Ahsoka Episode 3 Might Tease Where Leia Is
Anytime Disney+ drops a new "Star Wars" series, it becomes almost impossible not to start adding up the years and thinking about who's where and wondering if they're going to pop up. With "Ahsoka" taking place c. 9 ABY, there are tons of established characters we can hope to see. But Episode 3 has one scene that has us asking, where is Princess Leia Organa?
Near the beginning of the episode, General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) explains to five members of the New Republic Senate that she believes that Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) is alive and that his allies are attempting to locate him. Senator Xiono (Nelson Lee) reacts by accusing the general of using the threat as an excuse to acquire more resources to further her search for her old friend, Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), and ultimately, her request to send a task force to the Denab system is denied.
It's a simple scene that sets up a probable reckoning so that she can have that "I told you so" moment with the senators when Thrawn indeed appears. However, it also begs the question, where is Leia, and would she have believed her? Her absence actually gives us a bit of a clue.
Leia is half senator, half fighter
The year 9 ABY is nine years after Luke (Mark Hamill) blows up the first Death Star in "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope." His, Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Leia's (Carrie Fisher) exploits throughout the original trilogy make them pretty big names across the galaxy, and they're all given pretty big responsibilities.
After training briefly with her brother as a Jedi following the Battle of Endor, in which she helps destroy the shield generator protecting the second Death Star in 4 ABY, Leia returns to a life of service in the political arena. The former Imperial senator goes on several diplomatic missions before the Empire finally surrenders the following year. For the next 23 years, Leia continues in her role as a New Republic senator.
In "Star Wars" Legends, Leia comes into conflict with Thrawn during the Thrawn campaign, which begins in 9 ABY. One of his plans is to have Noghri Death Commandos kidnap her and hand her over to the Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth, so if anyone in the New Republic Senate would have believed Hera, it likely would have been Senator Organa. But there is another aspect of her life that could be taking her away from the Senate: motherhood.
At this point, she and Han are starting a family
Two days after the second Death Star is brought down, Han asks Leia to marry him. The ceremony, officiated by Luke and attended only by a select few, including Mon Mothma (Caroline Blakiston), takes place on Endor shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, their honeymoon on a luxury Star Cruiser is cut short by a battle with Imperial forces.
The newly married couple continues their everyday lives, with Han assisting Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) in the liberation of Kashyyyk and Leia sent on a diplomatic mission to Naboo in an effort to found the New Republic. On the same day that the Empire finally lays down its arms and formally surrenders, Leia gives birth to a son, Ben Solo (Adam Driver), making him 3 or 4 years old during "Ahsoka."
Given that Chancellor Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) is Leia's friend and mentor, she is likely aware of the senator's recent run-ins with the Grand Admiral, which may be why she seems more receptive to Hera's pleas than the others. Could we see Leia on "Ahsoka"? It is possible, but it would likely only be a cameo. Likelier still, since Leia has yet to be recast following Carrie Fisher's death in 2016, the senator from Alderaan may simply be mentioned, giving us the first canonical details of her life between the Imperial defeat and the rise of the First Order.