‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: A First Look At Princess Leia's Personal Droid?
Obi-Wan being tasked with watching over young Luke can hardly be seen as a spoiler for the upcoming show on Disney+, set to premiere in just a few weeks on May 27. Ever since the end of Revenge of the Sith, it was clear that protecting the son of Anakin and Padme would be the main purpose of his stay on Tatooine. However, since the series was announced, it was also clear that watching over the Lars homestead and probably scaring off some Tusken Raiders would not be enough of a plot for the show, but that the Jedi Master might be forced to leave the desert planet to go on a dedicated mission.
This mission might involve none other than Luke’s twin sister Leia, who is said to be getting into major trouble and will need rescue by Kenobi. Rumors that the young princess, who was raised by Bail and Breha Organa of Alderaan might have a role in Obi-Wan Kenobi first started in July of 2021 when it was also reported that Vivien Lyra Blair (Bird Box) would play the younger version of Carrie Fisher’s character.
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Just as Luke had Obi-Wan to watch over him, the Organas seemingly also used a kind of bodyguard for their adopted daughter. The trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi has officially given us a first look at this “bodyguard.” One minute and five seconds into the trailer, a gloved hand (probably belonging to an Inquisitor) can be seen holding a small, circular red and silver droid with a big blue glowing photoreceptor and a kind of flappy little wing.
The little droid is described as a kind of drone, hovering over Leia and following her around where ever she goes. Although the trailer didn’t reveal anything in this regard, it would make sense that the droid has some kind of weapons to protect the princess as a 10-year-old girl would hardly run around with a blaster. The size of the droid (roughly the palm of a hand) also implies that whatever means of attack or defense the little guy has, it probably won’t be very massive.
From a marketing perspective, the introduction of the droid follows a schema that has been there since Return of the Jedi: create cute little characters that capture everybody’s heart, so everybody will be willing to buy its merchandise. Ewoks, Porgs, Babu Frik, and, of course, Grogu are just a few characters and creatures that rely heavily on the cuteness factor in the galaxy far, far away.
Characters having sidekick droids is also something that has been there since 1977. Luke (and Anakin before him) had R2-D2, Cal Kestis had BD-1, Rey had BB-8, and BB-8 himself had D-O. Even Cad Bane had a little droid called Todo 360 that had saved the life of his master more than once.
Design-wise, the new droid seems to be inspired by the movie Batteries Not Included (1987). Of course, it could be a coincidence, but this movie was produced by Kathleen Kennedy, now the CEO of Lucasfilm. Kennedy probably was not that involved in the design process of Obi-Wan Kenobi (as George Lucas would have been), but it’s plausible that the design team at Lucasfilm simply stumbled over this movie and its saucer-shaped flying robots when they were looking for an inspiration for Leia’s droid.
Judging by the rumors and the short sequence from the trailer showing the droid seemingly being captured, we can likely assume the little guy probably wasn’t very successful in protecting the young princess, and now an old Jedi Master must leave his exile to rescue Leia from the minions of the Empire.
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