Amidala of the Day

This made me think: did Ghosti-Wan and Ghostakin ever appear to Leia? And if not, was it because they couldn't for some reason (Leia is apparently Force-sensitive, but not the mystic type) or because they had better sense than to try? Now I'm imagining her remembering this conversation after the previous generation is entirely dead and tearing Ghosti-Wan a new one over that whole "implying your biological father was a person worth knowing at some point and not Darth Vader" thing.

Not just that, but in some versions of canon, she's been doing humanitarian work (and watching entire species of sentient beings go extinct) since she was nine or so, and materials released contemporary with TPM indicated she entered high politics by becoming Princess or Governor* of Theed at twelve. Even if that's not canon, though...elected Queen at fourteen. The girl was essentially a child prodigy who spent a crucial developmental period under unfathomable amounts of crushing pressure and responsibility. I could write a thesis on Vader and Amidala as archetypes of the burned-out Gifted kid probably.

I don't even object that much to the sand line in its context, but yeah, George had an opportunity to make a much more complex film about much more interesting people and...cut all the scenes that would have made RotS that film. I have just decreed the deleted scenes did in fact happen for my own purposes, since the story is a lot more coherent and the plot more balanced* with them.