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In Episode IV: A New Hope, it is said:

Tarkin: You don't know how hard I found it, signing the order to terminate your life.

Leia: I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself.

Tarkin: Princess Leia, before your execution, I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational.

Do we know how she was going to be terminated? Would they just shoot her, or were there other, more theatrical practices? She was a member of the Imperial Senate, after all, and a public figure.

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    Whichever method was chosen, they probably would have involved British medical instruments... starwars.wikia.com/wiki/…
    – Skooba
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 15:59
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    She'd be tied up with her eyes pinned open like Alex in Clockwork Orange and forced to watch the prequel trilogy.
    – Wad Cheber
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 16:52
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    @WadCheber Damn, and I thought making her watch her homeword explode was cruel.
    – TheBloodyPoet
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 23:27
  • Haven't you seen Austin Powers? Everyone knows the only way to execute anyone of importance is to chain them down and have a very slow moving laser slowly fire its way up to you while you confidently leave the room unattended as you laugh at the perfect unfolding of your sinister plan.
    – Kai Qing
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 23:48
  • @Kai you forgot to add that the villain has to expain his sinister plan in all its complexity before turning on the laser, thus giving time for rescuers to arrive or the hero to pick the lock.
    – Spencer
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 3:07

1 Answer 1

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Tortured to death

The original novelisation mentions that her death was going to be slow (and presumably painful) but there's not a lot more offered than that in any of the film's canon sources.

Artoo whistled on while Threepio translated. “Level five, detention block AA-23. According to the information, she is scheduled for slow termination.”

If we delve into earlier version (3rd draft) of the script, we find this exchange between Vader and one of the Death Star's senior officers.

1ST OFFICER: What about her?

VADER: Terminate her... but make it slow. We might still get some information.

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  • Cruel, just as expected. No source mentions the "tools" for this, however? Was it a droid, a special chamber, or what? Whatever it was, it must have been busy, as there was need for scheduling (mentioned by 3PO).
    – Essen
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 17:19
  • @Essen wasn't it going to be done with that black floating syringe droid?
    – Mindwin Remember Monica
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 21:02
  • @Mindwin Frankly, I don't know. You're probably referring to the IT-O droid which, in my understanding, is for interrogation, not execution.
    – Essen
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 21:12
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    @Essen well, "We might still get some information" implies that interrogation could be the chosen method of execution - the only difference is that you don't stop the torture-interrogation when it threatens the subject's life.
    – Peteris
    Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 23:39

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