--- description: Star Wars: The Last Jedi marks the end of an era for fans, as Carrie Fisher makes her final appearance as the beloved Princess Leia. title: How the 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Says Goodbye to Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd42d169ae87b389e/6988f5170a4a22a4fb9d1124/princess-leia-last-jedi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How _Star Wars: The Last Jedi_ Says Goodbye to Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Dec 15, 2017 7:08 PM CUT  ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ marks the end of an era for fans of the beloved Princess-turned-General Leia, played by the late Carrie Fisher. ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ marks the end of an era for fans of the beloved Princess-turned-General Leia, played by the late Carrie Fisher.Lucasfilm Ltd.  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Dec 15, 2017 7:08 PM CUT **Warning:** This post contains major spoilers for [_Star Wars: The Last Jedi_](http://time.com/5018368/star-wars-the-last-jedi/ "undefined"). [_The Last Jedi_](http://time.com/5061707/star-wars-the-last-jedi-review/ "undefined")marks the end of an era for _Star Wars_ fans, as Carrie Fisher makes her final appearance as the beloved Princess-turned-General Leia. Fisher [passed away in December 2016](http://time.com/5019839/carrie-fisher-nice-celebrities-story/ "undefined") after suffering a heart attack, but had reportedly already finished filming [her scenes for Episode VIII](http://time.com/5045736/upcoming-star-wars-movies/ "undefined") at the time of her death. _Star Wars: The Last Jedi_ begins with the Leia-led Resistance making a mad dash to evade the encroaching forces of the First Order. Unfortunately, in the midst of their escape, Leia’s ship is hit by a blast that destroys its entire command center. For a few minutes, it seems as though that will be the last we see of her. But then Leia appears on-screen again, drifting through the galaxy. She reaches out her hand and — using [her connection to the Force](http://www.starwars.com/news/strong-in-my-family-exploring-leias-unique-relationship-with-the-force "undefined")— manages to fly through space back to the Resistance fleet. **Read More:** [John Boyega Is a Star of His Own Making](http://time.com/collection-post/4972291/john-boyega-next-generation-leaders/ "undefined") The general is unconscious for the majority of the rest of _The Last Jedi_ as she recovers from her ordeal. But, of course, at the Resistance’s greatest moment of need, she wakes up ready to command. Leia gets a heartwarming reunion with her twin brother Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) — or at least his Force projection — and seems to pass the torch of leadership to Poe (Oscar Isaac). In Leia’s final scene, she boards the Millennium Falcon with Rey (Daisy Ridley) — both seeming to know that Luke is gone — to fly off into the galaxy once again. When the credits roll, a dedication to the late Fisher appears on-screen: “In loving memory of our princess, Carrie Fisher.” Although there were rumors that Fisher’s role in _The_ _Last Jedi_ would be changed to account for her absence in Episode IX, director Rian Johnson has said that he didn’t alter the movie at all. “I felt very strongly that we don’t try to change her performance,” he told the [_New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/movies/star-wars-the-last-jedi-director-rian-johnson.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")in September. “We don’t adjust what happens to her in this movie. Emotionally, you can’t help recontextualize it, now that she’s gone. It’s almost eerie how there are scenes that have an emotional resonance and a meaning, especially now. She gives a beautiful and complete performance in this film.” Disney has also stated that there will be no [computer-generated version of Leia](http://time.com/4604996/rogue-one-grand-moff-tarkin-princess-leia-cgi/ "undefined") in Episode IX like there was in _Rogue One_. “We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016,” [said Disney CEO Bob Iger](http://time.com/4712016/star-wars-han-solo-episode-nine/ "undefined") during a March talk at the University of Southern California. “Carrie appears throughout VIII. We are not changing VIII to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in VIII_._ In _Rogue One_, we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie.” “We don’t have any intention of beginning a trend of re-creating actors who are gone,” Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy reiterated to [_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/05/star-wars-the-last-jedi-cover-portfolio "undefined")in May. Considering Leia’s storyline was left pretty open-ended, it’s unclear how Episode IX director J.J. Abrams will deal with tying up the loose ends. All we can ask is that it does Fisher justice. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5065392/star-wars-the-last-jedi-carrie-fisher/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5065392/star-wars-the-last-jedi-carrie-fisher/"},"headline":"How Star Wars: The Last Jedi Says Goodbye to Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia","datePublished":"2017-12-15T19:08:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:34:55.600Z","description":"Major spoilers ahead","url":"https://time.com/5065392/star-wars-the-last-jedi-carrie-fisher/","keywords":["movies","Star Wars topic","carrie fisher","Princess Leia","Star Wars: The Last Jedi","The Last Jedi"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd42d169ae87b389e/6988f5170a4a22a4fb9d1124/princess-leia-last-jedi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd42d169ae87b389e/6988f5170a4a22a4fb9d1124/princess-leia-last-jedi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia","caption":"Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.","creditText":"Lucasfilm Ltd.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5065392/star-wars-the-last-jedi-carrie-fisher/","name":"How Star Wars: The Last Jedi Says Goodbye to Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia"}}]}] ```