The Prequels Wasted The Best Star Wars Character
While the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy has gained some unironic cheerleaders over the years, most older fans still consider these movies deeply flawed, especially in comparison to the brilliance of the Original Trilogy. There are many reasons for this, but one that often goes overlooked is that these prequels failed to shine a spotlight on some of the most important characters in the franchise. A prime example of this is Bail Organa: despite being connected to some of the most important Jedi heroes and raising Princess Leia, he is barely featured onscreen in the prequels.
Bail Organa
For most Star Wars fans, Bail Organa is a character that needs no introduction. He’s Leia’s adoptive father and worked closely with her mother as a fellow Senator in the Republic.
He pushes against Palpatine and helps save Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life during the events of Order 66. Between the trilogies, he helps to establish the very Rebellion that would ultimately defeat the Empire and usher in a new age of galactic peace.
Doesn’t Have A Lot To Do In Episode 2
Despite that, though, Bail Organa is barely in the prequels at all. He appears in Attack of the Clones to do only a handful of things, like questioning the wisdom of assigning a Jedi to escort Padme due to manpower concerns and getting angry at the Trade Federation for raising an army.
He frets over how best to save the Jedi on Geonosis and, along with Yoda, Palpatine, and a few others, he takes in the ominous sight of the seemingly endless clone army at the end of the film.
Revenge Of The Sith
Fortunately, Bail Organa is given slightly more to do in Revenge of the Sith: he is wary of the growing power Palpatine is amassing and shares Padme’s concerns about Palpatine later dissolving the Republic to create the Empire.
He also rescues Master Yoda after Palpatine declares Order 66, and after helping Obi-Wan to reprogram a beacon and save as many Jedi as possible, he ends up adopting Leia after Padme dies (of, let’s not forget, a broken heart like a jilted lover in a country song).
A Wasted Opportunity
Given how important Bail Organa is to the deep lore of Star Wars, I feel like George Lucas really wasted an opportunity to show us more of this fascinating character. In the prequels, he spends most of his time as just a sympathetic cipher for our other heroes to bounce off of, but we never really get to learn why preserving the Republic is so important to him.
For that matter, we don’t even get to see whether he is helping Jedi like Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi due only to a sense of duty or whether he has any genuine affection for them.
Other Appearances
In his own way, it seems like even George Lucas may agree that this character had better things to do because several deleted scenes from Revenge of the Sith help flesh this character out. For example, there are cut scenes where Bail, Padme, and even a young Mon Mothma begin discussing plans for how to respond to Palpatine’s growing fascism.
They don’t put a name to it onscreen, but their discussion is plainly hinting at how a handful of concerned senators formed the early backbone of the Rebellion.
And, of course, other Star Wars creators have certainly decided that Bail Organa should have more screentime: it’s why he pops up so many episodes of shows like Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and appears in other films like Rogue One.
He’s a fascinating character with a great story to tell who is instrumental to the Star Wars mythos. If only the prequels had given him more to do—like, honestly, who wouldn’t want to see more Bail Organa than another scene of Anakin whining about sand or generally being the brattiest child of destiny the galaxy has ever seen?
Of course, that’s the problem with the writing of George Lucas. It’s rough, it’s coarse, and yes—it gets everywhere.
