Being as humongous and intricate as it is, the Star Wars franchise has had several plotholes that continue to confuse fans. From the Galaxy forgetting the Jedi to Palpatine’s secret horde of superweapons, there are several instances and events that remain unsolved. And one of the biggest plotholes is the relationship between Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker in the first film.
From their incestuous kiss to their alleged romantic trope, the misunderstanding of the two being romantically involved was also aided by John Williams’ romantic musical score. And the legendary composer solely blames George Lucas for his mistake.
John Williams’ Star Wars Mistake Was All Because of George Lucas
George Lucas‘ first Star Wars movie was more of a gamble, with no expectations that it would even be a hit let alone a cultural phenomenon that it is today. In such a scenario, it is understandable that not all characters or storylines were fully developed, leading to plotholes like Luke and Leia’s alleged romantic pairing.
Aided by a romantic score by John Williams and the incestuous kiss between the two in the second film, many fans believed the two were a romantic pair. However, the two are later revealed to be twins and Williams blames George Lucas for his mistake.
While conversing with Variety, the 54-times Oscar-nominated composer stated,
“I mistakenly wrote a love theme for Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. I learned later that they were brother and sister, so it was an incestuous idea to have a love theme for them. But George never told us there was going to be a second film!”
Assuming that Luke and Leia would eventually end up together, get married, and have kids (see Variety), Williams thus composed a love theme for Princess Leia. It was only in the second film that he was told that they were twins and thus wrote a new theme for Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi.
Reason Why Luke and Leia Were Made Twins in Star Wars
Luke and Leia being revealed as twins after sharing a smooch in The Empire Strikes Back was not something that fans were expecting. What made their initial relationship even more incestuous was that the Princess had a feeling that Luke was her brother, yet decided to make Han Solo jealous by kissing Luke.
In the book, Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplay, George Lucas revealed how the two characters ended up being twins. Apparently, Lucas wanted something powerful enough to drive Luke to lose himself while fighting Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi’s Throne Room scene.
“In the end, I had a problem in the fight between Luke and his father of why [Luke] makes the final turn to the bad side of the Force and tries to kill his father. [Director Richard Marquand] was trying to block out the fight between Luke and Vader, and we got down to that point underneath the throne room there, and he said, ‘You know, the script sort of says that Vader says something that upsets Luke,’ or something vague like that.”
Thus, struggling to come up with a strong enough reason, he eventually decided to make the two siblings. Their new relationship was not only important for that one scene but also vital for Luke’s character.
“[…] And we didn’t have that actual moment that we needed where you got the sense that Luke is hiding. He’s not going to fight him. […] He’d rather die first, and then, something turns him around and makes him fight. […] And in the process of evolving the script and evolving the importance of Leia as the sister, it was sitting right there in front of my face, and it became obvious that turning her to the dark side would be the thing that would set Luke off again.”
While fans are still divided about the relationship between Luke and Leia, their mistaken relationship eventually led to some of the most memorable and iconic moments in the Star Wars saga. Despite several imperfections, the franchise remains a beloved part of pop culture and most fans would agree it is perfect as it is.
The Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+.
