"The accident," as many Alderaanians referred to it, was when Princess Breha Organa of Alderaan fell on her way down the Alderaanian mountain Appenza Peak while completing her Challenge of the Body. Organa suffered from injuries that nearly killed her if not for the quick action of the guards who had been watching from a distance.[3]
Organa survived and had to have her heart and lungs replaced with pulmonodes, though, unlike most people, she choose not to go through the bacta sessions necessary to grow new flesh and skin around them; instead she decided to keep them as a physical reminder that she lived,[2] though people said that she was "too showy".[4]
Although she fell from the mountain, Organa had still completed her Challenge of the Body, as she had reached the peak, and was therefore officially invested as crown princess and eventually succeeded her mother as queen of Alderaan.[2]
The accident and the strain on the queen's body contributed to the decision later made by Organa and her husband Bail to adopt rather than have biological children.[2]
Years later, Alderaanians still spoke of the accident in hushed tones and[2] in 3 BBY[5] Organa joined her adoptive daughter Leia Organa in climbing Appenza Peak for her own Challenge of the Body where she briefly spoke of the accident with her.[2] Leia remembered her mother's accident[6] in 4 ABY[7] while on the moon Madurs during her honeymoon with Han Solo, noting that as much as people loved a love story that the only thing people loved more than a hero was a fallen hero. That the more she was celebrated, the more people would look for her flaws to exploit and use them to topple her image. This reminded Leia of her mother and her fall as Leia realized that every moment of joy was only raising her higher, so that when she inevitably fell, it would be harder.[6]
Behind the scenes[]
The accident was first mentioned in the young adult novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray, published in 2017.[3]
Appearances[]
- Queen's Shadow (Mentioned only)
- Queen's Shadow audiobook (Mentioned only)
- Queen's Hope (Mentioned only)
- Queen's Hope audiobook (Mentioned only)
- Leia, Princess of Alderaan (First mentioned)
- Leia, Princess of Alderaan audiobook (Mentioned only)
- The Princess and the Scoundrel (Mentioned only)
- The Princess and the Scoundrel audiobook (Mentioned only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Breha Organa is show to already have her pulmonodes during the events of Queen's Shadow, which takes place four years after the Invasion of Naboo, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas places in 32 BBY. Therefore Queen's Shadow takes place in 28 BBY.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Leia, Princess of Alderaan
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Leia, Princess of Alderaan
- ↑ Queen's Shadow
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas places Leia Organa's birth in 19 BBY. The events of Leia, Princess of Alderaan commence just after Organa's sixteenth birthday, which places the events of the novel in 3 BBY.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Princess and the Scoundrel
- ↑ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary dates the wedding of Han Solo and Leia Organa to thirty years before the "Starkiller Incident," which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 34 ABY. Therefore the wedding, which is featured in The Princess and the Scoundrel, took place in 4 ABY.