While the Star Wars The sequel trilogy still gets a lot of criticism almost 5 years after its conclusion, I’m so happy for Disney Star Wars I didn’t keep it Princess Leia Organa Legends turning point. When Disney bought Star Warscountless books, characters and stories were removed from the canon and became part of Legends. There was a lot of backlash over this move, both because Disney’s acquisition of Disney Star Wars it meant that George Lucas was no longer in charge and because some of these characters and stories were very popular.
The negative reception of Disney’s acquisition of the franchise likely contributed to many considering the sequels as one of the Star Wars worst films, although many of these criticisms also had to do with the treatment of the three heroes of the original trilogy – Luke Skywalker in particular. I agree that there were problems with the sequel trilogy, and Luke losing hope in the Jedi and the galaxy was arguably among them, but some sequel trilogy decisions were much better than Legends. A sequel trilogy choice regarding Leia’s story in particular was a huge improvement for one main reason.
Leia’s youngest son is called Anakin in the legends
Han Solo and Leia Organa had three children in Legends
In Legends, Leia Organa and Han Solo had three children: twins Jacen and Jaina and a younger son named Anakin. While it was a great way to honor Anakin Skywalker’s legacy (and redemption), it was a confusing choice even at the time. Unlike Luke, Leia never truly forgave Anakin/Darth Vader for everything he did. This made a lot of sense, given that Vader imprisoned and tortured Leia and then blew up his entire planet – including her parents – in front of her.
Unlike Luke, Leia never truly forgave Anakin/Darth Vader for everything he did.
Although Luke had many reasons to resent Vader, he also had the opportunity to see Vader’s transformation back into Anakin Skywalker in the end; Leia never did that. This made it more than a little strange that Leia would choose to name her son Anakin. This also raised other questions such as, Rumor has it that George Lucas wasn’t too keen on there being another Anakin in Star Wars.
It’s safe to assume Lucas approved, as Anakin Solo became an important part of the Star Wars books, but it also makes sense that the addition of another Anakin wouldn’t be preferable in Lucas’ mind. Anakin Skywalker was truly unique, literally the Chosen One, and having another major character named Anakin in the franchise didn’t fit with that. Perhaps this is why Anakin Solo died in Troy Denning’s film. Star by star.
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Bail Organa was Leia’s real father
Star Wars Canon made it clear that Leia viewed Bail as her real father
Canon made it even clearer that this Legends choice was completely wrong for Leia because she had a much stronger connection with her adoptive father, Bail Organa, than she ever had with her biological father. THE Obi Wan Kenobi The show especially revealed how close Bail and Leia were, with Bail even stating “You are an Organa in every way” put any contrary thoughts to bed. This show was also the first time that the genuine love and familial bond between Leia and Bail (and Leia and Breha) was shown on screen.
“Canon has made it even clearer that the choice of Legends was completely wrong for Leia.”
When the Legends books were written, Leia’s connection to her adoptive parents was only minimally understood. She seemed to recover from their deaths surprisingly quickly, although the same could be said of Luke’s response to Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen’s deaths. Despite his moderate response to A New Hopeit becomes increasingly clear how much Leia loved her parents. In fact, Claudia Gray’s canonical book Star Wars: Bloodline confirms that Leia viewed Bail, and not Anakin, as her real father.
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Given how the canon has represented Leia’s feelings and relationships with Anakin and Bail, respectively, it would make very little sense for the sequel trilogy to give her a son named Anakin, as Legends did. Particularly with this additional context, in fact, this would have been a great disrespect to Bail Organa and his memory. Anakin Skywalker is undoubtedly one of the Star Wars best characters, but Bail took Leia in, loved her entirely as his own, and raised her as the woman seen throughout Star Wars movies and TV shows; he would have deserved this honor more.
Why did Leia name her son “Ben” and not Bail?
Ben Solo’s name was surprising
Even though the sequels didn’t give Leia a son named Anakin, snubbing Bail, it was curious that she chose the name Ben for her son instead. Star Wars canon. THE Obi Wan Kenobi show worked to explain that too, though. Based on Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and A New Hopeit appeared that Obi-Wan and Leia had not interacted between the day she was born and the day she sought Obi-Wan’s help when she was captured by the Empire.
Obi Wan Kenobi revealed that the two had a big encounter when Leia was 10 years old, where Obi-Wan saved Leia’s life (more than once). Presumably, this is why Leia chose the name Ben, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s nickname when he was hiding on Tatooine, as her son’s name. Arguably, this is still a bit despicable for Bail. Yes, Obi-Wan saved Leia’s life and was a brilliant Jedi, but it’s strange that Leia wanted to honor a person in her life through her son’s name and didn’t choose his father, Bail.
Still, it was better than Star Wars The sequel trilogy didn’t give Leia a son named Anakin. In canon, it was clear that Leia’s real father was Bail Organa, not Anakin Skywalker, and opinions vary on whether Leia truly forgave Anakin. While Ben’s name for his son still raises some questions, Disney Star Wars decision not to appoint Princess Leia Organa son Anakin made it much better than Legends in that sense.