I’m well aware that Luke Skywalker is one of Star Wars’ most powerful Jedi, but Star Wars officially has me convinced that Leia Organa had the potential to be even better. The Star Wars sequel trilogy shocked viewers by revealing that Leia had completed Jedi training with Luke but ultimately opted to walk away from becoming a Jedi because she foresaw her son’s death at the end of her Jedi path. This came on the heels of the original trilogy’s many hints that Leia was Force-sensitive—although it was never made explicit and certainly wasn’t the focus.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda says, “There is another,” indicating that Leia could step in as the future of the Jedi should Luke fail. More than that, at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Leia pretty obviously uses the Force to find and rescue Luke. Despite those heavy hints in the original trilogy, it wasn’t until the sequels that Leia’s Jedi training and Force sensitivity were really confirmed on screen. Now, a new Star Wars story has taken this one step further by suggesting Leia had all the makings of a brilliant Jedi—even better than Luke himself.

Leia Was Raised By A Man Who Sought To Honor The Jedi (Luke Wasn’t)

Bail Organa Remained Completely Loyal To The Jedi

Star Wars movies and TV shows have provided quite a bit more insight into Luke and Leia’s upbringings, though perhaps none more than Obi-Wan Kenobi. That show revealed that Leia grew incredibly close to her adoptive parents, Bail and Breha Organa, and Luke had likewise been accepted as a son by Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru (although the warmth the twins were shown looked a bit different). Nevertheless, one thing was quite clear: Uncle Owen did not want Luke to know anything about the Force or the Jedi, and that included keeping Obi-Wan far away from him.

A new book, Star Wars: The Mask of Fear, written by Alexander Freed, has confirmed that this couldn’t have been further from the truth for Leia. The Mask of Fear consistently shows how dedicated Bail remained to the Jedi even after Order 66, the rise of the Empire, and the other events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. In fact, much to Mon Mothma’s dismay, Bail remained relatively vocal about his loyalty to the Jedi and his desire to find out the truth about Order 66 and the Jedi’s alleged attempt to ᴀssᴀssinate Palpatine.

Order Star Wars: The Mask of Fear

In Uncle Owen’s defense, he was doing this to protect Luke, although he was pretty harsh in rebuking Obi-Wan and fairly scathing in sharing his views on the Jedi. Leia, by contrast, was raised to see the Jedi as heroes. Obi-Wan Kenobi then revealed that she got to witness that heroism and see those values in action firsthand. This certainly primed Leia to be a much better Jedi than Luke right off the bat, as she grew up with that positive perception of them—and an understanding of who and what the Jedi were nearly a full decade before Luke.

Leia Had A Strong Desire To Serve, Not A Longing For Adventure

Luke Was Desperate To Get Off Tatooine, But Leia Was Ready To Give Everything For Others

Another mᴀssive difference between Luke and Leia that suggests Leia was a better fit to become a Jedi was their motivations, especially in A New Hope. Luke was living on Tatooine, desperate to leave the planet and find adventure. In fact, it’s easy to forget, but Luke was even interested in joining the Imperial Academy initially, before he fully realized the horrors of the Empire. In that sense, Luke was focused on himself and his personal aspirations at the beginning of the original trilogy.

Leia was on the opposite end of this spectrum, having been part of the Rebellion since she was 16. Even the way the characters are introduced in A New Hope, with Leia captured by Darth Vader but holding strong and Luke coming across as a little naive, showcases how differently they were raised. Leia, raised by Bail Organa, was taught to have a service-oriented and selfless mindset, and that set her up to become a brilliant Jedi.

Leia Even Practiced The Jedi Trait Of Non-Attachment

Luke Clearly Struggled With This In Return Of The Jedi

The prequel trilogy introduced the notion that the Jedi didn’t allow attachments, be it familial attachments or romantic ones. With that re-framing for the original trilogy, it becomes all the clearer that Leia was naturally more inclined to the way of the Jedi. A perfect example of this strength in Leia is the devastating scene in which she refuses to give up the Rebellion to save her planet. Instead, she stands resolute and watches as her planet—with her parents and nearly everyone she knows and loves still on it—explodes.

Leia’s ability not only to endure that moment but also to keep going after it proves that she embodied the Jedi non-attachment. The reality is, Leia knew she was too important to the Rebellion to break down even after she witnessed the destruction of Alderaan and lost more than can really be put into words. That same forтιтude wasn’t shown by Luke, even in Return of the Jedi.

The best example of Luke’s struggle with attachment actually happens in Return of the Jedi. The one time that Luke truly loses control and taps into his anger—nearly killing Darth Vader in the process, which could have led him down the path to the dark side—occurs because Vader threatens to go after Leia. Due to his attachment to Leia, whom he’s just learned is his sister, Luke comes dangerously close to turning to the dark side. Leia’s ability to detach emotionally, another Jedi trait, is therefore stronger than Luke’s.

Star Wars Ultimately Made Leia Rey’s True Master, Not Luke

It Was Barely Shown On Screen, But It Was Really Leia Who Trained Rey

One of the most shocking elements to consider in this argument actually comes down to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While The Rise of Skywalker may continue to be considered one of Star Wars’ worst movies, some pivotal moments happened within that story. Among these was the revelation that Leia stepped up as Rey’s Jedi Master after Luke died in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and was even the one to complete Rey’s training.

In that sense, Leia already proved herself as a brilliant Jedi, even if most of that proof happened off screen (which was due in large part to the tragic pᴀssing of Carrie Fisher limiting how much Star Wars could do with this story). Of course, there’s also raw power to consider here, and there’s little doubt that Luke was far beyond Leia in terms of raw power, even without Leia’s Force abilities ever really being shown on screen. However, raw power is far from the only determining factor in what makes a great Jedi.

After all, Luke and Leia’s own father, Anakin, was one of the most powerful Jedi of all time, but he lacked many of the key Jedi traits that would have kept him on the light side of the Force and would have made him among the greatest Jedi in history. Leia, however, possessed many of them. Although I never could have predicted this, Star Wars has effectively convinced me that Leia Organa had the potential to be an even greater Jedi than Luke Skywalker.