to use the name.
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These feelings also went far beyond Leia not wanting to risk her political standing. In Legends, Leia had a son named Anakin, revealing that she learned to forgive Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and accepted him as her biological father. This wasn’t remotely the case in canon. In canon Star Wars In the timeline, there is little evidence that Leia forgave Anakin, and she certainly never used the name Leia Skywalker.
Will Star Wars reveal that Leia has forgiven Anakin more than we thought?
Leia never accepted or forgave Anakin Skywalker…on screen
Given Leia’s rejection of her lineage and continued connection to Organa’s name and family, it is difficult to understand why Rey would seek Leia’s approval to adopt the Skywalker surname and why Leia would grant it. One possibility is that Star Wars will retroactively reveal that Leia forgave Anakin after all. It would be quite easy to introduce this idea into the next Rey film. Star Wars film, supposedly titled Star Wars: New Jedi Order. It could even be as simple as Rey saying Leia said she forgave Anakin and embraced his lineage.
Without some sort of explanation, this will remain a strange aspect of Star Wars. Yes, Leia was a Skywalker by blood and loved her brother Luke, but her feelings about Vader and who her real father was were very well known. At the moment, it’s still quite strange that Leia Organa gave her seal of approval for Rey to take on the Skywalker surname in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.