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When the Star Wars prequels came out, fans were excited to learn more about the various characters and events that made up their favorite galaxy far, far away. Unfortunately, the controversial Prequel Trilogy introduced several major plot holes, including the fact that Leia would have no memories of her mother (Padme died after giving birth to her twins), as she claimed in Return of the Jedi. This apparent Princess Leia plot hole has plagued fans for nearly two decades, but one fan theory neatly explains what happened: most likely, Leia unwittingly received images of her mother through the Force.
Leia remembers her mother
When Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, fans had no reason to doubt Leia’s description of her mother. She told her secret sibling Luke Skywalker that she remembered her mother as “very beautiful” and “kind but…sad”. But Princess Leia was suddenly in the middle of the plot when Revenge of the Sith came out in 2005 and we saw Padme die (seemingly of a broken heart) right after giving birth to Luke and Leia. This led to a natural question: how the hell would Leia remember what her mother looked like if she had never properly seen and gotten to know her?
According to a fan theory about Princess Leiathat’s not really a plot hole. Instead, Leia spoke the truth from the only point of view she had. Growing up, and even at the beginning of her conversation with Luke, she had no way of knowing that she was Force sensitive (actually, the conversation is where she finds out). But she’s had access to the Force all her life, and given how often this mystical energy field sends visions to would-be Jedi, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Leia had Force visions of her mother (either earlier or later in life) and believed them to be real memories of Padme.
The fan theory makes total sense
Interestingly, the fan theory addressing this Princess Leia plot hole makes even more sense when you go back to her conversation with Luke in Return of the Jedi. When Luke asks what she remembers about her mother, Leia first tells him, “Just… images, really… feelings,” before giving the aforementioned physical description. Taking it at face value, it seems that Leia may have already amplified this circle, unconsciously implying that what she received was a vision (because, let’s face it, “images” and “feelings” are a strange and clumsy way of describing beloved childhood memories).
For fans still upset about the Prequel Trilogy, resolving this Princess Leia plot may bring some peace. Rather than a glaring flaw in the narrative, this theory provides a solution that elegantly follows the original trilogy. Unfortunately, this theory can’t solve the many other problems with the prequels, which range from terrible dialogue (who can forget that sand language?) and obnoxious new characters (“meesa Jar-Jar Binks!”) to the bizarre decision to have Padme die of a broken heart . The point alone almost ruins the plot Revenge of the Sithdefinitely the best of the prequels.
After all, we all know that broken hearts can’t kill. If they could, the heartbreakingly awful Star Wars prequels would be like Thanos a crack that caused half the fandom to suddenly scream in horror before being suddenly silenced.
