“It’s just us now.”
The official novelization of Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues to yield truly fascinating intel from Rian Johnson’s sequel, and the latest morsel of information concerns the grieving General Leia Organa and, more specifically, her final words to Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon.
Having escaped the mineral world of Crait by the skin of their teeth, Leia and the remnants of the Resistance begin making preparations for life after Luke Skywalker, who so heroically gave his life so that Rey – so that hope – could live on. But according to The Last Jedi‘s novelization, one penned by New York Times best-selling author Jason Fry, that bittersweet finale almost included an exchange between Leia and Chewie, where the former looks up to her Wookiee ally and says “it’s just us now.” We’re not crying, you’re crying!
After the back-to-back loss of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, Leia and Chewie are the only surviving members of the original crew – along with Artoo and C-3PO, of course – so it’ll be interesting to see how J.J. Abrams and Justice League scribe Chris Terrio handle that transition from the old to the new – from one generation to the next – in Star Wars: Episode IX.
Rumor has it that Leia’s passage out of the franchise will involve a gnarly mixture of solar radiation and hypoxia – that is, an oxygen deficiency in the muscles – which are both symptoms one would associate with an unscheduled spacewalk.
Whatever the case, Carrie Fisher’s untimely death means that Leia’s days in the Skywalker Saga are numbered. She’ll likely influence the story of Episode IX indirectly, but until production begins in the summer, treat any and all rumors with a heightened sense of caution.
And look for the official novelization of Star Wars: The Last Jedi to hit bookshelves on March 6th (pre-order here) – just in time for the forthcoming Blu-ray release late next month.
