“She’s not his sister”: George Lucas’ Original Star Wars Script Reportedly Never Had Princess Leia as Luke Skywalker’s Sister
Fans return to their favorite movies to watch episodes of George Lucas’ Star Wars over and over again, making it one of the most popular and renowned series in the entire globe. The Skywalker Saga is a series of live-action and animated films that began with a trilogy and has now expanded to numerous other additions, including another trilogy.
The relationship between Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, who were siblings separated at birth and learn about it in Return of the Jedi, is one of the plot lines that is particularly interesting and has grabbed the most eyeballs. However, it was recently revealed that the two characters did not have the relationship that was depicted in the film’s initial draft by director George Lucas.
Read this: “They don’t need to tell those stories”: Mark Hamill Wants Star Wars to Move on From Skywalker Saga
Princess Leia was not intended to be Luke Skywalker’s sister
According to reports, George Lucas had not planned on making Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker’s sister until the Return of the Jedi, when Han recuses Luke from Hoth’s frigid climate. The Princess goes ahead and plants a kiss on Luke. At the time, no one thought about looking back into the relationship the characters shared, as it was an awkward ancestral moment. It is being said that if Luke and Leia were intended to be siblings, their awkward kiss wouldn’t have cut.
In the book, the filmmaker revealed that while he was writing Return of Jedi’s Throne Room scene, he had struggled to come up with a dramatic scene that would enlarge Luke Skywalker enough to lose his self-control while fighting with Darth Vader. This creative struggle led to the idea of making Princess Leia, Luke’s sister, which led to him realizing that the prospect of Darth Vader turning his sister to the dark side would make Luke lash out the way he did.
Even though Princess Leia was never initially intended to be Luke’s sister, the idea of them being siblings provided a major emotional jolt for Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker’s climactic fight. Talking about the throne room scene, George Lucas said,
“He’s not going to fight him. […] He’d rather die first, and then, something turns him around and makes him fight. […] And in the process of evolving the script and evolving the importance of Leia as the sister, it was sitting right there in front of my face, and it became obvious that turning her to the dark side would be the thing that would set Luke off again.”
The producer of Empire Strikes Back; Gary Kurtz shared with TheForce.Net;
“She’s not his sister. That dropped in to wrap up everything neatly. His sister was someone else way over on the other side of the galaxy and she wasn’t going to show up until the next episode.”
Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia’s sibling relationship grows
In Empire Strikes Back, Luke speaks to Leia through his mind, which in later parts has been revealed due to their connection as siblings and more so ever as twins. Lucas said, “Hey, we had Luka talk to Leia through her mind – why not have THEM be twins?” This also resolves the love triangle that George Lucas said he was intending to resolve no matter what.
The siblings’ connection in the Force exponentially grows after they learn about their relationship of being siblings and it helps them to use it more intentionally, allowing them to tap into a greater connection with one another in later Star Wars adventures. The siblings go on to discover the depth of their connection in Return of the Jedi and that the Force has been guiding them all along.
Nellith was intended to be Luke Skywalker’s sister
According to reports online, early scripts for Episode 5 showcase how Anakin Skywalker’s spirit reveals the name of a woman named Nellith who had been intended to appear as Luke Skywalker’s long-lost sister. However, it was scrapped and it was written that Nellith would eventually find Luke during his time of Jedi training with Princess Leia presumably combating somewhere else.
It was later known that the Nellith name was later crossed out along with noting that the first script also suggests that George Lucas didn’t originally intend for Darth Vader to be Luke and Leia’s father.
Talking about the awkward kiss between Luke Skywalker played by Mark Hamill and Princess Leia played by Carrie Fisher, the actor said,
“It’s a big joke & everyone has a good laugh, but for Luke, it was TRAUMATIC! Seriously, a life-altering experience”.
However, after discovering their relationship and understanding the depth of it, their relationship as twins goes on to make a powerful story in the later Star Wars.
Source: Legends Revealed
