The Princess and the Scoundrel, a new book set in the Star Wars universe, has revealed a surprising, emotional detail about Leia's ring. The golden piece of jewelry can be spotted on Leia's right hand in the three sequel movies. And, as it turns out, the ring has some serious sentimental value. Major spoilers ahead The Princess and the Scoundrel!
Turns out, it's Leia's wedding ring, gifted to her by Han Solo during their honeymoon voyage on the Halcyon cruiser (which is none other than the setting for the new immersive Disney World hotel, Galactic Starcruiser). In the novel, penned by Beth Revis, Han and Leia get married on Endor after the second Death Star has been destroyed, so soon after The Return of the Jedi ends. As part of the ceremony, they receive rings from the Ewoks that are made out of vines hardened by sap, which turns them gold. As you would expect, these are particularly fragile, and Leia and Han's rings both break over the course of their honeymoon – which naturally turns out to be more action-packed than they were expecting.
Han notices Leia's missing ring has upset her, though, and buys his wife a brand new, more permanent item to replace it. The new piece is described as "a large ring, with gold snaking down to showcase a round, purple-blue stone at the base of her finger and then looping up to display a second stone past her middle knuckle." If that sounds familiar, it's a match for Leia's ring in the sequel trilogy. Check out a picture of it below.
In the book, Han explains that he chose the ring to recall the broken jewellery from Endor, with the gold supposed to be reminiscent of the vine rings. The two stones also have symbolic meaning: one is for Leia, and one is for Han.
Of course, by the time we see Han and Leia again in The Force Awakens, they've gone their separate ways. That might explain why Leia chooses to wear her ring on her right hand, considering wedding rings are traditionally worn on the left ring finger (though, maybe wedding customs are different in the galaxy far, far away). Still, it shows the connection between Han and Leia hasn't truly been broken, even though they're no longer together, and Leia still wears the jewellery after Han's death in both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
This isn't the only thing given an emotional backstory by The Princess and the Scoundrel, either, with an iconic Luke Skywalker quote also given new meaning.
Next up on the Star Wars release slate is Andor, which hits Disney Plus this September 21 with a triple season premiere. In the meantime, check out our roundup of all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows headed your way.
