Though Rey Skywalker will undoubtedly honor Leia Organa’s legacy in the tentatively titled Star Wars timeline – the film is set 15 years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – but it will also see the emergence of a brand-new Jedi Order, one that is (hopefully) not burdened by the previous Order’s past mistakes.

Rey will presumably take what she has learned from Luke Skywalker and the sacred Jedi texts she saved from Ahch-To to create her vision of what the Jedi should be. Of course, Leia was also one of her mentors, especially after Luke’s death. Leia may have never become a full-fledged Jedi like her brother, but he did train her, and she ed some of those lessons on to Rey, as well as how to lead a resistance in the face of an oppressive regime. The thing is, though, defeating the First Order was never Leia’s only goal.

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Leia's Mission Was Never Just To Defeat The First Order

Of course, Leia wanted to free the galaxy of the First Order’s tyranny – she’d already lived through the Empire’s reign. She didn’t want to see the galaxy threatened by megalomaniacal dictators again. So, from the castoffs of the New Republic, the Resistance was born, just as the Rebellion was born from the ashes of the original Republic. As we’ve seen in The Mandalorian and its spinoffs, much of the Rebellion’s wartime leadership became the New Republic’s political leadership, including people like Leia and Mon Mothma.

Unlike Luke, Leia followed in her biological mother’s and adoptive father’s footsteps; she was a politician and a leader and believed in the concept of central governance. In a sense, she wanted history to repeat itself – she wanted the Resistance to become a Republic once more, just as the Rebellion became the New Republic in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi.

In a sense, Leia wanted history to repeat itself – she wanted the Resistance to become a Republic once more, just as the Rebellion became the New Republic in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi.

Leia says as much in The Last Jedi: “We are the spark that will ignite the fire to restore the Republic. That spark... this Resistance, must survive. That is our mission.” She wanted the Resistance to survive because she hoped to rebuild something from it once the First Order was defeated. She wanted to build another political system to maintain genuine peace, freedom, and prosperity for everyone. She hoped to restore what had been before.

The Best New Jedi Order Theory Reveals Leia's Mission Has Failed

Now, however, Leia is gone, and all Rey can truly do is try to what her mentors taught her and follow her instincts. Leia may have wanted to restore the Republic, but Star Wars might finally be willing to break the galaxy’s political cycle, and honestly? I hope they do.

There’s something to be said for cyclical storytelling, but as has been pointed out, the New Jedi Order movie gives Star Wars a chance to do something game-changing. One of the reasons the Jedi Order fell from grace is that it became too closely intertwined with the Republic’s political system. What if the Jedi didn’t have a political system to answer to? What if, for the first time in millennia, the Jedi weren’t beholden to the politics of a galaxy in turmoil?

Rey Skywalker holding a blue lightsaber, with a stormtrooper in the background
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Reports about New Jedi Order have suggested the role of Rey’s Jedi Order in the galaxy is uncertain – I, for one, would welcome that change and the chance to explore how the galaxy will redefine itself after enduring decades of political changeovers. This could truly be an opportunity for the Jedi to redefine themselves. Tragically, though, pursuing this potential storyline would mean that Leia’s mission to restore the Republic – a noble mission, if perhaps a slightly misguided one – has officially failed.

Could Rey Be Working To Fulfill Leia's Mission?

Of course, almost anything we say about New Jedi Order at the moment is speculative – very little has been revealed about the story or the script in general. While The Last Jedi may have given voice to Leia’s desire to build or restore another version of the Republic, Leia’s Jedi training with Luke undoubtedly also affected how she viewed the galaxy, her place within it, and how she trained Rey. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker comics confirmed that Leia never saw herself as a Jedi, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t uphold the Jedi Order’s true ideals.

Rey may not become the beating heart of the galaxy’s political sphere the way Leia was, but she could become the one to protect its peace.

She believed a Republic was needed to bring prosperity to the galaxy, but perhaps all Leia really wanted was peace, in whatever form it came in. Rey’s mission as the new leader of the Jedi could very well be to restore that peace to the galaxy, without the need for a massive centralized form of government. Rey may not become the beating heart of the galaxy’s political sphere the way Leia was, but she could become the one to protect its peace in Star Wars: New Jedi Order, and that is arguably what Leia wanted more than anything.

Star Wars Movies

Release Date

The Mandalorian and Grogu

May 22, 2026

Shawn Levy's Star Wars movie

TBD

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's "New Jedi Order"

TBD

James Mangold's "Dawn of the Jedi"

TBD

Dave Filoni's untitled Mandalorian movie

TBD