". . . He can help you! He was meant to help you!"

Sorry -- this might've posted too soon and turned into a double post with the first one blank! I'll try this again . . . .

Watched TPM last night and Shmi's line to Padme and QGJ before the Pod Race struck me as prophetic -- as if she understood Anakin was destined for something much bigger than his servitude on Tatooine.

Shmi tells Padme and QGJ that Anakin " . . . can help you. He was meant to help you." In other words, he was here, she conceived him, for Anakin to help them. How does she know this? Does she understand the WOTF at this moment?

Thoughts?

I'm struck throughout TPM how pensive Shmi appears in almost every scene, and how just before Maul arrives and the scene breaks away from her, we hear the Sith chant. I'm not saying Shmi has any clue, but does this tie in "from her point of view" to what Palpatine tells Anakin in the Opera about Plagueis?

 

Good thoughts and I honestly don't know, but Shmi always struck me as that type. How she understood that Anakin had special powers and how he had no father but was concieved. It seems to me that she had no other choice but to believe in the Force. And if she had no clue as to what that was, then I believe she truly did believe in some God-like figure that had granted her son these special abilities. How she probably viewed everything to be the Will of Force (or the God-like figure) because being chosen to give birth to someone who literally had no father has to be a sign of some sort.

Just my thoughts, they're all over the place though!

 

Shmi's exact choice of words is interesting to me. "He was meant to help you!" According to THIS ONLINE DICTIONARY , 'meant' is defined as:

1. To have in the mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to intend; to purpose; to design ; as, what do you mean to do? (my emphasis)

2. To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote.

It is almost as if Shmi is 'setting the hook' with her precise choice of words, purposefully reinforcing Qui-Gon's already strong sense that meeting Anakin was somehow preordained, as was his purpose.

The mother who bore him and raised him through adolescence proclaims the child's purpose, which is accepted by the father figure who will take him from his mother's apron strings and raise him (or so he thought) into manhood and his true purpose as the Chosen One.

One final thought -- as Qui-Gon lay dying, ready to join with the force, proverbially standing on its doorstep, he demands that Obi-Wan train Anakin. We know from the OT that for a Jedi to retain his self identity he must focus upon that reality as he makes his or her transition. Here is Qui-Gon on the verge of eternal existence and he makes his apprentice promise to train the boy. Nothing changes Qui-Gon's intuition regarding Anakin. He seems to know, to believe the boy is destined to be the Chosen One.

Now look at Shmi's death in AOTC. She's just undergone horrible torture (or worse?) inflicted by the Tuskens, and after Anakin unties her, she tells Anakin how proud she is of him an then says: "Now... I am complete." She is complete because she see's her son as a Jedi Padawan, right? Or is Shmi complete because she lived just long enough for Anakin to find her? Instead of gaining new strength from seeing her son for the first time in 10-odd years, she gives up her ghost at almost the exact moment that he arrives. It may be plot convenience to speed up the film, or it could be something more 'insidious' happening here (if one is conspiracy minded).

 

Great post. I guess virgin birth, his selfless character, his abilities convince her that he was meant for something. Then when QG arrives and he is impressed with Anakin, she must feel that her intuitions are confirmed. Also, there must be something unique about her to begin with. Virgin births do not happen to just any mother. True, Mary was a lowly maiden wed to a carpenter, but she and other mothers who virginally conceived saviors have extraordinary characters themselves. Now, as far as her feeling complete as she sees her son at her death, I am puzzled by that one.

 

Honestly, I think Shmi simply said he was meant to help them because he indeed was special, and considering how the Will of the Force had chosen Shmi to be this special boy's mother, the Will of the Force probably has a hand in his future since it did create him.

As for when Shmi dies, I truly believe she meant she was complete because she saw her son one last time before dying. In the AOTC novel (if I remember correctly) Shmi is holding to the thought of Anakin the whole time, seeing him is sustaining her, keeping her alive.

I don't think there is something more to this than that. Although it's really intriguing and a good observation, I don't think there's anything going on behind the sceens.

 

Pretty much as stated. She knew that Anakin was special. She was loosely familiar with the Jedi. As Qui-gon said, their meeting was not an accident. It is mother's intuition. She believes that Anakin's meant for great things based on his birth and his abilities, as well as what Qui-gon said.

 

I think most parents think that their children are meant to be something spectacular. They want their kids to do well and more often than not truly believe in them. More than a few times I have been at a party where one of my friends' parents was sloppy drunk and all "I know my Jason is meant to be great! He's so smart and friendly and...blah blah blah." Obviously Shmi had more reasons than is the norm to believe this, but I think it was partially a case of "I want my child to have a good life and do really good things."

Carnage

 

Well, Anakin did say he dreamed of being a Jedi. This mixed with a parent who would want their child to do great things and then allowing that child do choose something that could change their life.

Note Shmi tells Anakin after he's freed "now you can make your dreams come true, Ani". What a wonderful parent

 

Very ironic when you consider that Anakin makes his dream of Padme dying come true by turning to the Dark Side. Oh, my.

 

Don't forget that Anakin was probably the only one in Mos Espa who could help them. In my mind, that's probably why Shmi saw it as fate.





Shmi - she believes in fate
/Flames

 

Yeah, I think she was speaking of the present, they were might to land on Tatooine and Anakin was meant to help them and change his future. But of course the line does mean something later on, and it's intended to. It's a bit of dramatic irony/foreshadowing.