J.J. Abrams Explains Why Force Awakens Leia Never Became a Jedi

[Piecewise]

All of us have the capacity to become great martial artists or athletes, But only a few of us do.

Just because you have the capacity to do something doesn't mean you'll want to do it.

Still, I expect to see the tumblrs whining and much overuse of that ever hateful phrase "Man-splaining"

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Make sense to me. I mean Leia was pretty commited to the cause of the rebellion long before she was aware of her potential as a Jedi and probably had long seen herself in a commander/diplomatic role post empire should the rebellion succed. It stands to reason that she would see the cause of rebellion fulfilled above striving after anything else.

 

[Ukomba]

That's a profoundly stupid excuse. Or is it really his opinion that, in the past several decades, she wouldn't spend a year to gain silly abilities like forces sense, precognition, enhanced physical capabilities, increased reaction time, telepathy, enhanced healing, ext, ext, ext. None of those would be useful in a military career Abrams?

Or is Abrams just saying that since Leia is a girl, she's not as capable as her twin brother? Took Luke less than a year of training under a jedi. In fact, are there any female Jedi in his movie? The only ones swinging lightsabers that I've seen are male.

 

[bluegate]

Makes sense; being a Jedi is suppose to be a life-long commitment, isn't it? All that meditation and internal conflict while you're prancing about in funky robes probably takes up a surprising of your time, judging by the pretty minimal amount of soldiering that "General" Kenobi did in the prequels.

That begs the question though; what is a Jedi in the post-episode 6 era?

Entertaining the thought that every Jedi in the universe has been killed, the only person left is Luke, who only had a crash course in force knowledge and what Jedi are supposed to stand for. I doubt that any person in the post-6 era would practice being a Jedi as rigorously as the 'true' Jedi did before the formation of the Empire.

 

[Baresark]

Holy christ, can we please drop the whole General thing. I mean, fine, she's a General. But can we stop acting like that is an exclusive thing she decided and it barred her from so many other things. I mean, as I recall, all of the Jedi were generals (or at least the equivalent of that) during the clone wars. Obi Wan Kenobi was called General Kenobi by then Princess Leia in A New Hope.

JJ Abrams is the worst at these interviews. He simply could have said they decided to do something different than the Expanded Universe and she simply didn't pursue it. It's easy to see why she wouldn't, she is super busy. But lets not pretend her being a "General" magically barred her from learning how to twirl a lightsaber or read people's intentions (a skill that would greatly enhance her ability as a General).

Also, Luke excelled with a minimal amount of training. In a New Hope he put on a visor and blocked a couple of training drone shots, which also magically made him able to communicate with Obi Wan after he became one with the Force.

It's just his go to. She isn't a princess because she's a general. She isn't a Jedi because she's a general. She can't breathe in deep space because she's a general (Ok, that one is mine, but I think I have illustrated my point).

 

[eberhart]

I was rolling my eyes before I clicked on this article and the official explanation didn't help. I'm pretty sure it's been made clear that you can train in the force while holding positions of authority. I mean just about every Jedi in the Clone Wars had to balance being a Jedi with being an officer of some kind, usually very high ranking ones. I mean there's a difference between not becoming a Jedi and not training in the force at all. Not becoming a Jedi? Fair enough. But she should've still at least have been trained in the basics.

Yes, almost every jedi was either a commander or a general back then, however, there were thousands of Jedi who were helping to lead and helping to train. Plus it isn't as if they sent Jedi out who had just started their training. In Leia's position she may not be able to take time off from being the leader of the rebellion to learn the ways of the force, and she couldn't keep breaking up her training to play politics. While I doubt it would be this extreme in her case, when Luke interrupted his training, albeit for a good cause, he lost a hand.

Also, if we consider what KotOR and KotOR 2 said about consequences, that balance had a net negative effect on Jedi. Having Force - sensitive character in a middle of a war, participating and contributing to the carnage, bearing responsibility for mass destruction and having to act as a general or a warlord (rather than a healer, protector or an advisor) tends to produce a lot of broken people. Broken people with superpowers, being broken often resulting in getting closer to DS.

I have no idea whether EU had a commentary abour Clone Wars causing similar issues, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched, as entire conflict was drenched in politics, while missing something like "defending galaxy from Sith" most of the time. When "separatism" is a rallying cry you end up having to stomp on many worlds because of reasons that have nothing "jedi-ish" about them. I mean, those guys didn't force the issue about eg. endemic slavery, so imagine them having to level a city only because it refuses to be a part of the Republic. Especially considering how it ws completely OK for thousands of years before.

I imagine dealing with remnants of the Empire, with many worlds siding with the old order due to eg. economic reasons, would bring plenty of those dilemmas both for Leia - general and Leia - politician. Makes sense to stick to what was already working.

Not to mention there's a lot ot be said about "quick and easy" solutions regarding Force, in general. Couple this with OBW recognizing his inadequacy as a Vader's master. Luke could have legitimate issues with the entire concept of "ok, let's skip becoming a Jedi but show me how to mind-trick during negotiations and forcepush people when I'm pissed". Especially with Leia most likely using her innate potential to be a good negotiator anyway.

 

[The Enquirer]

Yes, almost every jedi was either a commander or a general back then, however, there were thousands of Jedi who were helping to lead and helping to train. Plus it isn't as if they sent Jedi out who had just started their training. In Leia's position she may not be able to take time off from being the leader of the rebellion to learn the ways of the force, and she couldn't keep breaking up her training to play politics. While I doubt it would be this extreme in her case, when Luke interrupted his training, albeit for a good cause, he lost a hand.

Also, if we consider what KotOR and KotOR 2 said about consequences, that balance had a net negative effect on Jedi. Having Force - sensitive character in a middle of a war, participating and contributing to the carnage, bearing responsibility for mass destruction and having to act as a general or a warlord (rather than a healer, protector or an advisor) tends to produce a lot of broken people. Broken people with superpowers, being broken often resulting in getting closer to DS.

I have no idea whether EU had a commentary abour Clone Wars causing similar issues, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched, as entire conflict was drenched in politics, while missing something like "defending galaxy from Sith" most of the time. When "separatism" is a rallying cry you end up having to stomp on many worlds because of reasons that have nothing "jedi-ish" about them. I mean, those guys didn't force the issue about eg. endemic slavery, so imagine them having to level a city only because it refuses to be a part of the Republic. Especially considering how it ws completely OK for thousands of years before.

I imagine dealing with remnants of the Empire, with many worlds siding with the old order due to eg. economic reasons, would bring plenty of those dilemmas both for Leia - general and Leia - politician. Makes sense to stick to what was already working.

Not to mention there's a lot ot be said about "quick and easy" solutions regarding Force, in general. Couple this with OBW recognizing his inadequacy as a Vader's master. Luke could have legitimate issues with the entire concept of "ok, let's skip becoming a Jedi but show me how to mind-trick during negotiations and forcepush people when I'm pissed". Especially with Leia most likely using her innate potential to be a good negotiator anyway.[/quote]
Even in current canon, movies and TV shows (whether someone likes it or not, that is canon) there's something to be said about being at war and being a jedi. While they were elevated to the positions of generals and leaders, they knew war was taking a toll on them and they are peace keepers, not soldiers or politicians.

So I'd say this is staying true to one of the core values of the Jedi, across their long history in the new canon and even the legends canon.

 

[BaronVH]

How about a spoiler alert? Managed to stay spoiler free for months. Guess I have to avoid Escapist for a week and a half.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Makes sense. Hell, even in the Legends EU she had trouble finding the time to become a Jedi, IIRC. Luke kept kind of pushing her into it, but politics kept rearing their ugly head. Especially after Mon Mothma died, basically making Leia the leader of the New Republic - any hopes of having time to herself, to family, to Jedi training, all kinda went up in smoke. (Granted, a LOT happened after this.) With the direction Abrams is taking, what with said New Republic apparently getting its ass kicked, it's entirely plausible for her to be too distracted or jaded to have any desire to become one.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Every tid-bit of news released about this new trilogy makes me less and less excited with each new reveal.

 

[JimB]

Every tidbit of news released about this new trilogy makes me less and less excited with each new reveal.

Really looking forward to seeing a sixty-year-old do some Jedi wire-fu, were you?

 

[Adamantium93]

Also, Luke excelled with a minimal amount of training. In a New Hope he put on a visor and blocked a couple of training drone shots, which also magically made him able to communicate with Obi Wan after he became one with the Force.

No, he didn't excel. He could hear Obi-Wan because of Obi-Wan's strong connection to the force, not Luke's. At the beginning of "Empire" it takes minutes for Luke to even pull his lightsaber to him when he's trapped in the cave. He spends weeks, training 12 or so hours a day, with Yoda (one of the best teachers you could possibly have) and still gets his butt handed to him by Vader. Then he trains for approximately 6 MONTHS before "Return of the Jedi" and only beats Vader because he gives into the Dark Side at a critical moment AND because Vader was both holding back and getting weaker with age. Beyond that, he never really displays anything "excellent" for all of his effort. A few high jumps, a force persuade, seeing trouble related to people he cared about (something he got from his father, NOT from training), and occasionally levitating a small object.

Consider that Anakin in episode 2, who is younger than Luke in episode 6, could do all of that significantly better than Luke could.

Now ask how Leia would do all of this. She has never used the force. Who would teach her? In the Clone Wars, the Jedi became generals because their training included the study of tactics. Any general of note was already a powerful Jedi before the war broke out. Nowadays, all of the Jedi instructors are dead. Luke isn't powerful enough to teach her. Maybe they could track down a Holocron, but why would she put so much time and effort into it when there are other things she'd rather be focused on?

Its not like she can take Jedi Classes on the weekends. She might get rudimentary training from Luke to learn how to use the force at a basic level, but I doubt she'd want to devote the time necessary to become a full Jedi. It kind of makes sense that, between her developing relationship with Han and her desire to run the Rebellion, maybe she decided not to take months or a year out of her life to live in solitude and forsake all emotional attachments so she could join an order that has never mattered to her.

This also doesn't preclude the possibility that she might use the force; in fact, the article clearly says that she still has a connection to it. Honestly, I'd like to see a non-Jedi use the force in combat.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

So maybe major Star Wars fans can explain two things to me.

-In the prequel movies, they made it seem like becoming a Jedi is something that requires pretty much decades of dedication and training (they mention in Phantom Menace that they think Anakin is too old to start training, and he was like 7). If it takes so long, how did Luke manage to become one with basically spending about 3 days with Obi-Wan and 2 weeks with Yoda? Is he just that much of a natural force bad-ass?

-Do Force powers always get passed down genetically, or do some people just have them at random? And do they always get passed down, no matter what (in other words, if Anakin had 6 kids, would all six of them be guaranteed to be force sensitive)?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Really looking forward to seeing a sixty-year-old do some Jedi wire-fu, were you?

Worked for Yoda. CG has come along way.

 

[anthony87]

-In the prequel movies, they made it seem like becoming a Jedi is something that requires pretty much decades of dedication and training (they mention in Phantom Menace that they think Anakin is too old to start training, and he was like 7). If it takes so long, how did Luke manage to become one with basically spending about 3 days with Obi-Wan and 2 weeks with Yoda? Is he just that much of a natural force bad-ass?

Well he didn't really become a Jedi until the third movie. Like you say he does a smidge of training with Obi-Wan but the most we see of that is him believing in the force and nailing that shot at the end. In the second film he goes to Yoda and can barely move rocks competently and when he goes to face Vader against Yoda's advice he gets his ass handed to him because he wasn't ready. He doesn't really become competent as a Jedi until the third film and even then some might say that Vader was still going easy on him.

 

[anthony87]

I mean just about every Jedi in the Clone Wars had to balance being a Jedi with being an officer of some kind, usually very high ranking ones.

Except that they were already Jedi before the war began. I'm sure there'll end up being a part in this new one where Leia will "feel" or "sense" something like that, if I remember correctly the was something like that in Episode 6.

 

[JimB]

If it takes so long, how did Luke manage to become one with basically spending about three days with Obi-Wan and two weeks with Yoda? Is he just that much of a natural Force bad-ass?

That's the polite explanation. The less polite one is that it's a plot hole.

CG has come a long way.

Eh. To each his own. I personally respect Leia more for not becoming a Jedi, for choosing her own path rather than letting a genetic predisposition suddenly trump her life's plans and make her be a wizard-samurai, as if stabbing people with laser swords and choking them to death with magic is ultimately a better use of one's time than offering her leadership and experience to a multi-planetary military force.

 

[JimB]

He doesn't really become competent as a Jedi until the third film and even then some might say that Vader was still going easy on him.

Oh yeah, I forgot: Isn't it established that a long time passes between Empire and Jedi? I can't think of how long, but I feel like it's either six months or two years. Should we assume Luke was training?

 

[anthony87]

He doesn't really become competent as a Jedi until the third film and even then some might say that Vader was still going easy on him.

Oh yeah, I forgot: Isn't it established that a long time passes between Empire and Jedi? I can't think of how long, but I feel like it's either six months or two years. Should we assume Luke was training?

I've always assumed that's when he more or less finished it. He even constructs his own lightsaber in between the two films which is meant to be the last step of the training.

 

[Nooners]

To be honest, I think this would be an interesting opportunity to look at some possible applications of The Force beyond shooting lightning from your fingertips and being able to deflect lasers with a sword.

I've often wondered if there's some Jedi or Sith in the EU who fought with only the Force. No lightsaber or anything, just ridiculous amounts of Force power. On a similar note, I've wondered if it was possible to create a Force-only character in a Star Wars pen-n-paper RPG that was still usable in combat. Any answers from anyone?