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After Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader and his plots had traumatized Princess Leia far more than she ever let on, especially when Han Solo was lost.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #18, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
In the Star Wars franchise, Princess Leia always had an indomitable figure. From her first appearance to her last, Leia was unwavering in her resolve, resilient and consistently came up with innovative solutions to problems that showed why she was one of the galaxy’s best leaders. But as Star Wars #18 now reveals, there was a moment just before Return of the Jedi where Darth Vader left her truly broken and hopeless.
After the battle on Jekara, Leia had failed to retrieve the carbonite casing that contained a frozen Han Solo. As she sits in the Millennium Falcon hold in the War of the Bounty Hunters epilogue by Charles Soule, Ramon Rosanas, Rachelle Rosenberg and Clayton Cowles, she can’t help but reconcile all the disasters and tragedies she’s faced. Sadly, she doesn’t realize that the common denominator in her tragedies is her dad, the evil Anakin Skywalker, who’s now parading as Emperor Palpatine’s war dog.
As she reminisces with Chewbacca over her failures, she feels totally defeated and says that “Hope is for suckers” in a heartbreaking moment at her moment of desperation. A lot of this stems from her feeling responsible for Vader and Moff Tarkin blowing up her home, Alderaan, as well as all the pain that came after.
From Vader’s numerous interrogations, his hunting her friends, Commander Zahra almost killing her, then loving and losing Han, Leia feels like a wreck. Most of all, she thinks Han’s body was destroyed on Jekara and blames herself for losing the love of her life, which has left her wracked with guilt. It’s clear that she’s traumatized from the battles, but the toll of the rest of the Galaxy’s war is becoming more apparent too. She feels like she’s always running from Vader, and she knows that being caught could drive the Rebels past the brink.
Chewbacca hugs the inconsolable Leia as she doesn’t know what to do anymore, but luckily, Lando offers her comfort too, reminding her that they can’t give up. As Lando reminds her, they’re still family, even if he has played both sides, and she’s only human.
Throughout the course of Star Wars, Leia has rarely appeared as disarmed and vulnerable as she is here, not even with Han. That makes this a rare peek into how much these fights have worn on Leia and the tolls they’ve taken. Luckily, she does get a glimmer of hope when Qi’ra arrives with a new plan and info on Han being alive.
Despite her initial reluctance, Leia takes it because the prospect of finding Han is her dream come true. Although she’s lost battles, this reminded her that there were still wars that could be won, and the reinvigorated Leia was suitably motivated to go after Vader and save the galaxy once again.
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