PT Queen Amidala confusion

I'm probably the only one who is confused about this, but after the reveal at the end of Episode I when Padme exposes herself as the queen, so much of the movie just becomes really hard to understand for me.The main source of my confusion is the decoy situation. Anytime I go back and rewatch the movie, I can never tell when I'm looking at Padme (Natalie Portman) as the queen, or her decoy. Which scenes of the movie featuring the queen are actually Padme? Which ones feature the fake?

Also... if Padme is the queen, and her decoy is obviously aware of this, why was she, of ALL the available handmaidens in the scene, ordered to clean R2-D2 after he saves the ship?

 

Because she was continuing her act as the Queen.

 

Sabé the handmaiden

played by Kiera Knightly

 

Make me clean the toilet and wash your dishes, your Highness? How do you like it, huh?

 

If Padme is supposed to be undercover as a handmaiden, why does she use her real name?

 

Maybe she knows that people will recognise her "throne name" of Amidala, much more easily than her "birth name" of Padme Naberrie, and so just doesn't bother with any further subterfuge.

Plus it means she's not lying when she introduces herself. Jedi, and a few alien races, can sometimes sense lies.

 

Watch the scene carefully. After Sabe orders Padme to clean Artoo, Padme stands behind the Jedi, watching. She can then give nonverbal signals to Sabe without the Jedi knowing, in order to make sure Sabe gives proper commands to the Jedi.

As far as which scenes are Padme, it is the first scene on Naboo where she talks with Palpatine, as well as a brief shot of her looking out the window as the droid army invades.

After this, any remaining scenes on Naboo and Tatooine where the queen is in costume, it is Sabe. It is also Sabe when the group first arrives on Coruscant and she talks with Valorum.

All remaining scenes on Coruscant where the queen is in costume it is Padme. Padme is also in the costume during the journey back to Naboo. Once they land, it is Sabe in the costume until Padme reveals herself to Boss Nass.

 

^Yeah, that's a pretty inclusive listing. Any time the Queen is potentially put in harm's way, she's got a decoy protecting her (but some times, she also has to enact her duties as ruler, like in the Senate).

 

Because George wanted a scene where Jar Jar is introduced to Padmé. Anyway, she stays there until Qui-Gon's report is over.

Do people know the first name of the queen? She's always addressed as "Queen Amidala".

 

Natalie also wore the Queen makeup for her scene with Jake Lloyd, where Anakin says goodbye when leaving for his first test at the Jedi Temple.

 

My favorite part of this is when the real Padme reveals herself. The look on Qui-Gon's face is pure gold. It's almost like Liam Neeson is thinking about Harrison's famous quote: "You can type this crap..."

 

Having the whole queen decoy storyline in TPM was a terrible idea, because both actresses were forced to act wooden just so they can appear to be the same person. Sure, it may have fooled people, but it also hurt their performances.

 

There you go, Carrie. Above are all the scenes that feature Sabe/Keira/Fake Queen. The rest feature Padme. You're not the only one to confuse the two by the way; Natalie's own mom once confused Natalie/Padme for Keira/Sabe.

Don't know. Probably because of something mundane. Perhaps Sabe just wanted to have fun exercising some of her royal power as the decoy on the real queen: a playful and innocuous whim of hers, you could say.

 

I'd say it's because Padme is the kind of down-to-earth politician who isn't above getting her hands dirty being thankful for someone or something that saved her life. She wasn't too proud to kneel to Boss Nass, she's definitely not too proud to clean the droid that got her past the blockade.

One of the key points to Padme's character throughout the PT was that she was a woman of the people. You don't get that kind of reputation by being standoffish.

 

Actually, the Jedi did know. That's why Qui-gon doesn't want her following him into Mos Espa, why he keeps needling her about the Queen trusting his judgment and why he and Obi-wan have the look on their faces after she has revealed herself. She just didn't think that they knew.

"Throughout the film, I have been playing with the fact earlier on that Qui-Gon knows that Padme is the queen, and he uses that, especially when they go on Tatooine, he taunts her a couple of times, and in the podrace he taunts her a couple of times because he is having fun with her because he knows she’s the queen but the others around her don’t. So he’s been waiting for her to step forward and reveal herself. Anakin is completely surprised but Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon aren’t."

--George Lucas, TPM DVD Commentary.

The look being something like this...

Qui-gon: "Told you she'd come forward."

Obi-wan: "Bite me, old man."

 

It was one of the worse things about the movie and her character, and what you pointed out clearly says the whole secrecy thing was stupid, anyway. I mean, yeah, why use her real name? You'd think the Jedi were briefed before departing on the assignment and would know that little bit of info. Right?

We really never got to know Padme' at this point because of this little charade of her hiding from us. Lucas should have just made her a recently crowned queen because her parents had been killed and it was her birthright to rule in their place. Instead, we get a confusing tale about a fourteen year old, who was elected queen like she was some president, and a paranoid girl that decides to hide herself from the very people that was willing to help her. It not only ruined the character, it ruined the chance of Natalie Portman's acting abilities to really stand out.

 

My interpretation of that expression is that QuiGon clearly knew all along Padme was the queen. He even taunts her a bit on Tatooine saying "The Queen doesn't need to know" and "The Queen trusts my judgement, young handmaiden". The way he delivers those lines makes it clear to me he knows exactly whom he is speaking to. (EDIT: I made this post before reading Darth Sinister's, so I didn't mean to plagiarize thought they say virtually the exact same thing)

However, as far as the overall film is concerned, it was a very poorly explained concept and it created quite a bit of confusion for casual fans.

I tell you what I never liked: At the very beginning E2, Padme is in the starfighter and Corde is in the yacht. Yet her one line of dialog is clearly Natalie Portman's voice and the guard speaking to Corde talks to her as if it really is the senator. I mean, wasn't he in on it? I mean, he was only staring her right in the face.....

 

When Palpatine introduced her to the Senate, Sidious just had to throw in that she was new.

 

I took it more as if he already suspected the truth, but kept quiet to protect her.

 

She didn't, therefore it wasn't stupid.

And that's what it was. I don't see where he got any correlation with Harrison's quote.

 

Oh, yeah, she did.

"Who'sa are you'sa? - Jar Jar Binks
"I'm Padme" - Padme Naberrie Amidala

Why risk exposing her true name, especially with an outsider at this point in the story?

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn. This is Padme and Jar Jar." - Qui-Gon Jinn

It's clear that Qui-Gon knew at this point, at least. Either she told him, or he just callously blurted out secret information to a stranger, regardless of the dangers inherrent in doing so...you decide.

 

Mental Note: Don't Make an obvious Joke in the PT Forum.

 

The Queen was always presented as Amidala. Not Padmé, or Padmé Naberrie our Padmé Amidala. The handmaiden was always presented as Padmé.

True name of whom? The Queen or the person? The name of the queen was never at risk.

Qui-Gon knew the name of the handmaiden, and at that point he also knew that that handmaiden was the Queen.

What secret information? Neither the name of the queen nor the handmaiden was at risk.

 

Because her full name is Padme Naberrie Amidala, which would be public knowledge, no? If she's supposed to be just some retainer that's hiding her true identity, then why not make up a fake name to go with it?

And as far as the secrecy goes, they're hiding from the Trade Federation, right? What if Anakin and his mother weren't friendly and decided to sell the information to buy their freedom or whatever, what then?

 

Would it? That was never stated in the movie, therefore there is no reason to assume it is. Also, full name of whom? The queen's first name was never stated whenever she was announced to someone.

Why would she create a fake name when her first name is never used on her queen duty?

Sell information to whom? The TF had no presence on Tatooine. Also, if Anakin and his mother weren't friendly, they would never have offered shelter in the first place.