I’ve seen a few posts here and there that were interested in the significance of Obi-Wan giving Tala’s holster to Leia in the final chapter of OBI-WAN KENOBI. They mostly talk about Kenobi creating a path for Leia to follow which would eventually result in her taking up a blaster in RETURN OF THE JEDI, the only episode in the OT where she wore a holster btw. While I think this is something to that theory, overall that connection seems a bit tenuous. To me, the point of the gift is a connection to the past – not the future.
Let’s talk about what happens. Obi-Wan Kenobi gives Princess Leia Organa a (empty) holster blaster that used to belong to Tala – a woman who was a double-agent helping the rebellion while working for the Empire. Leia owed Tala her life and the gift was something that would have a profound impact on Leia in that it would help her to remember why to fight and the sacrifice that accompanies it. But I think there was something greater going on, something that Obi-Wan Kenobi could not explicitly say to Leia, but which he hoped to pass on with the gift.
I think Obi-Wan is attempting to connect the dots between Leia and her birth mother Padme, to spark the rebellion in Leia by giving her something that reminded him of the fight of Amidala. He never says this explicitly, but it is by giving her Tala’s holster. To me at least, I associate the holster far more with Padme than even Princess Leia, who far more often seemed to be using governance and diplomacy than her mother. I’m specifically talking about the transformation that Padme experiences in my favorite prequel film THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999), which mirrors the journey of her daughter Princess Leia Organa in KENOBI. Padme goes from a person who uses diplomacy to a person who takes up arms – and is a real badass – and Leia is well on her way by the end of OBI-WAN KENOBI as well.
In PHANTOM MENACE Padme begins as a young-ish Queen of Naboo, 14 years old, just 4 years older than Leia in KENOBI. She is beginning to learn how to govern the planet of Naboo. She has to learn who to trust, who to ignore, and in some cases, what to defend – by whatever means is available.
Part of this journey occurs during the second act. And this involves her traveling the planet Tatooine with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn under the assumed name of Padme Naberrie. During this portion of the film she realizes the injustices of the galaxy, that there are slaves given less of a chance, and that the only shot at freedom is to win a highly dangerous and rigged race. And even then you will have to abandon your family to enjoy that freedom. It could be argued that Anakin’s story that opens Padme’s eyes up to how unfair the galaxy can be and showed how and why she needs to fight.
Ironically it is also another part of Anakin’s story, much later in life, that educates Leia in the importance of taking her position seriously. Leia is not quite at the point of maturity that Padme is at in TPM. She is also not quite at her age, only 10 years old. When KENOBI begins, she is someone who would rather go climb a tree with her droid than engage in a politically charged reception or meet the citizens of her planet Alderaan in a public appearance.
Don’t get me wrong, there is initially an almost jaded quality to Leia. She is someone who does not trust her situation almost – thinking that it is too posh and the adolescents around her are equally spoiled. However, she is not at the point yet, where she is spurred to action.
But during the course of Kenobi, Leia is kidnapped and she sees violence and tyranny of the Empire first hand. By episode 3, the jaded has turned into something active – as she lies to stormtroopers about her support of the Empire. And by Episode 5 she is actively helping the early stages of the Rebellion, participating in fixing a ship, and later in Episode 6 by comforting the rebel families on a ship being chased by Vader, aka Anakin’s, star destroyer.
And while she never meets Vader in KENOBI, his presence is always there in her journey. Whether it is stalking Kenobi in Episode 3 that causes her to become trapped in an Inquisitor fortress or being chased by his star destroyer in Episode 6. Her experiences of fear and anger are likely spurred by the same person who first opened her mother’s eyes to the injustices of the galaxy – aka her father.
By the time the third act rolls around in TPM, Padme takes up arms, changing from her ornate Queen’s wardrobe into something more practical, aka what I distinctly remember being termed her “Naboo” wardrobe or as I like to call it, Naboo fatigues.
PHANTOM MENACE would not be her final time she holstered up as she did so again in ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002) on both Coruscant, taking on the disguise of an armed guard/pilot after her own ship was bombed. And also on Geonosis at the end of ATTACK OF THE CLONES where she totally kicked butt against those damn droids in both the droid factory and inside of Petranaki arena.
Kenobi giving Leia this holster is less foreshadowing and more of a callback. It is a way to honor his own memory of her mother and to show Leia Organa what she can become by hinting at the spirit of her mother. It is a statement to not be afraid to fight for what she believes in, and to realize that she can have a change and an impact in this galaxy. Do not be jaded, use that anger to effect change.
No Scoops Club 