'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 45: THE FISHER FACTOR!

A lovely shot of Carrie Fisher as Leia, being tended to by make-up artists for an ultimately deleted scene.

She was one of the key figures in bringing down the Galactic Empire that brought so much death, misery, death and tyranny in its wake, but thirty years of relative peace and stability with the New Republic, of which she was one of its prime leaders, was sadly not to last. With the emergent First Order making its ploy to take over from the Empire, General Leia Organa has no choice but to lead an all-new Resistance against such a powerful and potentially overwhelming threat that has been ignored too long by her soon dead political colleagues. And this battle is even more personal now, what with the disappearance of her brother, and fellow Jedi, Luke Skywalker, alongside the loss of her only son, Kylo Ren, to the Dark Side and to the First Order's leader, Snoke. And then comes the soon and tragic murder by Ren of her ex-husband, his father, Han Solo...

"Together again!" Ford and Fisher reunited in a publicity image.

Carrie Fisher's return to the Star Wars Saga with The Force Awakens was most welcome, of which she delivered a fine performance in her memorable scenes alongside Harrison Ford...

Leading the Resistance.

Monitoring oncoming dangers with Admiral Statura (Ken Leung) at the Resistance Base.

Finding new hope with the newly arrived Rey.

Leia sends Rey off to find her brother, whilst preparing the Resistance for new conflicts.

EPISODE VII: PREPARING FOR RETALIATION!

"We're still at war with First Order. A war that won't end until either it or the Resistance is destroyed. The next time, without Luke, we won't stand a chance."

A potential lead-in to the events of EPISODE VIII, General Leia Organa addresses the members of her Resistance, warning them that the First Order will retaliate with the destruction of Starkiller Base. This scene can be found in Alan Dean Foster's novelisation of THE FORCE AWAKENS and takes place just as Artoo is reactivating himself from self-enforced slumber. In post production, the gathering scene was likely cut/re-worked for pacing reasons, to hammer home the events of Han's death with Leia and Chewie and then get the audience swiftly perked up for Artoo's return with his vital piece of the holographic map leading to Luke.