Ahsoka: Leia's History With The Ghost Crew Explained
One of the biggest joys of "The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars Rebels" was seeing how the shows bridged the gaps between movies. They showed the characters changing and evolving — and even the galaxy at large changing, too, like when the public slowly turned against the Jedi, or the Rebellion slowly spread.
"Ahsoka" is doing the same thing. The show, despite its overly serious tone and its slow line deliveries, is doing a rather good job of showing the state of the galaxy in the time after "Return of the Jedi" and how it leads up to the Resistance and First Order conflict of the sequel trilogy. We see this in the complacency of the New Republic, and how they ignore warning calls. Still, there are those who fight on despite the circumstances, like Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka, and Senator Leia Organa.
Out of the three main characters of the original "Star Wars" trilogy, Leia is arguably the one most involved with the story presented in "Ahsoka." Han is neither a politician nor someone who would risk his neck so easily for random strangers, while Luke is busy building a doomed academy for future mass murderers. Meanwhile, Leia is a respected senator and a leading figure in the New Republic, so it makes sense that she is at least aware of Hera's plights for help in preventing Thrawn's return.
But there's more to it than just Leia being a good person. She would not just listen to warnings, she would directly help Hera out, because she has a long history with the Ghost Crew — even before she was a rebel leader.
A rebel at heart
The season 2 episode of "Star Wars Rebels," titled "A Princess on Lothal," follows a 15-year-old Leia on a mission for the Rebellion on behalf of her adoptive father Bail Organa to deliver ships from Alderaan to Lothal to help the Rebels. At the time, neither Leia nor Alderaan were officially or openly allied with the Rebellion, so Leia came up with a plan to help the rebels "steal" the ships. During the mission, Leia bonded with a young Ezra Bridger, who is the same age as her, but it is Hera who has the most in common with the young princess. The two of them are not only daughters of prominent resistance fighters, but they both became leaders at a very young age and were forced to grow up on the battlefield.
The mission ended up being crucial to the Rebellion, as the three Hammerhead Corvettes played a big role in the Battle of Scarif — with one of the ships ramming a Star Destroyer in one of the best scenes in "Rogue One."
As for Leia and Hera's friendship, we know it didn't end there. Even if Leia didn't appear in "Rebels" after that episode, the two remained at least acquainted for years as Hera became a prominent pilot and later a general while Leia took on a more political role. We know this because the canon miniseries "Forces of Destiny" includes an episode set right after "Return of the Jedi" where Leia asks Hera for help in feeding some Ewoks before they start eating captured stormtroopers. Leia may not have gone on many missions with the "Rebels" group, but she is an unofficial member of the Ghost Crew.