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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jul 3, 2005 19:45:01 GMT -5
Now, it's a shame that Padme doesn't see much action in ROTS as she did in the first two films, but dramatically, I can see how she had to die in the end.
1.) If she had lived (as we once thought from Leia's revelation in ROTJ) then Darth Vader would have been her ex. If she were alive anywhere, he would have known, and he would NOT have left her alone. That would have been just ridiculous. We can always theorize thae Leia's memories of her "real" mother were through the Force, thus proving that she has her father's gift. Yeah, we know that's just a cover-up for a storyline shift, but like Indiana Jones, Lucas is just making it up as he goes. He stuck with the overall story outline, so I don't mind.
2.) Padme's funeral wasn't just for her. It was the funeral for the whole Republic. She was the only one to be in the politcal situation and it's pretty clear from the beginning of the movie that she's not only watching her whole career--everything she's worked for--coming apart, it's well and truly perverted. Notice that she's the one who comments about Palpatines Empire declaration. When Anakin went over to the dark side, that pretty much finished off everything she had to live for. Though I honestly think that Anakin didn't just injure her physically with the Force; he crushed her midichlorines or something poetic like that, too.
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Post by himiko sabbrawrra on Jul 3, 2005 23:19:50 GMT -5
I was thinking about that. Vader wou ld have never left her be and Padme probably would have ad her children with her in hiding somewhere.
As for her Death, Anakin broke her heart and she died through heartbreak. If you notices that many of our elders normaly dont live too long after their spouse die?
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Jul 4, 2005 0:51:27 GMT -5
I did a research paper on this back in college... it was called "The Broken Heart Syndrome." The statistics deaths related to this are quite interesting.
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Post by kivaanzion on Jul 4, 2005 6:25:08 GMT -5
I love what Ani-Chay has written but I have a problem with Padme's death itself. I don't see how she could have lost "the will to live" when she is about to become a mother for the first time in her life. Is having newborn twins nothing special to look forward to?  |
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jul 4, 2005 10:37:42 GMT -5
I love what Ani-Chay has written but I have a problem with Padme's death itself. I don't see how she could have lost "the will to live" when she is about to become a mother for the first time in her life. Is having newborn twins nothing special to look forward to?
That's why I think that Anakin did more than just try to strangle her. He used the Force and I think that snuffed out her midichlorines; the only thing that kept her going as long as she did was the life "Force" of the children. She had just enough will left to limp along until she delivered, but after that she was spent. And the medical droids wouldn't be able to do anything about that.
I don't think that Darth Vader does anything so poetic when he dispatches an Imperial minion. Vader, in-suit, isn't nearly as powerful as Anakin was, and he just crushes their windpipes until they die anyway. I think Anakin was a "super" Jedi, but the sad part is that he knew it too well. He never had enough control and common sense to match his power. He didn't know his own strength when he attacked Padme. And he was dumber than looked when he took that last leap at Obi-Wan, just before he gets the rest of his limbs chopped off.
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Post by lazlototh on Jul 4, 2005 13:25:42 GMT -5
I agree - Padme's funeral was a necessary visible ritual for the Republic to see. It may, as a point of interest be noted that she looked pregnant when she died, hence the illusion of the children dying too, removing Vader's belief that they may be alive.
I feel that Padme's status (theatrically speaking) was elevated from servant of Naboo (as Queen), servant of the Republic (as Senator) and servant of the galaxy (as Mom to the kids who will defeat the Empire and save the Republic). I use servant with dubious effect - I can't think of a better word for it. At least Padme's importance is elevated in an unspoken way...
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Aayla
Message Board Member
'excitement, Adventure jedi craves not these things'
Posts: 192
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Post by Aayla on Jul 4, 2005 16:24:52 GMT -5
and anyway its good that padme didnt live because vader would have kept buggingher and then her thoughts might slip about the whereabouts of her children
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Post by kivaanzion on Jul 4, 2005 17:06:25 GMT -5
That's why I think that Anakin did more than just try to strangle her. He used the Force and I think that snuffed out her midichlorines; the only thing that kept her going as long as she did was the life "Force" of the children. She had just enough will left to limp along until she delivered, but after that she was spent...I completely agree with that. What is truly sad (and extremely ironic in a Shakespearian kind of way) is that Anakin himself is the one that causes (or at least contributes to) her death, making the visions he had of her dying during (or just after) childbirth a reality. Everything he did to prevent her death was actually setting it up to happen. Perhaps that's what Lucas was going for. Who knows? In retrospect it's like watching one of those time travel movies where the hero goes into the past, to try and prevent an event from happening... but everything they do to stop it ends up contributing to the event actually happening. |
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Post by Xana on Jul 4, 2005 22:34:17 GMT -5
I love what Ani-Chay has written but I have a problem with Padme's death itself. I don't see how she could have lost "the will to live" when she is about to become a mother for the first time in her life. Is having newborn twins nothing special to look forward to? This is a mythological theme as well as all the others Lucas uses in SW. In the story of Tristan and Isolt, Tristan's mother dies of a broken heart soon after giving birth to him. (I forgot what happened to his father, but..........) The public was lead to believe that Tristan died also and was buried with his mother, while in fact, he was sent away to live with his uncle. Yes, you would think that being a mother would be enough for anyone to live for, but I guess not. |
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Post by himiko sabbrawrra on Jul 5, 2005 9:06:42 GMT -5
well another thought I had was when Padme died so did the last of the republic as I believe she really was the heart of it all.
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Post by Seda Navilli on Jul 6, 2005 10:55:21 GMT -5
What is truly sad (and extremely ironic in a Shakespearian kind of way) is that Anakin himself is the one that causes (or at least contributes to) her death, making the visions he had of her dying during (or just after) childbirth a reality. Everything he did to prevent her death was actually setting it up to happen. Perhaps that's what Lucas was going for. Who knows? This is touched on briefly in the book, when Anakin is discussing his visions with Yoda. He is warned that premonitions are generally a catch 22 in that by attempting to avoid them you may indirectly cause them to happen. In the EU there is the idea that there were once a group of "See-er" Jedi that were trained specifically to predict the future, but the practice was outlawed for reasons much like the ones above. Sometimes its a hard life being a Jedi! No one can really say that Padme should not have given up the will to live if she had her children. After all, she was faced with some extremely extraordinary circumstances. Just carrying the twins would only remind her heart that the person that she was married to - the person who she met as an innocent boy and fell in love with - the person who has been at her side and protected her through the most horrible war in the galaxy - the person who was essentially the other half of her very soul - that that person is now a murderer of children, a person filled with a pure form of hatred strong enough to push him into devastatingly evil acts... evil in the truest sense of the word. Would it be easy to live with that, and to look your children in the face knowing that? Padme and Anakin were one person - that is what happens in love. Ben was all too right when he said that Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin. Betrayed his love and murdered his soul. When half the being of Anakin and Padme died, there was no hope for the other half to live. I don't believe Vader killed any of Padme's midichlorians - there are some things that not even science fiction can ever truly explain, and I believe that the strength of love is one of those things. |
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Post by kivaanzion on Jul 6, 2005 12:12:58 GMT -5
Well said.  |
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Post by obiwanron on Jul 6, 2005 21:12:45 GMT -5
I don't believe that Padme was the last of the Old Republic. Don't forget that Bail Organa was a PATRIOT for the Republic.
In the book Bail approaches Padme and tells her that there are about a dozen others that are on their side and that they need to quietly and covertly do everything possible to maintain the structure of the Republic.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Jul 7, 2005 0:52:06 GMT -5
Well said. Yes, I think you are totally right about that Seda. |
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jul 7, 2005 19:39:00 GMT -5
Padme and Anakin were one person - that is what happens in love. Ben was all too right when he said that Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin. Betrayed his love and murdered his soul. When half the being of Anakin and Padme died, there was no hope for the other half to live. I don't believe Vader killed any of Padme's midichlorians - there are some things that not even science fiction can ever truly explain, and I believe that the strength of love is one of those things.
Love? Hey, it's why we get out of bed in the morning. There is no why.
Midichlorines aside, Anakin killed something in Padme when he went over to the dark side. Did the Force just manifest their love into an unbreakable bond that mortally wounded her when he turned on it? Could be anything. Cosmically speaking, the Republic was tied to it as well. And the Jedi Order. I suppose Padme's funeral was symbolic of their demise as well.
I'm beginning to wonder if the Jedi forbid attachments because this kind of thing can happen? Jedi or not, love can turn to hate on a knife edge. Things like this would probably be rare, and it could take centuries for the code to evolve. But it wouldn't take too many "bad break-ups" to get people thinking that they might want to preempt them.
I do think that Padme's death was symbolic of the end of the spirit of the Old Republic. Yes, there were elements that escaped to fight another day, Organa, Kenobi, Yoda. But their fight became the battle to destroy the Empire so a New Republic could be born and grow.
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