All roads currently lead to the highly anticipated series finale of Ahsoka. Predictions and theories are running rampant among the Star Wars fandom as everyone tries to put together what may happen in Episode 8. While this episode is sure to be action-packed, one may wonder who may make a surprise cameo. After multiple name drops, many in the fandom believe that everyone’s favorite princess turned general, Leia Organa, may appear next week in surprising fashion.
Episode 7 begins with Hera Syndulla being court-martialed for leading an unauthorized mission on Seatos. Senator Hamato Xiono makes it very clear that he doesn’t believe an ounce of what Hera is claiming. Since concrete evidence of Thrawn’s return cannot be found, Hera has no leg to stand on. Just as it seemed like the Senate was about to court martial Hera, we see a delightful, surprise cameo from none other than C-3PO.
3PO enters the court on behalf of Senator Leia Organa. Mon Mothma graciously lets him enter to speak on behalf of the absent Senator. 3P0 tells the other Senators that Leia did indeed authorize Hera’s mission. Therefore Hera has committed no crime. Of course, that claim is only partially true, as Leia didn’t certify anything until Hera had already landed on Seatos. Nevertheless, Mon Mothma disregards her doubt and wishes to exonerate Hera. While Senator Xiono isn’t thrilled with this new update, he takes a vow of silence as the rest of the Senators clear Hera of any wrongdoing.
Because this scene makes Leia such a big component of the story, it’s not at all a reach to speculate that we may see her in the flesh next week. Tying Leia into a story that doesn’t necessarily need her wouldn’t make very much sense unless an official cameo later followed it up. Although Ahsoka and Leia have yet to meet Leia on screen, Ahsoka has obvious ties to the Skywalker bloodline.
As we saw in The Book of Boba Fett, Luke and Ahsoka have met and formed some sort of professional relationship. However, since Leia never had any positive moments with her father like Luke ultimately did, it remains unclear what her opinions are on Ahsoka, given that she was once her father’s apprentice. This would surely be an interesting dynamic to dive into just before concluding the series.
Due to the unfortunate passing of Carrie Fisher in 2016, Lucasfilm won’t be using the actor for the role If Leia does make an appearance. Instead, the studio will likely take the same approach it did in Rogue One and The Rise Of Skywalker and use CGI to replicate the character to resemble a much younger Carrie Fisher. Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd was the body double in the latter film, who could be an option to play the character. While the beloved actress may be gone, few would put it past Disney’s capabilities to re-animate the character. Although Lucasfilm’s first attempts at CGI weren’t great, they’ve certainly improved the special effects within the past few years.
If one thing is already clear, it’s that Dave Filoni set out to make this series a completely unprecedented project. Filoni wants this show to be an extremely high bar to pass, and there’s no better way to do that than including a beloved character who many affiliate with their childhood. Additionally, there would be nothing Original Trilogy fans would want more than the series finale to contain a reunion scene featuring both Luke and Leia. While that seems like a bit of a stretch given that Luke Skywalker does not have anything to do with the main focus of the series, neither did Anakin, and what a return that was. With Ahsoka now officially tying in the timeless character, don’t be surprised if you see a ghost during next Tuesday’s episode.