PT Forget Anakin, was Padme the real Prodigy?

Everyone talks about how Anakin was the exceptionally powerful "chosen one" who made Luke and Leia so powerful. However, did the Twins really receive most of their greatness from their mother?


First off, she was a queen at 14. That's not too big of a big deal, there have been many young monarchs do to untimely deaths, legalities, etc. However, isn't 21 extremely young to be become a Galactic Senator? Its one thing to somehow become a ruler of a system through genealogy, its another to win a sector-wide election representing 36 systems in the Galactic Republic defeating every single challenger from all of those 36 systems even at any age, let alone 21. she held the same office as Palpatine, the most manipulative Dark Lord of the Sith in eons, at age 21! Once elected, She didn't just sit in the chamber and listen, she authored landmark legislation on important topics such as the Confederacy and the Clone Armies.

Also to be remembered is that Padme was not just a puppet ruler at age 14 too, she overruled her entire ruling council, as well as the counsel of Palpatine, and refused to even negotiate with the Trade Federation, who was holding her planet hostage with a Droid Army. Thanks only to her, Naboo never became something of the Trade Federation slave state or example it was destined to become. Also, how many 14 year-olds begin a vote of no-confidence on the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic on the Galactic Senate floor? The corruption of the Senate was its very undoing! Here 14-year old Padme comes in, takes one look at of the corruption, and boom, its gone. Yes, Palpatine was whispering in her ear, but that still took a lot of nerve. This does not even count, escaping the execution-chamber and the Arena on Geonosis with just a blaster, commanding a platoon of Clone Troopers in the first battle they had ever fought, and surviving numerous complex assassination attempts. What did Anakin, (or most anyone else for that matter) really do compared to her?

 

Mon Mothma was even younger as a Senator (19) and Leia younger still (18) - but yes - a case could be made that Padme was still very exceptional.

Naboo rulers are elected - despite having "royal titles" - but they're elected from aristocratic families- though Padme's wasn't exactly one for rich living:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Royal_House_of_Naboo
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/House_Naberrie

 

She overruled Palpatine? "Grand Theater", is what Plagueis called her trip to the Senate... Palpatine whispered in her ear and that was the end of the Chancellor. Her first response was to defend him and without his influence, she would have been bogged down in procedure, forced to wait things out with no resolution in sight.

 

I suppose you could argue that she was the prodigy.

But Anakin was still just as amazing. Know many other nine year olds that blew up Trade Federation ships? Or had a midi-chlorian count higher than Yoda? Or could win a podrace?

I would guess that most of the twins' determination and courage comes from Padme, and their force aptitude as well as their out-of-the-box thinking comes from Anakin. I don't really see that much of a tilt on the scale, though. I would consider it more of a 60/40 split.

 

Up to her return Naboo, Padme was more of a puppet than she was a political prodigy... she didn't behave boldly until she had an army on her side. Her progression carried over into AOTC, when she made the choice to go rescue Obi Wan and again in ROTS when she openly defied her husband's request to wait for his return and flew to meet him instead.

 

I think "puppet ruler" is a little strong, she was manipulated as part of Palpatine's grand scheme, but that can be said of almost every senator and Jedi in the Republic. Though her actions were being guided by Palpatine, she still showed exceptional courage and bravery as a ruler for being so young. Palpatine needed someone brave enough to issue the No-Confidence vote and stand up to the Trade Federation, he didn't create this bravery but simply used it to his own means.

Remember, just trying to recruit the Gungans took a lot of nerve, if the people of Naboo had lost the battle, the Trade Federation would have probably been much worse and vengeful than if the planet had surrendered peacefully as anticipated. This comes with the fact that the Gungans were hardly a real army. It would be one thing to rebel against the Trade Federation with a clone army, or something equally as strong but its really risky to attempt it with an army nowhere near the caliber as the occupiers.

 

Recruiting the Gungans was an act of desperation. Naboo didn't have much of an army and she had to do something otherwise they would have been overcome by the federation. They didn't even try to do anything at the start of the invasion based on Panaka's advice.

 

The answer is they both were, there is no "real" distinction to make.

 

Yes that is true, but consider how contrasting they are in their perceived importance. Padme is a plot-device, a character invented in the prequels to give birth to Luke And Leia, fill the main heroine role for that trilogy, and then die. Anakin on the other hand, is really who the prequels, and the original series for that matter, are about. The whole point is that Luke and Leia are his children, his descendants in the mighty Skywalker line. What is often ignored is that Padme, who's role is basically just to support the Anakin/Luke storyline, could have an equal part in the greatness of Luke and Leia. Its not really just Anakin who made the special twins, Luke and Leia might not be the same if he had married just anyone, its the union between two rare prodigies. In my opinion, this connection should have a greater focus than it does. This particularly, in the prequel films.

 

I wouldn't say Padmé is just a plot device. Lucas goes pretty in-depth regarding her political views. And all of TPM could, essentially, be seen as her story -- she matures from an indecisive, easily manipulated person to a true leader, willing to fight for her people's future. She has, throughout the PT, more of a negative arc (like Anakin) in that she is increasingly relegated to the sidelines (politically), but that makes sense as Palpatine accrues more and more power. The influence of the Senate (and, by extension, Padmé's influence) must diminish as a result. I see a lot of her in her children, actually. Like Leia, she's committed to her cause and will place her ideals over her personal relationships. But, like Luke, she is a true believer in the goodness of others and is more willing to step back and believe in them, even when they won't believe in themselves. I don't think it's mere coincidence, for instance, that Padmé and Luke both believed in Anakin even after he hurt them and sought to destroy the things they loved.

 

I don't think doesn't really matter how much she is featured, the whole point of her character is for Padme to be the mother of Luke and Leia, I think that is what the writers had in mind going into the Prequels. Luke and Leia needed a mother and Anakin needed a wife, Padme was fit in as a means to construct an already-told story and then exit. What I think you understand, that most people do not, is how much of an impact Padme had on the story she helped construct, namely, her influence on Luke and Leia. Why isn't it that Luke and Leia are known as children of the famous Senator Amidala? What I'm saying is that Padme and Anakin have an equal stake in Luke and Leia and that more people should realize that the star power of the twins comes from both parents, not just one.

 

It's all down to perception who attributes what where. I do concur it's silly that most people seem to act like only Anakin impacts the twins, though. Yet, though I do see similarities in the twins that echo of both parents I would not say it is them living through their children like some. To me it is simply similarity in personality largely to serve the plot.

 

What is the point of all this? You want Padme to be regarded as more exceptional because . . . why? Because she didn't become a Sith Lord? The only ones who can be exceptional are those who are viewed as borderline ideal?

 

Padme wasn't a prodigy because of her age. The political structure on Naboo and other worlds with similar systems were commonplace in the Republic. As she herself said to Anakin, she was not the youngest person to be elected into a position of authority. She only doubted if she was good enough. She became a senator due to how well she acquitted herself during the Naboo crisis and how she handled things in the years that followed which is why Palpatine offered her the position that he once held eight years earlier, when her second term was up. In the GFFA, age isn't a big hurdle.

 

Any argument can be made, but I like how things turned out! I enjoyed having Anakin as the prodigy and having him let down the council.