50 Years Later, Star Wars Is Finally Giving Leia Her Jedi Origin Story
In his dying breath, Yoda told Luke that there was another Skywalker. It didn’t take long for Luke to realize that the other Yoda referred to was Leia, his twin sister. This meant that Leia is Force sensitive, and because she’s a descendant of the Skywalker bloodline, she had the potential to become a very powerful Jedi. Following the Galactic Civil War, Luke took it upon himself to train Leia in the ways of the Force. Because Leia did not stay on this path, any looks fans have had into her training have been extremely brief (the flashback in The Rise of Skywalker). But now, Lucasfilm is going to do a deep dive into Leia’s time as Luke’s apprentice in a Star Wars book.
During the Lucasfilm Publishing panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (via StarWars.com), the new adult novel Star Wars: Twin Crossroads was announced. Written by Beth Revis, the book follows the events of her previous Star Wars novel The Princess and the Scoundrel and chronicles Luke and Leia’s mission to Coruscant, where they must “infiltrate the center of Imperial power.” There, they learn more about the old Jedi Order and the former Republic, as well as “the legacy left behind by their birth parents” Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Star Wars: Twin Crossroads is scheduled to go on sale in April 2027, making it part of Star Wars’ 50th anniversary celebrations.
Star Wars: Twin Crossroads Should Be a Great Companion Piece to the Skywalker Saga
Twin Crossroads has the potential to be a wonderful companion piece to the Skywalker Saga for movies. For starters, fleshing out Luke and Leia’s Jedi training is a truly compelling hook. The brief flashback we saw in The Rise of Skywalker was well-received, with many fans wishing they could have seen more of Leia’s time as a Padawan. Based on what we know about Twin Crossroads, Luke and Leia should have a captivating dynamic. Luke “doubts his teaching ability” because he never received proper, traditional Jedi training himself and knows he still has much to learn about the ways of the Force. Meanwhile, Leia is wary about following this path and what it would mean for her life moving forward. Twin Crossroads should provide a fun riff on the master/apprentice relationship; in the prequel era, Padawans were typically much younger than their masters, but Luke and Leia are twins. They’re contemporaries.
The prospect of Luke and Leia discovering more about Anakin and Padmé is also exciting. It’s a continuation of Lucasfilm’s efforts to bridge the prequel and original trilogies; the TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi made multiple references to Padmé, which was great to see. Her character obviously wasn’t invented at the time the classic films were made, so it was nice that Lucasfilm made a point to recognize her through the portrayal of a young Leia. It’ll be particularly interesting to see how Luke reacts to learning about Padmé. Famously, he has no memory of his mother, so this is the closest way he’ll get to fill those gaps. On the flip side, it could be quite poignant for Leia to learn about Anakin. Her memory of her father is tainted by Darth Vader. Perhaps learning of his heroic exploits during the Clone Wars could help paint him in a different light for her.
The timing of this Twin Crossroads announcement is fascinating. In just a few days (as of this writing), the novel Star Wars: Legacy will be published. Legacy, set between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, follows Leia’s attempt to be a teacher to Rey. Now, a year later, Lucasfilm will take fans back to the beginning of Leia’s Jedi journey. It’s an illustration of the value of having a transmedia canon. These published materials are not required reading to understand the on-screen projects, but they’re available for those interested and can help enhance one’s understanding of certain character arcs or story details, painting a more comprehensive picture. Fans would have loved to have seen Luke training Leia on screen, but barring recasts, that can’t happen. Twin Crossroads is the next best thing.
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