House of Organa

The House of Organa, also known as the Royal Family of Alderaan, the Royal House of Alderaan, or simply House Organa or the Organa family, was the immediate family of the Alderaanian monarchy. During the era of the Galactic Republic, Queen Breha Organa ruled the Core World Alderaan by hereditary right while her consort, Senator Bail Prestor Organa, represented their homeworld in the Galactic Senate. Having no natural children of their own, they became the adoptive parents of Princess Leia Organa shortly after the Clone Wars. Leia, who was raised by her adopted family to embody the values of Alderaan, devoted her life to the restoration of democracy and therefore opposed the rule of fascism.

During the Imperial Era, the Organas worked in secret to create the Alliance to Restore the Republic while feigning loyalty to the Galactic Empire. With the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station operational, however, the destructive firepower of its superlaser was unleashed on Alderaan, completely destroying the planet along with billions of Alderaanians and the monarchy. Leia was the sole survivor of the royal family, the Empire having held her as a prisoner on board the battle station at the time of The Disaster.

The end of the Galactic Civil War coincided with the birth of Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia. Under the laws that governed the Elder Houses, Leia and Ben were both entitled to the hereditary rights of House Organa, including the governorship of Birren. After the destruction of the Jedi Order, mother and son fought against each other during the Cold War between the New Republic and the First Order. Ben, whose strength with the Force came from Leia's natural father, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, became a First Order warlord under the name of Kylo Ren.

Although Leia created the Resistance to oppose the regime that her son served, she refused to believe that Ben was lost to the dark side of the Force. In the aftermath of the Hosnian Cataclysm, Leia implored her husband Han to bring their son home, believing that Ben's father could reach him in a way that his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, could not. The death of Han—killed by his own son during the Battle of Starkiller Base—all but convinced Leia that Ben was truly lost to her. Ren subsequently became Supreme Leader of the First Order and led its forces in a campaign to conquer the galaxy.

The conflict between Ren and his mother came to a head when Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith who died during the Battle of Endor, announced his return, unveiling the untapped military assets of Exegol. Ren accepted the mandate to restore the Sith and become the new Galactic Emperor, but Sidious' plans for Ren never came to fruition. Leia took over Skywalker's role as a mentor to Rey, a scavenger who sought to become a Jedi. During the last last duel between Ren and Rey, Leia made one last effort to reach her son before she died, calling out to him through the Force. Her sacrifice worked in conjunction with Ben's memory of his father, compelling him to renounce the dark side and take up his mother's fight.

In the end, Ben helped to prevent Sidious from achieving his goal to create a new Sith Empire. After the Resistance and their allies won the Battle of Exegol, Ben sacrificed his life to resurrect Rey. The deaths of Leia and Ben ended not only the Skywalker bloodline, but the House of Organa as well.

Text and facts from the “House of Organa” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.