# How much did Princess Leia know?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 9, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870 "2005-12-09T13:49:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/1 "2005-12-09T13:49:41Z")
I’ll admit I’m not the most dedicated _Star Wars_ fan. In fact, the last time I saw Star Wars was in 1977. But as I recall, Leia sent R2D2 to Tatooine with the message _“Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope”_ - said message being intercepted by Luke Skywalker and off we went.
So back when the whole thing started, Leia already knew Obi Wan Kenobi 1) had been a major figure in the resistance against the Empire; and 2) was living on Tattoine. She may also have known that R2D2 had known Kenobi in the past, but that could have just been one of the mind-boggling coincidences that litter the series.
But if Leia knew enough to ask Obi Wan Kenobi for help and where to send the message, she must have been told something of his history. Didn’t it ever get mentioned that the biggest event in his life had been teaching a young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker, who was now Darth Vader the strongest opponent of the resistance. And when Leia met Luke Skywalker a few weeks later, didn’t she ever think _“Hmmm, Skywalker, that’s an unusual name. Where have I heard it before?”_
Did Leia know she had a twin brother? Did she know they had been seperated and he had been sent to Tattoine with Kenobi?
I won’t even get in to the whole thing about Leia “remembering” her mother.
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### Author:  [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/2 "2005-12-09T13:54:06Z")
Remember, Leia’s adoptive dad was Bail Organa (he’s played by Jimmy Smits in the prequels), who worked with and saved Obi Wan during the last battle, and who was there to immediately claim baby Leia. He’s also a big figure for the rebellion. I doubt, however, that he said much more than that to Leia. “Oh yeah, if you ever get into trouble, look for Obi Wan Kenobi. I’ve fought and worked with him before; he’s a good man” - that sort of thing.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/3 "2005-12-09T14:07:28Z")
You’re overlooking the really important part here: _R2-D2_ knew the whole story. Start to finish.
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/4 "2005-12-09T15:51:08Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> You’re overlooking the really important part here: _R2-D2_ knew the whole story. Start to finish.
But that Obi Wan had a totally memory wipe and therefore did not remember R2 at all.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/5 "2005-12-09T15:55:04Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> But that Obi Wan had a totally memory wipe and therefore did not remember R2 at all.
:dubious:
C-3PO got the memory wipe. Obi-Wan was just _old._
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/6 "2005-12-09T15:55:27Z")
He doesn’t remember \*owning \* any droids.
Obi Wan doesn’t know if he wants to let Luke in on the whole deal here so he plays dumb.
When C-3PO is getting the oil bath he tells Luke they were on a starship. Luke gets excited and starts asking questions. R2 says _something_, and 3P0 clams up before saying anything about being attacked by Storm Troopers.
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/7 "2005-12-09T15:57:11Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> But that Obi Wan had a totally memory wipe and therefore did not remember R2 at all.
Maybe Obi Wan was playing cool and keeping his recognition of R2 under his hat?
Also, wasn’t R2D2 realy just a _model_ of droid (cf. R5D4), so that just seeing an R2 unit didn’t necessarily mean you were seeing the same R2 unit from back in the day?
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/8 "2005-12-09T15:59:21Z")
So, if Princess Leia got the whole saga from R2D2, you’d think she’d have put the “Whoa, guy, we’re related!” thing to Luke when he started getting all misty-eyed around her.
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/9 "2005-12-09T16:01:36Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> :dubious:
>
> C-3PO got the memory wipe. Obi-Wan was just _old._
Only seventeen or eighteen years had passed. I still remember the names and accessories of my GI Joes from thirty-five years ago. Shirley, Obi Wan have at least remembered owning an R2 unit, even if the probability against it being the same one were astronomical.
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### Author:  [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/10 "2005-12-09T16:05:22Z")
Maybe R2D2 was owned by the Jedi. Maybe he was being coy. Maybe Lucas just wanted to include some familar faces in the prequels.
No matter what, it seems like Kenobi could have pulled Luke aside and said, “Luke, I can’t tell you why. But you absolutely DO NOT want to tap _that_ ass!”
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### Author:  [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/11 "2005-12-09T16:07:19Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> Only seventeen or eighteen years had passed. I still remember the names and accessories of my GI Joes from thirty-five years ago. Shirley, Obi Wan have at least remembered owning an R2 unit, even if the probability against it being the same one were astronomical.
He didn’t own R2. R2 was Padme’s, although Anakin also used him. And in any event, any droid he used would probably be the property of the Republic or the Jedi Order, he wouldn’t own him any more than a soldier owns his tank.
So what he said was true, from a certain point of view.
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### Author:  [@Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fromage_A_Trois)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/12 "2005-12-09T16:10:37Z")
> [@Menocchio](#):
>
> So what he said was true, from a certain point of view.
Nice.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/13 "2005-12-09T16:10:51Z")
> [@Menocchio](#):
>
> He didn’t own R2. R2 was Padme’s, although Anakin also used him. And in any event, any droid he used would probably be the property of the Republic or the Jedi Order, he wouldn’t own him any more than a soldier owns his tank.
Technically, wasn’t R2 the property of the taxpayers of Naboo?
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### Author:  [@poeticyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poeticyde)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/14 "2005-12-09T16:11:53Z")
\A certain point of view?\
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/15 "2005-12-09T16:13:00Z")
> [@middleman](#):
>
> Maybe Lucas just wanted to include some familar faces in the prequels.
Or maybe Lucas is just a clueless, lazy, hack who couldn’t write a cohesive story to save his sorry ass.
> [@middleman](#):
>
> No matter what, it seems like Kenobi could have pulled Luke aside and said, “Luke, I can’t tell you why. But you absolutely DO NOT want to tap _that_ ass!”
Maybe Lucas can insert this scene on the Super-Deluxe Mega-Extended Director’s Special Golden Anniversary DVD Edition.
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### Author:  [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/16 "2005-12-09T16:16:44Z")
> [@adam yax](#):
>
> Technically, wasn’t R2 the property of the taxpayers of Naboo?
Hard to tell. He could have been part of her personal holdings. Bail Organa (who himself must have been some kind of nobility, given that his adopted daughter is a princess) certainly didn’t make an effort to return him to Naboo. I’m not going to try to figure out a government that elects a teenage queen to a limited term, anyway.
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### Author:  [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/17 "2005-12-09T16:20:27Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> Didn’t it ever get mentioned that the biggest event in his life had been teaching a young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker, who was now Darth Vader the strongest opponent of the resistance.
The knowledge that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader was not common knowledge - probably the last few Jedi had figured it out, but most people who even knew that Anakin had betrayed the Jedi thought he’d died in the lava. Darth Vader was pretty much a guy with a mysterious past that suddenly showed up as the Emperor’s right hand man - and nobody was going to ask Palpatine where this guy came from.
> [@](#):
>
> And when Leia met Luke Skywalker a few weeks later, didn’t she ever think _“Hmmm, Skywalker, that’s an unusual name. Where have I heard it before?”_
If Leia had heard of him, the conversation probably wouldn’t have gone further than:
Leia: Are you related to Anakin Skywalker? He fought with my father in the Clone Wars.
Luke: Yes, he was my father but died before I was born. I never met the guy.
Leia: OK.
> [@](#):
>
> Did Leia know she had a twin brother? Did she know they had been seperated and he had been sent to Tattoine with Kenobi?
Both of 'em knew they were adopted, but neither was alerted to the existence of a twin sibling. Why they never noticed that they shared the same birthday during the few years between New Hope and Return of the Jedi is probably a better question.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/18 "2005-12-09T16:21:09Z")
Perhaps Obi-Wan, after years of being a fugitive, was being coy, & denying ownership of R2D2 to disavow any connection.
Or, he was unaware that R2D2 had his memory wiped, & was hinting to the droid to keep his trap shut in front of Luke.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/19 "2005-12-09T16:24:14Z")
Oh, good point… he did give R2 the hairy eyeball… “I _don’t recall_ owning a droid…”
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-princess-leia-know/334870/20 "2005-12-09T16:25:48Z")
> [@JerH](#):
>
> Both of 'em knew they were adopted, but neither was alerted to the existence of a twin sibling. Why they never noticed that they shared the same birthday during the few years between New Hope and Return of the Jedi is probably a better question.
Do they even observe birthdays in “a galaxy far, far away?” I’m pretty sure Obi-wan wouldn’t have made a big deal about when Luke was born when he took the baby to Uncle Lars. If anything, they probably observed the anniversary of his birth on the day he arrived at their hole in the ground.
Otherwise, I think **Snickers** has the right idea. And **UncleRojelio**. 😃
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