Leia Feels Her Unborn Son Through The Force In Life Debt Excerpt

Princess Leia feels the presence of her unborn son, the future Kylo Ren and terror of the First Order, through the Force in an excerpt from Aftermath: Life Debt.

In Mashable‘s exclusive excerpt of Life Debt, the sequel to Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath, we found out some important details about the time directly following the events of Return of the Jedi. But the most exciting moment of all was when Princess Leia felt the presence of her unborn son through the Force, the first time in canon we’ve seen her deliberately use her inherited power.

The first two revelations we receive come before Leia’s breakthrough. They’re small but significant indicators of the state of the Big Three post-Return of the Jedi. First of all, Leia is having issues with Mon Mothma, who when we last left her was the Chancellor of the New Republic. The only clue we’re given as to the nature of their disagreement is Leia feels Mothma has “betrayed her in some small but significant way.” It’s hard to imagine, given the diplomatic nature of the two women, they could ever come to logger heads, which makes the hinted-at conflict all the more intriguing and perturbing.

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The second revelation came in the fact of Luke’s absence. Leia recalls in the excerpt how Luke kept encouraging her to establish her connection to the Force, guide it and grow it. She remembers how he taught her a little bit about how to do this… and then left. She does not say where he went, but it’s probable he went looking for guidance of his own on what to do as the last Jedi, or perhaps even apprentices to train for a new Jedi Order. This news, however, is also unsettling when viewed through Leia’s eyes. At this point, Han is also gone on a mission, so Leia is alone, practically abandoned by both her husband and her brother. Not only could that be detrimental to her emotional state and make her vulnerable, emotionally, physically, and politically, it also hints darkly at Luke’s tendency to disappear when those close to him need him most.

Finally, we got to the best part of the excerpt, which is when Leia senses the presence of her unborn son through the Force. She is attempting to tap in to the Force through meditation, a ritual she performs, and fails at, every day. This time, however, she finally establishes a connection to the mysterious energy field that binds the galaxy together, but through the baby in her womb. It is through this connection she discovers the baby is a boy.

via Lucasfilm

But the connection is marred by fear. Leia has many fears, which she enumerates, but chiefest of all is what future her son will have, and what his legacy will be. Legacy has always been a theme in Star Wars, but it has become most apparent recently in The Force Awakens and Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray. The Ben Solo we see in The Force Awakens revolves around his legacy, the dark shadow cast by his grandfather, Darth Vader. Leia struggles with this shadow in Bloodline, which takes place five years before Episode VII, and perhaps this struggle affects her in Aftermath, as well. After all, she has the grandson of a terrible Sith lord in her womb,and even though she doesn’t know it yet, Ben will be tempted by Vader’s bloody “legacy” to the breaking point.

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Hopefully we will get answers to all of the questions presented by this excerpt in the rest of Life Debt. The book comes out in stores July 12th.