Golden Globe-winner Laura Dern’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi character, Vice Admiral Holdo, wasn’t around long, but she sure made a big impression while she was there. She was graceful, elegant, and at the same time, a kick-ass military commander responsible for arguably (and what isn’t arguable in Star Wars?) one of the most explosive scenes in the iconic sci-fi franchise.
And if you felt some sparks flying between Holdo and Leia, you may not be far off base.
In the recent YA novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan (published as part of the lead up to The Last Jedi), Holdo is given a slightly more expanded role as a companion of Leia in her youth. The book covers her coming of age and participation in an Alderaan rite of passage ceremony, all while she works to discover what secrets her parents are hiding from her. (Sidenote: when do we get that movie???)
In the book, Holdo is much more fleshed out as a quirky oddball who has a deep well of hidden strengths. She and Leia find a strong friendship, explaining the trust Leia places into Holdo’s hands in The Last Jedi. Among their bonding is, of course, the prerequisite conversation about boys (it is a YA book, after all.) However, boys doesn’t seem to be all Holdo is interested in, and when Leia says it’s just humanoid males for her, Holdo responds with "Really? That feels so limiting."
Pansexual space commanders? Hell. Yeah.
Unfortunately, since there wasn’t much room for a torrid romance of any kind in The Last Jedi (much to the disappointment of all shippers out there), this is still the closest we get to queer Star Wars movie characters (along with a pile of other winks and nods from the other Star Wars movies).
Maybe someday soon...in a galaxy far, far away...
