The Princess Leia Parent Plot Hole Finally Explained
When the Star Wars prequels came out, fans were excited to learn more about the various characters and events that made up their favorite galaxy far, far away. Unfortunately, the controversial Prequel Trilogy introduced some major plot holes, including the fact that Leia would have had no memories of her mother (Padme died after giving birth to her twins) as she claimed in Return of the Jedi. This apparent Princess Leia plot hole has vexed fans for nearly two decades, but one fan theory neatly explains what happened: in all likelihood, Leia unknowingly received images of her mother via the Force.
Leia Remembers Her Mother
When Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, fans had no reason to doubt Leia’s account of her mother. She told her secret sibling Luke Skywalker that she remembered her mother as “very beautiful” and “kind, but…sad.” But Princess Leia was suddenly at the center of a plot hole when Revenge of the Sith came out in 2005 and we saw that Padme died (seemingly of a broken heart) right after giving birth to Luke and Leia. This led to the natural question: how the heck would Leia remember what her mother looked like if she never really got to see or know her?
According to a fan theory about Princess Leia, this isn’t actually a plot hole. Instead, Leia was telling the truth from the only point of view she had. Growing up and even during the beginning of her conversation with Luke, she had no way of knowing that she was Force-sensitive (in fact, this is the conversation where she finds out). But she’s had access to the Force her entire life, and considering how often this mystical energy field sends visions to would-be Jedi, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Leia got Force visions of her mother (either earlier or later in life) and believed they were actual memories of Padme.
Fan Theory Makes Total Sense
Interestingly, the fan theory solving this Princess Leia plot hole makes even more sense when you revisit her conversation with Luke in Return of the Jedi. When Luke asks what she remembers about her mother, Leia initially tells him, “Just…images, really…feelings” before providing the aforementioned physical description. Taken at face value, it seems that Leia might have already squared this circle, unconsciously implying that what she had received was a vision (because, let’s face it, “images” and “feelings” are a weird and clunky way of describing cherished childhood memories).
For fans who are still angry about the Prequel Trilogy, the resolution to this Princess Leia plot hole may provide peace. Instead of a glaring storytelling error, this theory provides a solution that elegantly ties back to the Original Trilogy. Unfortunately, this theory can’t fix the many other problems with the prequels which range from awful dialogue (who can forget that sand speech?) and obnoxious new characters (“meesa Jar-Jar Binks!”) to the bizarre decision to have Padme die of a broken heart. That plot point alone nearly ruins Revenge of the Sith, inarguably the best of the prequels.
After all, we all know that broken hearts can’t kill. If they could, the heartbreakingly awful Star Wars prequels would have been like a Thanos snap that caused half the fandom to suddenly cry out in terror before being suddenly silenced.
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