The Royal Handmaiden Society: Episode 9: Revenge of the Handmaidens

The Royal Handmaiden Society: Episode 9: Revenge of the Handmaidens


Welcome to the new official thread of the Royal Handmaiden Society (henceforth referred to as The RHS). In its ninth (or is this the tenth?) incarnation, The RHS is a group of loyal Star Wars fans who feel Queen (and later Senator) Amidala's handmaidens have played an important role in that galaxy far, far away. We feel these brave ladies have been overlooked and under appreciated. We're here to spread the word of all things handmaiden.

Our first glimpse of the handmaidens was in The Phantom Menace. There, we were introduced to the Fab Five: Rabé, Eirtaé, Saché, Yané, and last, but certainly not least, Sabé. I'll leave some of the more qualified members to explain more about the characters and the actresses/models who played them.

When Attack of the Clones arrived in theaters, we added even more names to the elite handmaiden list: Dormé, as well as the brave handmaidens who sacrificed their lives in Senator Amidala?s service: Versé and Cordé.

Let us please have a moment of silence in their honor.








Thank you.

And then Revenge of the Sith arrived to not only introduce handmaidens Moteé and Ellé, but it also ushered in the darkest days for handmaiden fans. Not only did the handmaidens have their smallest amount of screen time, but ROTS was the last Star Wars film. The excitement and anticipation of being introduced to new members of the handmaiden order with a new movie was gone. The prequel era was over.

But all is not lost. The RHS does not only support the handmaiden characters introduced to us in the movies (including the Naboo Queens and handmaidens introduced in AOTC and ROTS), we also support the actresses and models who portrayed them on screen. You may have heard of Sofia Coppola (Saché), Rose Byrne (Dormé), and Keira Knightley (Sabé), all handmaidens before they were stars.

So pull up a keyboard and stay awhile. Many of us have made our first posts in the JC in one of the RHS threads. We love having new people join our ranks, and you won't find any flames here. Our "rules" are few and far between.

Rule 1: Please note that Natalie Portman did not play Sabé the decoy handmaiden. She was portrayed by another, equally talented actress by the name of Keira Knightley. Keira just looks a lot like Nat, which was the point.

Rule 2: Try not to mention a certain bald, albino bikini model bounty hunter. She is highly overrated, contributed nothing to Star Wars universe, and got dolls and comic books dedicated to her character when everything handmaiden is still referenced as Queen Amidala. If you feel you must mention her, please refer to her as A**** S***. Thank you.

Rule 2a: Try not to mention a certain blue-skinned Twi?lek Jedi. Although she may have been an important and brave member of the prequel era?s Jedi Order era, we would like to point out that while the handmaidens only had a handful of spoken lines in the films, she had absolutely no spoken lines in the films.

Rule 3: We debate endlessly about Handmaiden Identification (HID) and are rather confident about our conclusions. However, everything is labeled with the trademark RHS 99.9% accuracy, so don't be hesitant to question.

Rule 4: Always remember that "We are brave, Your Highness."

For those of you who are interested in becoming a member of the RHS, with all it's perks and privileges, please take the following oath:

I, <name>, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

I, Knight-Ander, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

*Ander lowers right hand and takes a look at his surroundings*

Well, our new space is rather sparce. I'll see if I can find some nice tapestries for the walls. We're going to need some furniture, too.

I, <b>bobill</b>, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

:: is impressed ::

Furniture? We're going to need some chocolate and baked goods too! This group loves to eat when they party!

I, Handmaiden Andé, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

Knight Ander, fantastic job! Thread #9! We've come a long way.

Obi Anne, I vote to lock the thread. Maybe you can post a nice parting post. So much better than letting it sink.

MTFBWY,
Andé...the shiny handmaiden

Oh my goodness, I'm overwhelmed...

/bow
/curtsey
/salute
Reporting for duté!

Excellent work, Knight-Ander! Bravo! /claps

Perhaps we can have it archived, too? /hopeful

I, GentleBant, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

OK, I'll whip up a cake, (9-layer? :-D), but someone else will have to take care of decorating. Can someone get some of the Royal Guard to go over to the old hall and move some of the stuff? Wouldn't want to lose everything... The library alone is worth keeping.

I, NabooPop, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

Many thanks to Knight-Ander for starting the new thread and giving us the heads-up. GentleBant, I will back up the old thread ASAP but it might be a few days so if anyone else wants to volunteer for this... *listens intently*

What is this? A version 9.0 of this thread? But 8.0 was legendary! I'm just not ready for the shock of this. I've got to sit down, wait, I am, OK, I'll go lay down.

I, Lady_Eirtae, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

*sniff* One chapter closed, a new one begins. *pauses to remember all the good times*

Alright, now what that done, let's get this party started.

*holsters blaster* I'm ready for the Revenge

I had no idea this sort of thing existed...remarkable. I'm just wondering why you guys think the handmaidens were so important. I'm not accussing, just simply curious.

I'm sure each of us have different reasons for loving the handmaidens. Speaking for myself, I was four when ANH came out, and Princess Leia was my fictional role model growing up. Smart and strong. A leader and a fighter. When Episode I came out, I saw a lot of the same characteristics in Amidala and her handmadien retinue. Not only were the handmaidens fighters, but their number one priority was to keep the Queen safe; to die for her if need be. They were Naboo's version of the Secret Service. Sabé pretty much had a bulls-eye tatooed to her head for most of the film.

I think my interest in them grew because they were being ignored by Lucasfilm and the majority of fans. A**** S*** may have an interesting backstory, had no more than two seconds of screen time. Nothing she did impacted the direction of the saga's tale. If the decoy plan had not been in place, and Sabé hadn't shown up in the Throne Room, who knows what Nute Gunray would have done to Amidala. If Cordé hadn't taken the Senator's place, Padmé would have been killed on a Coruscant landing platform. Aayla Secura with all her Force enhanced abilities and Jedi training stood there in her unpractical little tunic and got shot in the back. (At least Ki blocked a few shots.) Rabé, Sabé, and Eirtaé were able to stand in full view, knocking down droid after droid. (Not the same as Clones, I know!) Dormé took Padmé's place on Coruscant, knowing full well of assination attempts.

It's frustrating that these women are strong characters, yet because they're not played by blonde bombshells and wearing tight costumes, they're overlooked. Every other character in the Star Wars Universe, from obscure Jedi to Cantina band member has a back story. Yet what compells these young women to risk their lives with nothing more than some Panaka training and a blaster. Responsibility to their homeworld? Political amibition? Thrill of adventure? Is it just a job? Thank the Force for the world of fanfic!

I'm sure others will be able to respond more eloquently, so I'll just leave it at that.

MTFBWY,
Andé...the chatty handmaiden

I, Apailana, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.


Great job on the new thread, Knight-Ander.

oh, and HandmaidenAndé, you summed it up perfectly />

I'm not gonna lie...I haven't been here in forever.
Correction. Forever and a half.

Thanks Apailana.

Handmaiden_Yane! We missed you!

Sorry my old friend... I told Anne to go ahead with this whenever she saw fit... I guess I should have warned you...

I, anakins_padawan13, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fasion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

*sighs* And a wonderful job to Knight-Ander to closing a chapter and opening a new one.
It's great to be here and see everyone together again for our beloved handmaidens.


And especially,
Sabe' the loyal handmaiden

HandmaidenAnde, wow, that is all I can say. I do agree. There are some great characters, but these poor handmaidens never get any attention!

I just wanted to say you that you summed that it up wonderfully!

Wow, nice summary Ande

I shall also mention how much the coolness of aloof and mysterious young women are to add to the list. I agree, when I was seven, Leia was my role model. When the new ones came out, I worshipped Rabe. (She had a cooler accent than Sabe, who I also admired.) You read all those novels about political intrigue and what the side players do behind the scenes and you just konw the same stuff is happening with these ladies all the time.

I, Roanè, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fasion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

just making sure i'm doing this right.

-Roanè

Hey gang!

Thanks to everyone for their compliments on my handmaiden dissertation. bobill, have to agree with you about Rabé's coolness level. Loved how focused she was during the whole movie, especially the battle. As much as I love the other ladies, I think Rabé will always be my favorite.

We're slowly but surely working on updates for the site, but I had a request here. (Because we've gotten some requests through the site.) Does anyone have an Live Journal icons that focus on the handmaidens. We have a huge avatar icon gallery (that so needs to be updated), but those are way to small for LJ. Anyone? Pretty please. If you'd like to share, email the site (info@royalhandmaidensociety.org). We promise to give you credit and lots of cyber cookies.

Love and hugs all around!

MTFBWY,
Andé...the research writing handmaiden

I, AERYN_SUN, pledge my full support to ensure that the RHS threads will continue in a fun but clean manner, in order to ensure our respect to the handmaidens whom we admire and adore.

As an official member of this thread, I will give my 100% support in order to make sure that the RHS continues in a fashion that is acceptable to everyone involved.

Yay!! It looks I decided to check in at the right time

~ aeryn

What's the size specification on LJ icons?

Also, do you mind if I use the RHS piccies to make icons, w/ citations and all that good stuff? My screenhunter software sucks.

bobill,

LJ icons usually measure 100x100. And by all means use pics from the RHS gallery.

Andé