New Star Wars Novel Features Luke Revealing to Leia Their Darth Vader Lineage

The Star Wars universe has absolutely no shortage of iconic moments, with lines of dialogue that have reverberated into the larger pop culture landscape. That being said, there are a number of key moments that were not depicted in the text of the movies, and have had to be explored in other mediums (or not at all). A key moment in the journey between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) is finally being canonized on the page — thanks to the upcoming novel Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel. Written by Beth Revis, the novel takes place following the events of Return of the Jedi, and as a newly-released excerpt on StarWars.com reveals, it features Luke confirming to Leia that their birth father is Darth Vader. You can check out part of the excerpt below.

“”How are you?” Luke’s voice was sincere, but Leia wasn’t sure how to answer him. This was supposed to be a triumph, but all she really felt was confused. Not just about what Luke had told her about her lineage – their connection was something she’d felt for some time, and it had been easy to accept Luke as her brother. She would not think about what that meant of her biological father. No – it wasn’t just that.

“It’s the Force, isn’t it?” Luke asked.

Leia nodded. She had told Luke that she didn’t – couldn’t – understand the power he had, but he seemed eerily calm and confident that she could actually wield the Force as he did. Leia might not have any real experience with the Force, but there was no denying the power Luke had… the power she felt, too, like a fluttering of flitterfly wings just on the edge of her consciousness. Waiting for her to seize it.

“He told me to tell you -” Luke started, but Leia’s head whipped up, eyes fierce as she glared at him.

“Don’t,” she warned.

“They were his last words. He wanted me to tell you -“

“I don’t care.”

“He was good,” Luke insisted. “There was still good in him, after all…”

My father was good, Leia thought, but in her mind she pictured Bail Organa, not Darth Vader. Thinking of Bail made her think of Breha, her mother. Of her home. Of everything she had lost.

When she had spoken to Luke earlier this night, Leia had told him that she remembered the mother they shared, their birth mother. It had been vague images, feelings, really, nothing more. But she did have a memory – of love, of closeness, of things she could not describe. It was impossible to put her feelings into words, but there was no denying their truth. It felt like… a connection, a bond made of light.

Yet Luke, who was a Jedi Knight, strong in the Force, had no memory of the woman who had birthed them both.

Did he have memories of their father? Was that why he was so capa­ble of forgiving the monster that was Darth Vader? They had been sepa­rated at birth, not just from each other but from their biological parents. Maybe Leia had a connection with their mother, and Luke had a con­nection with their father.

Leia bit back a bitter laugh. Perhaps it wasn’t as deep as that. Perhaps it was merely that Luke had never been tortured by their biological fa­ther the way she had.”

Set just after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the story of Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel begins on the forest moon of Endor, where Han proposes in the elation of the rebel victory against the Empire. After a ceremony at the site of the victory celebration at the end of the film, the newlyweds depart for a honeymoon aboard the Halcyon starcruiser. In their most desperate hour, with the war still raging but the Empire nearing its last gasp, the couple must outwit the Imperial remnants clinging to power.

What do you think of this new excerpt from Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel will be released on August 16th wherever books are sold.