The Legend of Princess Issa: Powers and Prophecy in Rebel Moon

The Rise of Princess Issa

Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child Of Fire's militaristic empire reigns supreme, but the prophecy of Princess Issa, a young royal who's gifted with remarkable power, may come to prove essential in changing the course of history for the subjugated societies under the Motherworld.

Princess Issa holding a bird perched on her finger in Rebel Moon-1

The Motherworld empire drives the plot line of Zack Snyder's newest blockbuster and uses its branch of the military, the Imperium, for the conquest of helpless civilizations. When military leader Admiral Noble and the Imperium set their sights on a farming colony on the moon Veldt, a former soldier named Kora (Sofia Boutella) decides it's time to take a stand against the empire's barbarous rule.

Sofia Boutella as Kora looking up into the sky in Rebel Moon

The Extraordinary Powers of Princess Issa

According to Rebel Moon's lore, Princess Issa (Stella Grace Fitzgerald) was the daughter of the slain king of the empire. Before Issa's birth, the king ruled as the hand of the Motherworld and sought expansion of the realm through war and conquest, but he started to soften to the idea of seeking harmony within the empire once she was born.

Issa was more than just a harbinger of peace, however, as she bore the rare healing power of a legendary ancient queen for whom she was named. Issa and her parents were all assassinated in a coup intending to disrupt the conduct of peace, at which time Kora was stationed as the young princess' protector.

A little more than halfway through the epic, Kora reveals that she witnessed Issa do unspeakable things and recounts a time when the princess resurrected a deceased bird in her hands with a burst of bright energy. Rebel Moon doesn't make clear how her powers operate, but folklore told by various characters throughout the movie suggests that Issa was a divine being born in human flesh or even the aforementioned ancient queen reincarnated.

The Prophecy of Princess Issa

Rebel Moon's cast of characters also often acknowledge Issa as the herald of a war-ending prophecy. In one scene, a sentient combat machine by the name of Jimmy eloquently recounts the fealty they felt to Issa and evidence of the prophecy: 'In myth, she was called the Chalice or the Redeemer... So, when word reached us on some distant battlefield that she, as prophesied, had been born of flesh and blood into our world, I felt a great warmth for the universe and trusted that she was to usher in a new age of peace and compassion.'

The prophecy of Issa seems promising for the fight that will ensue in Rebel Moon: Part Two - The Scargiver, especially seeing that Admiral Noble and the Imperium have not been defeated and are likely to resume their devastating antics. If Issa truly was a reincarnation of a divine being who had the power to heal and end wars, then there stands a chance that she can resurrect again. Fortified with such incredible power and a prophecy that asserts her capability of establishing peace, Princess Issa would be the ideal comrade-in-arms for Kora following the events of Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire.