Bringing Anakin's Mother with Them.

Warning: this will be a long post.

Qui-Gon was neither punished nor reprimanded for freeing Anakin.

Well, the reason for this rests on whether or not you believe Tatooine is a member of the Republic. If you believe it is, then Qui Gonn is just enforcing the laws of the Republic. If you believe Tatooine is not in the Republic's jurisdiction, then Qui Gonn could technically be reprimanded for his involvement. Of course, Qui Gonn is reckless, and the Jedi all seem to recognize this in TPM. After all, Obi Wan teases Qui Gonn about his recklessness.

She knew the distance, but that doesn't equal knowing what their deadline is.

She didn't need to know a deadline. Padme sees Obi Wan actively getting SHOT AT. She knows that time is of the essence, and that Tatooine is closer to Geonosis than Coruscant. She's bright enough to see that every second counts.

Last I checked, the Jedi handled that too. Besides, her idea of "negotiation" consists of sneaking in and starting a fight.

Yes, but they were too far away to get to Geonosis on time.

She did it personally. If she were "just a politician," she wouldn't have.

She had no choice. Part of her plan depended on the use of decoys to trick the Viceroy. And Ric Ollic didn't have his own decoys.

Besides, those refugees were not her people, but she went out of her way to help them. Clearly, she cares beyond her own people, and has both the time and the capability to help others.

They were becoming Naboo citizens - they were her people. And therefore, they are her primary resonsibility when she is Queen.

It is, because Padme owes a debt?and again, is freeing slaves legal or is it not? Pick one.

Padme does not owe the debt - Shmi gets what she wants out of Anakin's winning the race. Shmi wants Anakin to be free, and he is freed.

 

Part two...

Second, how would Padme know that Watto WILL NOT SELL SHMI? She never tried. Even once.

Well, if Watto won't sell Shmi to Qui Gonn, why would he sell her to one of his travelling companions? A travelling companion with no real money at the time, i might add. The only way Padme could have acquired Shmi is after she returned to Naboo. But, again, she was busy with the affairs of a planet that had just been invaded.

Which makes no sense; a broke greedy merchant refuses to make money?no matter how much?because of a grudge against a dead man, a grudge he holds for years upon years.

You see Watto as more greedy than vengeful. I believe he is more vengeful than greedy.

George did not write Tatooine Ghost. Either all EU is canon or none of it is, and if you want to argue that all of it is, be prepared to reap the whirlwind.

George Lucas is very clear about what is canon and what is not. If you don't accept it, that's your perogative.

slavery is not against the law on tatooine .

Well, we don't actually know that the slavery is 'legal'. We know the Hutts don't discourage the practice, but they are 'gangsters'. It's possible they let an illegal practice go in order to profit from it.

Is padme the sort to ignore such a monumental act of generosity ? I keep asking that but you never answer.

It doesn't matter if Watto won't sell Shmi in the first place. Both Padme and Anakin seem surprised that Watto actually sold Shmi.

And shmi is not responsible for padme's problems in any way, yet she chooses to risk all to help her. Is padme the sort to ignore this ?

Wel, Shmi offers to actually help Qui Gonn. It was Qui Gonn's fault that Padme was stuck on Tatooine. It was the Jedi who were really in Shmi's debt.

And padme would never own shmi either, she would merely buy her to free her .

Well, Qui Gonn NEVER owned Anakin. Padme would have... if Watto would have sold Shmi. Which he would not have.

So you're saying that for 10 years she NEVER had any free time. Never had a holiday, a break, never had time to be with her family ?
Can you think of any politician that never has time off ?

Yes. Padme Amidala.

Well I've asked at least twice before - how does he do this and how come it takes 5 years?
And how is this relevant to padme's inaction ?

Qui Gonn sends a power crystal to Shmi that she uses to trick Watto. She needs to wait for someone to play a bigshot from offworld - that's Owen. And it's relevant because Watto won't sell Shmi to anyone (he has to get tricked into releasing her). It's also relevant because it is the Jedi's job to free slaves. Even 9 year old Anakin mentions this in TPM.

 

About Watto refusing to sell Shmi.
The movie is not clear here, we see Qui-Gon trying to bet one pod for Anakin and Shmi, Watto refuses, so the bet is just for Anakin. When Qui-Gon says that he treid to free Shmi but Watto would not have it, it could simply refer to this. There is no indication that Qui-Gon tied to buy Shmi with the money from the pod. Also if you want to use the EU, the databank or something states quite clearly that the money from the pod was not enough to buy Shmi. So if Qui-Gon did indeed try it is not strange that Watto refused.

Also Qui-Gons bet was for Anakin, when he made the bet there was no talk about it being for Anakins freedom and Anakin is not told that he is free until he and Qui-Gon are home.

"So you're saying that for 10 years she NEVER had any free time. Never had a holiday, a break, never had time to be with her family ?
Can you think of any politician that never has time off ?

Yes. Padme Amidala. "

Did she sleep, did she eat, did she go to the bathroom? You make it sound that Padme never even had five minutes free at any time and that she was working 24/7.
Again, she has people working for her, she does not do everything herlself, that is one advantage of being a leader, you can order other people to do things for you. The total time for Padme to order one of her servants to arrange for Shmis freedom would take a few hours at most.

Regards
Nordom

 

Real leaders are always busier than subordinates.

 

How much time did Padme have to communicate with Anakin after the events of TPM? She never mentioned anything about freeing Anakin after what he did.

Anakin went for training to be a Jedi. Shmi had to remain in Tattoine. Both conditions, Padme did not have any contact with either.

I guess I don't see what Padme has to do with any of it. If anything, it has to be the Jedi to point fingers at.