Leia's Job
Aug. 11th, 2008 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunnyskywalkerWhat exactly is Leia's position in the Rebel Alliance? I don't think we ever find out in the movies.
At the beginning of ANH, it seems she's a spy: she uses "mercy missions" and "diplomatic missions to Alderaan" (if she's from Alderaan, why is she on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan, anyway?) to cloak her other activities, such as stealing top-secret Imperial military intelligence. Her position in the Imperial Senate probably gives her other opportunities to overhear things, sneak around, and maybe bribe and blackmail for the cause.
But I wonder whether that's all she does for the Alliance. She is a senator, after all, and thus must have some political and leadership ability; does she also have a say in directing Alliance policy? Or is that Bail's job? And while Bail says in RotS that he's going to toe the party line to stay under the radar, Leia doesn't seem like she knows how not to speak her mind. Maybe she keeps her tongue in check until she's captured, when she figures it makes no difference.
What really puzzles me, though, is what her position is once she starts living on Alliance bases. We see her ordering pilots around in ESB, so she has some authority over military personnel. She also spends time in the command center, looking at probe droids and such. But is she actually in the military chain of command, or is she part of the civilian branch of the Alliance, like Mon Mothma? Do they even have separate civil and military branches at this point?
Then in RotJ, she's part of the mission to rescue Han from Jabba along with Luke, who may or may not still be a commander; Lando, who may or may not have officially joined the Alliance (but who probably isn't a general yet); and Chewbacca, who wasn't officially in the Alliance at the end of ESB but who may be now. And the entire mission may or may not be an Alliance mission. Is this an extension of her covert operative job? Has she joined the Rebel version of a commando squad? Did she go get Han on her vacation hours? We just don't know.
Finally, she volunteers to be part of General Solo's command crew for a military mission on Endor--so is she in the military, or do they accept civilian volunteers, or what? And what is her job on that mission, exactly? To help Han give the team orders and take over if he dies?
I think the real-world explanation is that Lucas didn't think about it much and just gave the barest explanation possible to keep all the main characters involved. But all the guys get official job titles, so why doesn't Leia get one too? She's not doing much princessing these days, so shouldn't she get a second title to reflect what she actually does?
Actually, come to think of it, she's not the only one in title-less limbo: what's Chewie's job title? Do only human males get titles? Maybe he's General Solo's aide-de-camp...
...but that still doesn't explain what Leia's been doing for a living during the trilogy.
At the beginning of ANH, it seems she's a spy: she uses "mercy missions" and "diplomatic missions to Alderaan" (if she's from Alderaan, why is she on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan, anyway?) to cloak her other activities, such as stealing top-secret Imperial military intelligence. Her position in the Imperial Senate probably gives her other opportunities to overhear things, sneak around, and maybe bribe and blackmail for the cause.
But I wonder whether that's all she does for the Alliance. She is a senator, after all, and thus must have some political and leadership ability; does she also have a say in directing Alliance policy? Or is that Bail's job? And while Bail says in RotS that he's going to toe the party line to stay under the radar, Leia doesn't seem like she knows how not to speak her mind. Maybe she keeps her tongue in check until she's captured, when she figures it makes no difference.
What really puzzles me, though, is what her position is once she starts living on Alliance bases. We see her ordering pilots around in ESB, so she has some authority over military personnel. She also spends time in the command center, looking at probe droids and such. But is she actually in the military chain of command, or is she part of the civilian branch of the Alliance, like Mon Mothma? Do they even have separate civil and military branches at this point?
Then in RotJ, she's part of the mission to rescue Han from Jabba along with Luke, who may or may not still be a commander; Lando, who may or may not have officially joined the Alliance (but who probably isn't a general yet); and Chewbacca, who wasn't officially in the Alliance at the end of ESB but who may be now. And the entire mission may or may not be an Alliance mission. Is this an extension of her covert operative job? Has she joined the Rebel version of a commando squad? Did she go get Han on her vacation hours? We just don't know.
Finally, she volunteers to be part of General Solo's command crew for a military mission on Endor--so is she in the military, or do they accept civilian volunteers, or what? And what is her job on that mission, exactly? To help Han give the team orders and take over if he dies?
I think the real-world explanation is that Lucas didn't think about it much and just gave the barest explanation possible to keep all the main characters involved. But all the guys get official job titles, so why doesn't Leia get one too? She's not doing much princessing these days, so shouldn't she get a second title to reflect what she actually does?
Actually, come to think of it, she's not the only one in title-less limbo: what's Chewie's job title? Do only human males get titles? Maybe he's General Solo's aide-de-camp...
...but that still doesn't explain what Leia's been doing for a living during the trilogy.
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Date: 2008-08-15 05:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2008-08-20 02:33 am (UTC)You've reached Lord Vader's office. No one is available to take your call at this time, but we assure you that your call is important to Lord Vader. Please leave your name and number at the beep, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible! Have a nice day.
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Date: 2008-12-07 09:32 am (UTC)The only thing I can think to add to the discussion is that due to the inherent chaos and brand-new and highly disorganized feel to the Rebell Alliance (also perhaps due to the fact that you have 394857928345 people from various planets and cultures mixing in and out constantly?), maybe Padme didn't found the Rebel Alliance at all. I think she just founded the idea and the sentiment--an idea that when opportunity presented itself years down the road, Bail and Mon Mothma took advantage of. Her tragic situation could also have been something that burned in their memories. Since presumably Palpatine was cracking down for a while, ferreting out any miscellaneous Jedi that weren't murdered in the initial genocide, and being extremely harsh, they had to lie low--which means no Rebel Alliance. Then maybe 15-18 years down the road, they finally got going when Palpatine's attention was no longer on them. And their activity is what capitulated Palpatine to crack down again and disband the Senate, especially since the Death Star was completed.
In any case, great meta, guys. I liked reading both your thoughts!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-08 11:34 pm (UTC)Now I'm curious how Tang-era Buddhism differs from other eras. More elaborate art and rituals? Different ideas?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-12 10:05 am (UTC)Ahahaha, Tang-era Buddhism is when Buddhism finally settled into China, sort of like its "Golden Age". New schools popping up everywhere, new monasteries as Chinese men joined, lots of imperial respect for Buddhism, etc. It was a good time to be a Buddhist, back then!