You want to know what the biggest nonissue in Star Wars is?
Leia having memories of Padme.
And people make such a big deal about it all the time!
Leia is incredibly force sensitive! The force gives force sensitive people visions all the time! If Leia didn’t know what the force was or that she was force sensitive then she could easily mistake a force vision for a memory!
It’s literally that easy.
There are so many plot holes and in universe arguments to be had and people continue to get so worked up about this one?
The one with the easiest explanation?
So then why doesn’t Luke remember her?
If you watch Revenge of the Sith you can see that Leia’s eyes are open while Padme is dying and after. Luke’s eyes, however, are closed. George Lucas has said that this is why she has visual memories of her mother. Her eyes were open.
I still feel like that’s a bit of a stretch though. I mean I can suspend disbelief for a lot of things, but they were babies. They were just born. Ultimately George needed to communicate this better to the audience. Nice to know the reason Luke doesn’t remember Mama is because he fell asleep though. Poor Luke.
How is it a stretch though? The force is literally space magic it doesn’t work on logical rules? It gives people visions of their past and potential futures and all that.
I think that Luke heard his mother actually and didn’t realize it was a force memory because he repeats the words she spoke on her death bed almost verbatim.
There’s a difference between thinking it could have been executed better, versus debating it on forums and arguing about it… like the dudebros that were being referenced do. They are the supposedly hardcore Star Wars fans who would absolutely pick apart a scene and notice the details like Leia’s eyes being open and Luke’s being closed, but they still don’t accept that the explanation is just that. Open eyed, force sensitive Leia.
Yeah it’s like ok you guys could just admit that she’s force sensitive and have an easy explanation that makes sense or you could continue to plug your ears and close your eyes.
Now that you bring it up, I remember something. We all know Luke tends to close his eyes when using the Force. Well, there’s two points in the OT where Leia uses the Force. At the end of Empire Strikes Back, when she hears Luke calling for help:
And at the end of Return of the Jedi, when she confirms Luke’s alive for Han.
Both times, eyes wide open. Where Luke’s earliest training involves closing his eyes to get in tune with the Force, and he still does so sometimes even in the third movie. I’d go so far as to suggest Luke’s got his hood up at the end of The Force Awakens when we first see him because he was covering his eyes and trying to sense who was approaching through the Force. (And he does figure it out, which is why he’s amazed but not startled or surprised.) Leia, a few scenes earlier, senses Han on the Starkiller with her eyes open, and only closes them when it hits her what her impression means.
More than that, the way the ESB scene is edited you get the impression Leia’s seeing a vision. Luke doesn’t get visions until ESB, but he does hear voices in the original movie.
This is so interesting!
I’ve never noticed this but I did immediately think of two moments from the canon comics that we see the twins use the force:
eirenical17 