What approach did the Organas take with Leia as she grew up?




This is a question that we've recently been discussing at my forums, and I thought it was worth raising over here as well.


Leia knows she's adopted and has vague memories of Padme. But as she was growing up, what do you think she was told about Padme, about Anakin, or about why she was adopted in the first place?

Since Luke only specifically asks her for her own memories of their mother, we don't really get any information on what she knows. However, it seems IMO that she's always known she was adopted -- she doesn't seem at all bothered or surprised by Luke bringing it up, and seems quite comfortable about the subject. Also, having now seen her parents in the prequels, I think her always knowing makes some sense, since she doesn't look like their daughter...and the royal family of a planet suddenly having a baby appear would have to be explained somehow.

I also wonder how Leia being in the proximity of Vader and being a prominent person on an important planet within the Empire and Rebellion affected what Bail and his wife chose to tell her...unlike the Larses, the Organas have to deal with the very direct fear of Leia being known to her father, probably as soon as she becomes a Senator.

At any rate, you figure the Organas might have come up with something better than navigator on a freighter for Anakin , and told Leia some very nice, if untruthful, stories about Padme.

One point that someone on my boards mentioned, which I thought was interesting (and somewhat related to one of my previous blog entries), was that while you get the idea from ANH that Luke was always clamoring for information about his father, and always wanted to know more than the Larses seemed willing to tell him, perhaps Leia was not as keenly concerned about her biological parents. Again, when her adoption comes up, she seems to approach it very matter-of-factly. This, to me, is not unlike Anakin, who throughout the prequels is very unlike Luke in his total lack of concern about his missing father. We don't know what Shmi told him, but whether it was some variation of the truth ("There was no father"), a more believable lie ("Your father left"), or a series of evasions, Anakin simply doesn't seem worried about it. Back to Leia, if it wasn't a sticking point of curiosity for her, perhaps the Organas were able to tell her very little (i.e., "Your mother died sometime when you were small") and get away with it.

Another point worth considering is what information, if any, about Anakin and Padme was known to the general public within the Empire when Leia was growing up -- she, unlike Luke, would have had access to these stories, if any existed. Were their histories supressed? Were they twisted to fit the Empire's propoganda (about the Jedi, about the Rebellion, etc.)? Could Leia have heard about them, especially Anakin, and never had any idea of her relation to them?


Personally, I think Leia was told positive, but very vague stories about both her parents, and that the Empire would not have been keen to have any stories about Padme and Anakin floating around. What do you guys think?




-------------------------------
The Anakin Skywalker Home Page
All Anakin. All the time.
The Home Page Forums
Discuss Anakin Skywalker, and the saga that tells his story.
Saga Journal
An academic Star Wars journal. (New Issue April 1st!)