‘Star Wars’: What Kind of Force Power Did Leia Use to Let Ben See Han Solo Again?
Princess Leia was one of the most iconic characters in the original Star Wars trilogy, but many fans think that she was mistreated by the writers.
At its core, Star Wars is a family drama, and Leia’s bloodline implied that she should have access to the same force powers that her brother Luke had. In the originals, the movies never really touched on her force powers, but that all changed in the sequel trilogy.
In The Last Jedi, she explicitly uses the force in order to save herself from certain death, and she has a similarly powerful force moment in The Rise of Skywalker. However, Star Wars fans are now wondering what force power she actually used in The Rise of Skywalker in order to allow Ben Solo to see his father, Han Solo again.
A recap of the iconic Ben Solo scene
As many Star Wars fans know, Carrie Fisher, who played Leia, tragically passed away before filming began on The Rise of Skywalker. As a result, J.J. Abrams, the director of the movie, had to figure out a way to give Leia a satisfying conclusion to her story without doing the unthinkable and recasting the role.
Abrams could still use some cut footage from the earlier movies as well as body doubles, but it was an impossible task.
What he eventually settled on was an epic force moment where Leia, while on her deathbed, uses the force to communicate with her son. This happened after Ben’s fight against Rey, which he lost. After contemplating for a moment, he suddenly sees his father.
They have a heart-to-heart moment before Han’s ghost disappears. This act, which seemingly cost Leia’s life, ultimately allowed Ben to redeem himself from the dark side.
What Leia potentially did
There are two popular explanations for what Leia did exactly. According to Star Wars fans on Reddit, Leia, who had been training in the force for some time now, potentially used the force to summon the ghost of Han to talk to his son. Alternative versions of this theory follow the same premise where Leia uses the force to somehow project Han’s ghost out to Ben.
Luke did something similar in The Last Jedi, where he used the force to project an image of himself across the galaxy. This act of force projection cost Luke his life, so if this was what Leia did, then it would’ve explained why she passed away afterwards, too.
That said, Star Wars fans have a more devious interpretation of this theory.
Some Star Wars fans think that Leia projected Han’s ghost and controlled it like a puppet in order to manipulate her son. This alternative theory sounds weird, and many Star Wars fans disagree with this interpretation.
However, there’s another popular theory that’s a bit different.
Another possible explanation for Leia’s force power
The other popular explanation for her force power, according to Star Wars fans, is simpler than force projection. It’s possible that, with her dying breaths, Leia reached out to her son and basically did something Luke did to Leia in Empire Strikes Back.
Near the end of Empire Strikes Back, Luke cries out for his sister, and while she’s on the Millennium Falcon, she somehow hears him through the force.
Some Star Wars fans think that Leia did this to her son, but instead of projecting any force ghosts to him, she just sends him love and acceptance. This causes Ben to replay the moment that he killed Han in The Force Awakens in his head, and Han’s ghost is just a memory rather than an actual ghost.
This explanation makes some sense, since the dialogue between Ben and Han’s ghost was very similar to their dialogue in The Force Awakens.
