A Princess on Lothal

"There really is no other character quite like her. And to quote The Force Awakens ' Lor San Tekka, 'She'll always be royalty to me.'"

- Dave Filoni, about Princess Leia

"A Princess on Lothal" is the upcoming tenth episode of the second season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels. The episode, which will air on Disney XD on January 20, 2016, marks the debut of Princess Leia Organa on the series.

Official description
An aide to Bail Organa, his daughter Princess Leia Organa is sent to Lothal with ships for the rebel fleet, but an Imperial lockdown forces the rebels to create a new plan to steal the vehicles.

Development
"The Empire sees her as a privileged princess who runs mercy missions to wayward worlds, but in truth she is much stronger and more dangerous than they imagine."

- Dave Filoni, regarding Princess Leia

"A Princess on Lothal," set to debut on January 20, 2016 on Disney XD, marks the debut of Princess Leia Organa on Star Wars Rebels. According to Dave Filoni, executive producer of the show, the creative team felt that they had an opportunity to show Leia before she became the leader seen in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. As she is a younger character from when audiences first met her, it allowed the team to experiment with her personality before she became more resolute in the original film. One of the challenges of bringing Leia onto the show was that audiences would have to be reminded that she is part of the Empire at this point in her life, and while she believes in the ideals of the rebellion she has to act the part of a loyal Imperial. The Empire itself views Leia as a privileged princess who undertakes mercy missions, but, according to Filoni, Leia is actually "much stronger and more dangerous than they imagine."

Leia's appearance in this episode will be her only episode in the second season. She is voiced by Julie Dolan, who also provides the character's voice in the video game Star Wars: Uprising and the Disney theme park ride Star Tours.