Rise Of Skywalker Mirrored Star Wars’ Worst Prequel Trilogy Decision

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker repeated one of the worst Star Wars prequel trilogy decisions, and it meant a terrible end for two of Star Wars’ best characters. While the sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker in particular, received significant criticism, with some considering the sequels among Star Wars’ worst movies, the prequel trilogy is generally more beloved. However, The Rise of Skywalker and the prequel trilogy’s final movie, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, share one fatal flaw that undercuts the stories of two of Star Wars’ greatest heroes.

The Rise of Skywalker holds a significant place among Star Wars’ movies and TV shows as the final installment of the Skywalker Saga, which meant concluding the story of Star Wars mainstay Princess Leia Organa. Unfortunately, following on the heels of the controversial conclusions of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker’s stories in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Princess Leia’s death also became contentious. In fact, many of the issues with Princess Leia’s death in The Rise of Skywalker connect directly with her mother’s death in Revenge of the Sith—for the worse.

Padmé And Leia Both Die For Someone Else’s Redemption

Although in very different ways, both Padmé and Leia, two of Star Wars’ most important women, die for someone else’s redemption. In Leia’s case, this happens much more directly. In The Rise of Skywalker, Leia elects to give her life as a final act to save her son Ben Solo and convince him to return to the light side of the Force. Ultimately, she succeeds, but it comes at a terrible price, which only becomes more devastating when Ben dies shortly after.

However, in Leia’s case, this was partly due to outside factors. Between filming for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, Carrie Fisher tragically and rather suddenly passed away. The Rise of Skywalker seemed deeply impacted by her loss, particularly because the sequels had been building upon Leia’s story. However, for Padmé, outside factors weren’t quite the problem; in fact, while Padmé’s death interestingly mirrored her daughter’s, it was made all the worse by the nature of her death and the fact that her character arc had more wiggle room than Leia’s.

Although Luke had no memories of his mother, and Leia said she only remembered images and feelings, Padmé didn’t necessarily have to die by the end of the prequels. Even if death had to be her fate, though, the way Padmé died was a disservice to her character. While Padmé didn’t actively give her life to redeem Anakin, she died with her very last words being not about her life or her children but about how Anakin, who had just attacked her, was still good, establishing the foundation for his eventual redemption.

Star Wars Leading Ladies Are More Than Plot Devices

What makes this connection between mother and daughter all the more painful is that their ends don’t reflect the characters as a whole or even Star Wars’ treatment of them. In fact, Leia and Padmé are some of Star Wars’ fiercest, wisest, and most beloved characters. Padmé was first queen of Naboo and then a passionate senator, and Leia went on to lead not only the Rebellion but also the Resistance, effectively saving the galaxy twice. Given Star Wars’ clear support of the characters, this choice is all the more confusing.

Ultimately, what Padmé and Leia do is incredibly heroic and selfless, both of which are befitting of their personalities and character arcs. However, these two intertwined plot points also relegate Leia and Padmé to little more than plot devices, pushing someone else’s story of redemption further. So, while this was in a strange way a sweet moment of connection between mother and daughter, this ending for Leia in The Rise of Skywalker was nevertheless a disappointing repeat of Padmé’s ending in Revenge of the Sith.

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