PT Why were there no further efforts to free Shmi?

I've been thinking about this a lot and I can't help but wonder why the debt against Shmi was never paid, why no one made an extra effort to free her from Watto, say, after the Trade Federation was driven from Naboo and conflicts died down a bit (albeit a short bit.)

The Jedi Council must have had enough resources to free her. How expensive could it have been to pay her bond? If Yoda sensed Anakin's fear and loneliness, wouldn't it have made sense to reunite the boy with his mother? And beyond even that, wouldn't that have been the compassionate thing to do? I understand the Jedis' commitment to neutrality -- but slaves? Shmi is not a faceless slave either, who might be easier to casually dismiss. Her generosity and goodness allowed Padme, Qui-Gon, and the rest to finish their mission.

If the Jedi Council couldn't intervene, surely Padme could have sent an emissary to Tatooine to free Shmi, even it had to be done covertly, lest there be political repercussions and backlash. Padme was appalled that slavery still existed in the Outer Rim.

I would love to hear others' thoughts.

 

Although I know why the jedi did not free her was because of the no emotions and attachments thing, but for Padme I had never though of until now.

Yes she could have gone back to tatooine to free shmi and it would have been relatively cheap (for a queen) so I don't know.

Although she did get sold to a family that loved her and treated her nicely.

 

I too feel this same way. Always have. In fact i remember back in the day (around 2002-3) people online were abuzz with discussion about the uselessness of the Jedi Council perhaps as a message about institutions and how they can be bad. In universe its because the jedi were portrayed as tired,kinda ignorant in the sense that they were too sure of themselves and thick headed/too stuck in there old ways.

They needed some "young turks" as jedi -lol. Like Qui-Gon-Jinn. He was different than the council. Saw the corruption in the ever decaying Republic as well as the thick headed-ness of the jedi Council. He would have let Anakin venture back home and check on his mother/keep her safe.

Qui-Gon was actually even shown to be worried about Shmi in TPM. Thats why Count Dooku had that big Qui-Gon reference when talking to Obi-wan when Dooku said "I wish he were still alive...I could use his help right now" and why it seemed to feel almost like a moment of silence in the film for how .....if Qui-Gon would have lived.....this darkness all would not be happening.

But the Sith killed him.

There is something to be said about how kinda right AOTC Anakin always was and how the council really was holding him back and kinda wrong.

I have always been on the side of AOTC Anakin. Hes a badass. James Dean. Young buck jedi who wears leather and is sick of getting lectured and held back by his Master and his masters Jedi Council --and just wants Padme!

.........Padme right after he saves his mother from The Sand People.

 

In my personal canon, I explain it with the story that Padme did indeed make an effort to pay for Shmi's freedom, but could not find her, as Watto had already sold Shmi to Cliegg. In AOTC we're not given a timeline as to when this happened; for all we know it might have been weeks after Anakin left. Watto would not give this information to the agent appointed to make the transaction, so the mystery of Shmi's whereabouts remained and Padme never had anything to report to Anakin. In essence, she disappeared.

 

Well the Jedi didn't really care to free her. It was not a priority to them. As for Padme well she was obviously had no interest as well. What if Watto didn't want to sell her to anyone? That is also a possibility.

So as far as the Jedi were concerned, Shmi was not a concern.

Padme might have been able to free her, but she was more concerned with her own planets issues.

After looking at these 2 scenarios, what other options were left? I believe it would be none.

We do know she was taken into the Lars family. But also I would imagine Watto not wanting to sell Shmi to anyone after losing Anakin. At least for a little while that is.

 

this is one of the things I truly dislike about the PT...

There is no reasonable answer why nobody did anything, so you just have to put up with it and go "meh" and try to not let it bother you.

 

Shmi: The Republic doesn't exist out here.

You can't really force a planet that is outside the jurisdiction of the Republic to do anything, let alone end slavery.

 

freeing one slave= ending slavery. LOL

 

That's what it would take, unless you think it moral to go out there, free one slave and leave the rest hanging.

 

I find it just as immoral to say "thanks for the shelter, we are taking your kid now....we won't think about you again...see ya"

 

Shmi left the choice up to Anakin to leave or stay. They didn't just "take the kid" and split. Also Anakin won his freedom from the pod race. So it was all up to Anakin to want to go with the Jedi or stay at home with his mother.


Shmi- This choice is yours Anakin and yours alone.

Shmi even knew that going with the Jedi was a better alternative than staying on Tatooine.

 

actually technically....they did take the kid and split...from both a mothers and watto's point of view I'm sure.

 

See what Andy wrote: Shmi gave Anakin the choice to go. They didn't take him against his or her will. In the end, Shmi wanted Anakin to get off the planet as a free boy. She put her own wants aside, like any other good parent would.

 

what has that got to do with nobody giving a crap about Shmi?

 

Well that right there is the fundamental problem with it all. As I said the Jedi sure didn't care about her. Padme also didn't care about her. Why didn't they care about her? Well we know the Jedi and all the attachment issues as well them being under no obligation to free her.

Padme also had no obligation to free he as well.

Yes it sucks when we look at it, but can't cry over spilled milk.

 

that's what I was saying with my initial post

it does indeed suck

 

So I'm not sure Padmé "did nothing" (Was she even fully aware of the entire situation? Could she have done something?), but the Jedi sure didn't do anything.

It's pretty awful IMO that Shmi had been captured and nobody who could help, did. I understand that Cliegg and Owen couldn't, but that doesn't explain why the Jedi essentially ignored Anakin's vision.

 

Yes I feel that way too. But not much could have been done on the part of freeing Shmi when the only people that could have possibly intervened and tried to do it, just didn't care to. Not much more could have been done at that point.

 

Well the moisture farmers did send a team out to get Shmi back but lost many during the raid to get her back. Cliegg as we see lost a leg from that too. Obi Wan just thought "they were dreams" and he told Anakin "that those dreams will pass in time"

So nobody took his visions seriously.

Edit: Anakin's visions-Obi Wan claiming they were dreams.

 

To play Devil's Advocate here:

- The Jedi have the 'no attachment' thing. They probably didn't even realize that Anakin's mom was a slave, just that she was on Tatooine. For all they knew, she was some not-a-slave merchant wife on Tatooine that Qui-Gon met, and whose son he took an interest in. Their failings on trying to eliminate the things that would cause Anakin's later problems aside, they thought Shmi was fine on her own. All they were concerned with was that the Sith had returned and Qui-Gon plopped onto them some random boy he said was the Chosen One to destroy the Sith.

Oh, and need I remind you that any Jedi activity spotted by the Hutts in Hutt-controlled space would raise alarm and cause unneeded headaches for the Republic?

- As for Padmé, same thing: she probably knew what would happen if she tried to intervene. She would risk the attention of the Hutts, which would risk the Senate looking at her going, "Dafuq, girl? Really?! You HAD to drop this on us?!' That aside, she had a planet to rebuild seeing as it was invaded and temporarily occupied by the Trade Federation.

- In addition to the above two: Shmi cared more about her son's happiness than her own. Would she have been willing to go with a Naboo officer or a Jedi to get off the planet if she could? Sure, absolutely. I don't doubt she'd jump onboard in a heartbeat. But if that didn't happen, she made her peace with it. If it hadn't been for the Tuskens, she would've likely been happy spending her elderly ears with the Lars knowing her boy was out there defending the galaxy as a Jedi.

 

The Jedi were in service to the Galactic Senate and Tatooine was outside of the Republic. They had no power to intervene.

As to Padme, it's easy to imagine that she made an effort to free Shmi using her own finances, but Watto had already sold her and would not divulge the information to anyone but Anakin, to whom he did eventually give this info in AOTC.

Let's not make mountains out of molehills. It may reflect badly on the Jedi that they didn't put forth more of an effort, but that's partly the point of the PT: the Jedi were ripe for a downfall. Their lack of compassion in this instance may have been a symptom of a larger problem.

 

Part of the problem is that we don't know when Shmi was freed by Cliegg. It could have been not long after the events of TPM.

By that point, Watto wouldn't have Shmi in his possession and I doubt he'd have any kind feelings towards any Jedi or Nubians that came around, considering Qui-Gon and Padmé "stole" (from Watto's perspective) Anakin away. He probably would have just sent anyone inquiring packing. It's not like he could sell Shmi again, so he has no reason to help them and quite many to feel bitter towards them.

 

The Republic does not exist in the outer rim worlds such as Tatooine. Not only did the Jedi have no desire to free her, but they wouldn't have the authority to do so. Padme may have wanted to go back and free her, but there would be nothing she could do. Tatooine doesn't use Republic credits and with the bomb in Shmi's head there would be no way of sneaking her away without getting her killed.

I think it really all comes down to Shmi telling Anaking to never look back. She wanted Anakin to move on with his life as a free person and a Jedi without him constantly worrying about her. I'm sure he still did, but to like he did during AOTC where he was having visions of his mother in pain. I also think Anakin would have returned one day to try to free his mother, but at the time between TPM and AOTC he was still in training to becoming a Jedi Knight.

 

Plus, imagine what Shmi would say if a Jedi or a Naboo guard/Padmé came to get her:

Jedi/Naboo guard
‘Miss Skywalker, we're here to secure your freedom. Come with us.’

or

Padmé
‘Shmi, your son saved us from a great evil. This was the least we could do: you're freed now. Come along with us.’

Shmi
<blinks> ‘I told Anakin to never look back. Did he set this up?’

 

Thanks for all the great responses.

Darthlink, that makes sense that Padme might have feared drawing the attention of the Hutts.

Hogarth, your rationale appeals to me -- Padme having made an attempt, taking into consideration the gray area of timeline in AOTC and when Cliegg married her. That could have happened.

Dandelo, I agree that this one is a puzzling event. It makes me want to delve into the universe more though and think about the "why."

Jedi Knight Fett -- Yes, I'm also glad Shmi seemed to have had some decent years with the Lars family.

Jedi-Gambino, I agree that had Qui-Gon lived, things would have turned out differently -- on many counts -- but certainly here, in regards to Shmi

JoshiHewls, very true -- the limits of the Republic's power in the Outer Rim. And that's very noticeable, even in regards to the currency issue and how Watto doesn't want Republic credits, as they're no good out there.

Admiral Voshe and Andy Wylde, your comments about the Jedi dismissing Anakin's vision reminded me of how key the loss of his mother was to his downfall. It makes his growing hatred of the Jedi that much more intense, that there was this organization that had the capability to help, that could have, but didn't. I need to re-watch ROTS now.

Thoix, very good points all around. Thank you!