Why Leia Could Bust Out a Lightsaber in 'The Last Jedi'

With just two weeks left before Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi hits movie theaters around the world, fans across the galaxy are starting to wonder if their biggest questions about Rey, Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren, and those damn porgs will be answered. But, what about everything we wish would happen? In the annual spirit of the latest Star Wars movie coming out of hyperspace just before the holidays, Inverse is counting down with a daily wishlist of cool stuff we want to see in The Last Jedi. First up: General Leia bringing down the house by shockingly busting out a lightsaber.

The following speculates on what could happen in The Last Jedi, meaning, if any of the following comes to pass, everything below this could be considered a very intuitive spoiler.

Back in November of 2016, an early rumor from the set of Episode VIII indicated that Leia will defend herself using the Force early in the movie. While this rumor is totally unsubstantiated, the idea that Leia could use the Force or ignite a lightsaber isn’t off the table. In fact, if you think about it, Leia using a lightsaber in The Last Jedi would be a great secret to intentionally keep from the audience in all the promotional materials and trailers. To put it another way, back in 2002, few predicted Yoda would fight with a lightsaber in the climactic last scene of Attack of the Clones. So there is a precedent here for a Star Wars movie shocking audiences with a lightsaber treat.

Plus, it would make sense for Leia to be able to handle a lightsaber by the time of The Last Jedi. And, Star Wars books and comics have a long history of Leia using lightsabers. In the old Timothy Zahn Thrawn Trilogy, Leia constructed her own lightsaber. In the Dark Empire comics from 1991, Leia borrowed an old saber from a dying Jedi in the streets of the smuggler’s moon, Nar Shaddaa. And, as far back as 1978, Leia wielded Luke’s blue lightsaber against none other than Darth Vader in the Alan Dean Foster novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.

Then, there’s the 2015 issue #12 of Marvel’s ongoing canonical Star Wars comics in which Leia fought with a borrowed lightsaber, weirdly, also on the moon Nar Shaddaa. In this story, Leia, Han, and Chewbacca all briefly threw down with lightsabers absconded by R2-D2 from a crazy Hutt who collected rare Jedi artifacts. At the end of the issue, Leia presumably still has this borrowed lightsaber, which means, there’s no reason why she wouldn’t still own it by the time of The Last Jedi. If she lights up a saber in this movie, it could be the one she got on Nar Shaddaa at the end of the canonical Marvel comics arc “Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon.”

Unless, of course, Leia busts out a different lightsaber altogether. Perhaps one a little more familiar to audiences. What if Leia is holding onto Luke Skywalker’s green lightsaber from Return of the Jedi? If Leia suddenly had a lightsaber in The Last Jedi, and it was Luke’s bespoke green one, a lot of questions would be answered at once. Why doesn’t Luke have his own lightsaber anymore? Answer: He was too depressed after Ben Solo turned to the Dark side and left the lightsaber with Leia. Perhaps some situation in The Last Jedi will warrant Leia needing to suddenly reveal she’s been holding onto the saber all this time.

The Force is strong with the Skywalker family, and, so far, only the male members of the family have been depicted wielding lightsabers — Anakin, his son Luke, and Anakin’s grandson, Kylo Ren. Because Yoda and Obi-Wan both considered Leia to be an alternate option for possible Jedi training, it makes sense that even if she didn’t pursue Jedi training, she still knows how to handle an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.

Nothing about what Rian Johnson or anyone else has said about The Last Jedi indicates Leia will fight with a lightsaber, which means it would be even sweeter if it did happen. Here’s hoping that in Leia’s final appearance in a Star Wars movie, she goes out swinging.

The Last Jedi hits theaters everywhere on December 15. While you’re waiting for the movie to arrive, visit Inverse every day to check out more entries in our Last Jedi Wishlist Series right here.

When you get burned by Princess Leia, you stay burnt.