PT Plot Holes and Inconsistencies in the Prequel Trilogy

He was going to tie a tether to his leg and drag him behind him through hyperspace.

 

Or, depending on who you believe, how Obi Wan was ever going to convince anyone that Jango's clones are in any way connected with the enemies of the republic. It would have been a complete waste of time apprehending Jango, apparently.

 

I thought that between the two movies we're meant to believe that he "lost everything" including his shop. Here are some shots of his large shop & yard in TPM. I'll just post links bcs the images are quite big:
Image1 - Image2 - Image3 - Image4

Here are shots from outside his vagrant's hut that he sells trinkets from:
Image1 - Image2 - Image3 - Image4

In AotC he seems to work from a smaller premises. Maybe even his home. He has a small tent-porch outside & sits out there dealing with customers.

That's not a job description you'd want on your resume

 

Gotta start somewhere.

 

Presumably, in order to find Shmi, Anakin begins by travelling to the exact place he expects to find Watto, since he expects to Watto to know something. And sure enough, Watto is there.

 

Or he knows who to ask & finds him at his hovel within 5 minutes.

 

Here's Watto's shop in TPM (the large rounded building on the right):


Here's where Anakin and Padme get off the gondola droid in AOTC:


Note the same curved wall, window slit, tall cones to the right, and pipe to the left, indicating that this is the same building. Watto's instructing a pit droid by the shop's entrance as Anakin and Padme pull up.

 

Hmm, fair enough. Well he's still down & out & it's still hard to imagine what incredible money-making ability Shmi represented. She's never established as a mechanic or able to repair anything.

 

In Legends, she was almost as good a mechanic as Anakin:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shmi_Skywalker_Lars/Legends


She earned a small income cleaning computer memory devices. Like her son, Shmi could fix almost anything. One of Shmi's former masters was Pi-Lippa, who taught Shmi various technical skills. These abilities increased Shmi's value as a slave, but unfortunate circumstances led her to becoming the property of Watto. She was always on the lookout for discarded tools in Mos Espa, and her dwelling was filled with mechanical and electronic devices like Anakin's. She did the best she could to raise her son, encouraging Anakin's interest in technology, and hoped their skills would one day liberate them from slavery.

 

Non canon, as you said. Nothing suggests she was a techno-wizard in the movies. If she needs a prissy etiquette droid to help around the house I'm guessing she's not quite that handy. Also, if she were so awesome in the shop I doubt Watto would've been as eager to risk her in the bet, or to sell her to a farmer. I don't think Lucas (unlike that EU writer) intended her to be a mechanic.

 

Anakin had to get his skills from somewhere - Watto isn't the only possibility. She probably didn't need 3PO, but appreciated Anakin's kind gesture.

Him surpassing her in those skills is fine - but that doesn't mean she can't have them.

 

In the Episode I Visual Dictionary, it states that Shmi is cleaning computer memory chips at the workstation we see her sitting at in her home. And that "Shmi learned her technical skills under a former master, Pi-Lippa". It states that this skill "brings in a modest income". It doesn't state however if the income goes to her or Watto, but either way, Watto could put her to use as a technical laborer.


Also relevant, it points out that human slaves, as opposed to worker droids, "give great status and prestige to their owners."

 

Did she teach him podracing too? Anakin, aided by the Force is a child prodigy. He's great at everything he spends alot of time on.

 

Which already have their own threads but both are rather mundane explanations.

 

Watto didn't bet his shop away. He's still at the same place. The script even states that it is Watto's shop.

The Naboo Starship lands in a large parking lot of Spaceships on the outskirts of Mos Espa. ANAKIN and PADME ride a rickshaw through the streets. ANAKIN stares at sights he hasn't seen for years. Finally, they come to Wattos' shop, and the rickshaw stops.

He didn't bet his business, but he did bet all of his finances that he had And because he was now broke and had been beaten by an outlander, his reputation floundered which is why the people that owed him money refused to pay him, because they no longer saw him as a credible threat. Without Anakin to work for him, he wasn't able to sell the stuff that needed selling because what he had left, couldn't be fixed by him. And without sufficient funds to buy a new slave who was half as good as Anakin, he couldn't make a profit like he used to. That's why he sold Shmi.

What we see in AOTC, was the exterior of the shop. Lucas wasn't going to spend money set it up again, for one small scene. That's also why he filmed plate shots where the Lars homestead was while making AOTC, so that he wouldn't have to fly back there for one day's shooting.

 

As for her needing Threepio: It's always helpful to have an extra set of hands.

 

That was established in the posts above.

 

Lol. You reminded me of this scene from LotR.


Qui-Riv-Brid
Right. I was joking around.

 

And to become good at something, a lot of practice is required and in some cases, being taught. Anakin figured out podracing on his own, but working with chips and computer programming would come from Shmi.

 

That's a theory but is it an established fact within the story? No.

 

well yeah , if you spend a lot of time on something you do tend to improve .

 

Does it need to be? The only thing that the movie really hammers home that Shmi can't teach Anakin, is pod racing - and that's only because it requires superhuman reflexes.

Thus, the EU conjecturing that Shmi had technical skills, is a reasonable conjecture. Especially since Anakin was only 3 when Watto won him and her from Gardulla - too young to be showcasing skills - thus, the real value in the stake, needs to be her rather than him.


So it's not a case of "Shmi's only value to Watto, from the very beginning, was as Anakin's caregiver".


The newcanon book Darth Vader: Sith Lord, makes it clear Shmi was already "excellent at cleaning and repairing equipment" from the start of her time with Watto.

 

At an exponential rate if you're a Force empowered wunderkind. No other explanation needed.

 

Given that Anakin has never finished a race - the only value he's been creating for Watto is as a repairman. His podracing has never, by implication, earned Watto money.