General Leia will be faced not only with the military might of the First Order, but also power struggles from within her own Resistance. Could Admiral Holdo — the new character played by Laura Dern — pull a full coup d’etat of Leia?
On Monday, Entertainment Weekly released an article ahead of its Friday print issue. Called “Meet the New Boss, this piece focused specifically on Admiral Holdo and whether or not Poe, Leia or even the audience will trust her. “You have to sort of figure out whose side you’re on or what your feelings are about her,” Dern told EW. Actor Oscar Issac also weighed in on the dynamic between Holdo and Poe saying:
It’s definitely appropriate that they’ve paired us because a lot of the friction and conflict comes between Poe and that relationship with Admiral Holdo, who is this person that’s been — at least temporarily — put in charge of the Resistance.”
The last detail might be the most telling. Why would Admiral Holdo be put in charge of the Resistance? Will Leia be the victim of some kind of vote of no confidence?
Carrie Fisher as General Leia in 'The Last Jedi'
In the canonical Star Wars novel Bloodline, it’s explained that Leia’s political influence in the New Republic was all but destroyed by the revelation that her father was Darth Vader. And now, because her son — Ben Solo/Kylo Ren — was instrumental in Starkiller Base obliterating the capital of the New Republic, it stands to reason that any surviving politicians might be highly suspect of Leia. Innocently, they might assume anyone in Leia’s family is literally up to no good. Afterall, when someone’s father and son are both guilty of unjustified mass murder, you might have pause before putting them in charge of a fleet of dangerous space ships, too.
Right now, it seems like Holdo is technically one of the good guys. But could she have an ulterior motive for foisting Leia out of power? We’ll have to wait until December 15 to find out.
Read Next: Why That Rey and Kylo Ren Team-up is Totally Happening
Check out this video on all the times people got burned by Princess Leia.
