How important is Padme?

I came across an interesting view on the starwars.com forums.

I don't think she really is critical to the story line. Any female could have had Anakin's offspring. He's the important half of that equation. In fact, none of the female characters are really central to the story. They are vessels, and they help move the plot along. That's all. The central characters are all male - Yoda, Obi, Anakin/Vader and Palpatine/Sidious.

Needless to say, I heartily disagree. Was it not Padme who really drove the plot of Episode I? It was her planet that was invaded, and the plot centered around getting her to Coruscant, where she was duped into pushing Palpatine into office? Was it not she who made peace with the Gungans and initiated the attack to retake Naboo from the Trade Federation? And was it not her political activism that caused the assassination attempt in Episode II, which eventually led to the Clone War? Is she just an object to move the plot forward, or is she worth more than her womb?

 

I'm gonna go with #2.


I mean it COULD have been some unknown female that was barely even mentioned, much less seen. But that wouldn't have been very cool, as she is obviously one of the major reasons for Anakin's turn to the dark side. So, for this to be a good story, the mother of the twins, and the wife of Anakin, needed to be seen, as well as be a central character in the PT, and that girl just happened to be Padme.


Just my opinion.

 

I don't believe Sidious/Palpatine and Yoda are main characters. While they are at the core of the saga very little time is spent on them compared with Anakin and Obi-Wan and even Padme. So Padme is not only a major character but also very important.

 

Padme is important in the scheme of galactic politics, but I don't think the Force itself is too concerned with her as a person. If you look at the part she played in the progress of destiny, you see that she was a vessel in at least that sense.

It was ultimately because of her that two Jedi landed on Tatooine and found the Chosen One. It was also because of her that the two Jedi and the Chosen One ended up in the thick of a battle which simultaneously allowed the Sith to reveal themselves and allowed Anakin to prove his importance and earn himself the right to be trained. Then, because of her, Anakin was able to get away from Obi-Wan for a while so he could go to Tatooine and discover the seeds of the dark side in himself. Finally, because of her the children who would be needed to help Anakin fulfill the prophesy were born.

So, Padme holds up the entire story, but it's incidental that she does so because she personally doesn't alter the course of destiny. Padme's role in the PT parallels Leia's in the OT - she is most important in the first film in which politics and military are the most important plot elements, but she then fades as a character as the storyline's emphasis is shifted to the Force and destiny.

 

[color=663300]I agree with [/color]Mara[color=663300] about the political parallels with Padme and Leia. If it were some unknown girl, then maybe Leia would never have entered into politics. Who is the Leader of the rebellion? Leia. Luke could not have gotten as far as he did with out the rebellion. Padme's character and position led to Leia being who she was. [/color]

 

I agree that Padme's role in the politics of Episodes I and II were of great importance. Now that she has married Anakin and has now become the "vessel" to Anakin's children will her importance and role in Ep III now be down-played? I think it will.

 

And don't forget that Palpy was from Naboo in particular.... Afterall Anakin met Palpy through her... I could have never guessed the importance in the saga before each movie of the PT came out.... I new she would be the twins mother, and most likely the reason he would turn... I personally think that Padme's strong presence in the PT has given Leia's character more importance.... Padme's connection with Bail Organa and Leia's future upbringing as a political figure which strongly contrasts the Anakin/Luke Tatooine/JEdi similarities.... It only goes to show you that politics and Jedi-skills bring about change for the bad and good.... The union of Padme and Anakin as stateswoman and a child of poor circumstances changed the galaxy.

 

All Star Wars characters are plot devices.

 

IMHO, since GL has repeatedly stated that the whole saga is the story of the fall and redemption of anakin, padame is essential. even in TPM and AOTC, her personal interaction with ani is more relevant than her political activity. as he says, she is "in his soul" and her reactions help fuel his immature and conflicted decisions. i feel that when the whole saga is complete, we will see padames key involvement in the sequence of events that lead to ani's choice of the dark side

 

Did Padme personally cause Anakin's fall to the dark side, or was it just incidental that she was there? I think the death of Shmi was the main catalyst for Anakin, although you could be right that Padme will serve as a final bait used to seal Anakin's fate. Every SW film so far has had the female character get captured or end up in trouble and need rescuing at least once, so I guess that could be Padme's role in E3 as well.

 

Padme will mostly likely be a large part of Anakin's fall to the darkside and so she is extremely important to the saga.

 

Yeah I reckon Padme will have a huge part in Anakin's fall. I dont think it will be a conscious decision on her behalf.

 

Padme is very important politically and I strongly believe Anakin's turn to the darkside is largely due to his feelings for her.

 

Padme was Anakin's achillies heel. She is very important to the story. As mentioned above in Episode I, it was her planet that was invaded. It was her who had to plead for aide from the Senate. And it was her who needed Jar-Jar Binks to help her out. Also, it was her who the bad guys wanted to kill, and it was her who was provided with protection from the Jedi, who assigned Anakin Skywalker to her. And of course we know what happens after that....

 

I think Padme must be important because she's the mom of Luke and the wife of Anakin. Plus, she has some good ideas.