A Long Sought-After 'Return of the Jedi' Question' Solved By 'Star Wars: Forces of Destiny'

Picture it: May 22, 2011, Family Guy concluded its ninth season with "It’s a Trap!," the final installment of the series’ Star Wars parody trilogy: Laugh It Up, Fuzzball. In this double-episode, Han Solo (Peter Griffin) questions Leia (Lois Griffin) about her change in appearance, since they had last seen each other.

Han: “Who braided your hair? Did the Ewoks braid your hair?

Leia: Yeah.

Han: So, they use spears with wooden shafts and stone-carved tips, yet they clearly understand the finer points of cosmetology?

Leia: I know, it's not as good as Empire.

Even though Leia’s wardrobe change was never addressed in Return of the Jedi, the scene did leave plenty of fans baffled. Clearly to enough of an extent that Family Guy writers found the question worthy of sarcastic mention on this episode of Family Guy. So, following up with that question, who did braid Leia’s hair and where did the dress come from? Behold, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny has provided somewhat of an answer, to the question that many have wondered about for so long... or at least since Family Guy brought it up, back in 2011.

In the Return of the Jedi, after helping Leia escape from the Scout Troopers, Wicket the Ewok and Leia quickly flee the scene where they had been attacked, to avoid further danger. In the film, they are not seen again until the Ewoks bring their newly-discovered god, C-3PO, and the others (who were on the menu) for the banquet to be thrown in his honor, back the the Ewok village, later that evening.

The Star Wars: Forces of Destiny episode, “Ewok Escape”, creatively attempted to fill in the gaps about the events that took place between the Scout Trooper attack and C-3PO's magical flight. In the episode, Wicket and Leia stumble upon two Ewoks who had been taken prisoner by another pair of Scout Troopers. Leia insists they help and Wicket heads up a tree to spring a trap. After successfully surrounding the unsuspecting troopers with the ring of his rope, Wicket nearly managed to apprehend the troopers with a swift jump from his location on the tree. Unfortunately, the rope stopped and left both Wicket and the troopers suspended in the air, about halfway up the tree. As one of the troopers attempted to shoot Wicket with his blaster, Leia leapt up and pulled Wicket down, causing the troopers to swing upward to the top of the tree, where they slammed their heads and fell quickly back to the ground. Upon successful capture of the troopers, one of the Ewoks grabbed the trooper’s blaster and the group ran off into the woods.

When Leia and the Ewoks arrived safely back to the Ewok Village, Wicket and his pals presented Leia with a gift for her selfless bravery. This was the moment when Leia received the garb dress, after Leia put it on to show her appreciation, she jokingly asked if the dress came with a spear, and to her surprise, the Ewoks gave her one to complete the outfit. Although this cute and cuddly animated sequence did not address Leia’s braided hair, it’s likely safe to assume that she did it herself.

One might ask, if George Lucas felt the need to change Leia’s outfit and hairstyle upon her arrival to the Ewok Village, why was there no scene (or deleted scene) of an Ewok styling Leia’s hair with a comb fashioned from a tree branch? Yes, the Ewoks were heavily criticized back then, and incorporating such a scene might have been too much for some fanboys to handle, but the fangirls of then and now surely would have loved it, because when it comes to Ewoks, we can never get enough! Within the Disney empire, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny is official Star Wars canon, so this is the sweet little story that happened (whether you care to believe it, or not) and we are sticking to it.

Click here to see the entire episode of Star Wars: Forces of Destiny: "Ewok Escape"

Written By Jill Hernandez

Syndicated From Culture Slate