A moment in Obi-Wan Kenobi is filled with callbacks to the prequel and original trilogies and lends more development to legacy characters. This is especially true for Leia in the Disney+ series, who is receiving more screen time than Luke and a more fully-realized storyline following Leia as a child. It also sheds new light on how Leia makes decisions in the original trilogy.

Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 3 continues Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi's rescue mission to deliver Princess Leia safely back to Alderaan. Stranded temporarily on the mining planet Mapuzo, Ben and Leia hitch a ride to the nearest starport and are nearly captured by stormtroopers in the process, but they escape and discover a hidden network for moving Jedi around the galaxy. However, before they can board a ship, Obi-Wan's former protege, Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, and Reva disrupt their plans.

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Though Ben carries his lightsaber, he uses his blaster when confronting the stormtroopers in Obi-Wan Kenobi. episode 3. After Ben tries unsuccessfully to shut a laser fence down, he disables it with his blaster. This humorous moment mirrors the rescue scene in A New Hope, when Leia, Luke, Han, and Chewie are trapped in the prison ward by stormtroopers. "Someone has to save our skins," Leia says as she takes matters into her own hands, grabbing Luke's blaster and shooting a hole in the chute to the trash compactor room. This is on-brand with Leia's can-do attitude and willful personality, which is seen in full-force throughout the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

 

It also indicates her time with Obi-Wan Kenobi may have influenced her even more than initially realized. This moment in Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 3 shows how much Leia is paying attention to Ben. Her last-ditch effort to save the group in A New Hope proves that she may very well have learned the power of a good blaster in a situation needing improvisation from Ben. Indeed, she is no stranger to handling a blaster, and it makes sense that observing Ben's offensive and defensive tactics probably made an impression on her later in life. Their time together shows he was a likely contributor to how she grew up and the adult Leia audiences see in the original and sequel trilogies.

Star Wars television series like Leia's personality aligns with Anakin's. Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 3 offers the strongest evidence yet of that parallel.

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New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are released Wednesdays on Disney+.