A Star Wars Icon Helps With A Sneaky Rebel Assist In Ahsoka Episode 7 – /Film

Sadly, Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, meaning she would never be able to reprise her role as Leia beyond “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” J.J. Abrams repurposed unused footage of her for “The Rise of Skywalker,” which is how Leia was still able to round out the sequel trilogy. Beyond that, though, Lucasfilm has been left with a bit of a dilemma in that department. Could they justify recasting Leia for a show like “Ahsoka,” which is set several years after the events of “Return of the Jedi,” long before her return in “The Force Awakens” in 2015? Maybe they will one day, but that decision doesn’t have to be made just yet, as C-3PO was able to serve as a proxy for Leia for the time being.

The fact of the matter is that Leia was a giant part of the New Republic and a significant figure in this period in the galaxy. She’s also one of the most beloved characters in all of “Star Wars.” It’s impossible to outright ignore her presence in a show like this when she’s so intrinsically tied to the New Republic’s struggle to gain order in the galaxy against the looming threat of the remnants of the Empire. Writer/producer/director Dave Filoni wisely found a way to address the Leia of it all without having to actually have her on screen.

It makes sense that Leia and Hera would be in close contact at this time. It also makes sense that Leia would be worried about the possible return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. And it’s all too appropriate that she would support assisting Ahsoka and Sabine during this challenging time, especially with a sneaky bit of helpful deception. At the same time, she would be incredibly busy and can’t be everywhere at once. So it does make sense to have C-3PO stand in for her in this instance. C-3PO has helped her many times before, and he did so once again.

“Ahsoka” returns for its season 1 finale on Tuesday, October 3 on Disney+ at 9pm ET/6pm PT.