PT The vote of nonconfidence - was it raised with Amidala approval?

Makes sense. I've always had the impression they knew.

 

Uh, no. The black outfit is Sabe. Portman may have wore the dress for the publicity stills, but in the film, it was Knightly.

Yep.

Nute Gunray was ticked off that Padme had ruined the whole Naboo invasion and got him into trouble. His condition for joining the Confederacy was that he wanted her dead. Dooku informed Palpatine and they concocted a plan in which she would be assassinated, in an effort to help get the ball rolling with starting the war. But as a result of things turning out as they did, Padme survived and left Coruscant and gave Jar Jar the authority to act as she would. This, in turn, worked to Palpatine's advantage as Jar Jar was easy to manipulate.

 

All the pictures you posted were with Natalie Portman, hence my reply.

 

I always like the Dooku line "Patience, Viceroy, patience. She will die". I sat in that theater back in 2002 thinking, sadly, yes she will.

But it's was a pit of small justice that all the people on that platform were killed before she was.

 

Yeah, I always saw that as a bit of evilly delicious foreshadowing.

 

There were 3 black dresses. Two showed Portman, one showed Knightley - this one:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sabé

Spoiler

Sabé impersonated Queen Amidala to keep her sovereign from harm.

(the second one was erroneously labelled Knightley when it was Portman)

 

The one in spoiler is Knightley, yes.

 

That was no decoy lol that was actually Padme-Portman as the Queen in that scene. You can really see the difference in the 2 actresses eyes.

 

Here's when it showed to me that Qui Gon and Obi Wan by extension knew. And then I was completely sure.

The Queen doesn't need to know.





Well I don't approve.




Padme probably didn't know that Qui Gon knew.


GL,

Cheers!

MJ

 

The junior novelization of TPM, with lots of scenes written specifically from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's points of view, handled the scenes somewhat differently:



The Queen's favorite handmaiden came forward and bowed.
"Clean this droid up as best you can, " the Queen told her. "It deserves our gratitude." She turned back to the captain. "Continue, Captain Panaka."
Panaka glanced toward Qui-Gon and hesitated. Taking advantage of the captain's uncertainty, Qui-Gon stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, we are heading for a remote planet called Tatooine. It's a system far beyond the reach of the Trade Federation. We'll make repairs there, then travel on to Coruscant."
"Your Highness," Captain Panaka put in, "Tatooine is very dangerous. It's controlled by an alliance of gangs called the Hutts. I do not agree with the Jedi on this."
It's not the first time someone's disagreed with my plans, and I doubt it will be the last, Qui-Gon thought, amused. But all he said was, "You must trust my judgment, Your Highness."
The Queen exchanged a long look with Padme. Then she nodded. That handmaiden has too much influence on the Queen, Qui-Gon thought. It could mean trouble.


They were only a few meters from the boarding ramp when someone shouted. Qui-Gon looked back. Captain Panaka and Padme, the Queen's handmaiden, walked toward him. He noted with misgiving that Padme wore rough-spun peasant clothes.
"Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you, " Captain Panaka said as he came up to Qui-Gon. "She wishes for her to observe ..."
"No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain, " Qui-Gon interrupted, shaking his head. "This spaceport is not going to be pleasant."
"I've been trained in defense, " Padme said. "I can take care of myself."
Qui-Gon eyed her narrowly. This might be the Queen's command, but he sensed that the original idea had come from this girl. The last thing he needed was a spoiled handmaiden to watch out for, but... "I don't have time to argue," he said. "But this is not a good idea. " He gave Padme a stern look. "Stay close to me."
The girl nodded, and fell into line next to Artoo-Detoo, Artoo whistled happily at her, and Jar Jar smiled.


The following morning, Qui-Gon headed back toward Watto's junk shop. Padme followed closely, and just as they reached the shop, she stopped him.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked. "Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know?"
Qui-Gon looked at her without answering.
"The Queen will not approve," Padme said, as if that settled the matter.
"The Queen does not need to know," Qui-Gon replied simply.
Padme stared at him, then dropped onto a barrel just outside the shop door. "Well, I don't approve," she muttered in a sullen tone.
And so the little handmaiden discovers that her influence with the Queen has limits, Qui-Gon thought as he ducked through the doorway into the shop. Still, it was odd that she had been so very sure of herself.... He heard the sound of an argument, and put Padme out of his mind.

When they arrive on Coruscant and Valorum meets them, it's still Sabe - it's only after they leave that landing platform that it switches to Padme.



"I am grateful for your concern, Chancellor, " Amidala said, inclining her head gracefully.
Courtesies over, Palpatine motioned Amidala and her guards and handmaidens toward an air taxi at the far end of the platform. As they started off, Obi-Wan heard him say something about procedures. He shook his head ruefully. She's barely arrived, and he's already talking politics. Well, I suppose that's why she came.


This would suggest that, at least at this point, Obi-Wan believes Sabe is Amidala.

I would guess that (in the novel-verse), on the trip back to Naboo at the very least, when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon meet Padme in royal outfit and she says "Jar Jar Binks, I have need of your help" they figure it out if they haven't figured it out before.



Lucas himself, however, may have intended that Qui-Gon realise much earlier (he said as much in DVD commentary I'm told) - with the writer of the novelization not having access to Lucas's thoughts, so handling it differently.

 

I read that novelization but I don't remember anything from it, or even reading it.
Now that I think about it, as I don't typically think of everything I observed in Episode One, I thought Qui-Gon's comment at the start of the podrace when he bent down to say this might have indicated something: "The queen trusts my judgment, young handmaiden. You should too."

 

Well this text is extremely interesting.
It seems Qui Gon was intentionally deceived by Padme and Sabe.

 

Valorum too - at least for a few minutes.

I imagine that Valorum would get a bit of a surprise, to discover that the person he's been addressing as the Queen on the platform, isn't her after all. Presumably, after they left the platform, Padme stepped forward, revealed herself to Valorum - and explained the security measure being in case an assassin was waiting for her to arrive on Coruscant - but Obi-Wan wasn't there for that.


As of the DVD commentary, I think it's canon that while they tried to fool Qui-Gon, he wasn't fooled - with the novelization being decanonized.

 

Qui-Gon was never deceived. He kept teasing her on Tatooine knowing that she was stuck in the handmaiden role.

"The Queen doesn't need to know."

"The Queen trusts my judgment, young handmainden."

She was the one thought had Qui-Gon fooled.

 

Yup - but until the DVD came out and confirmed this - the novelization's interpretation of Qui-Gon's behaviour was a perfectly valid one.

 

If Qui Gon knew this and it is confirmed on the DVD, then maybe Qui Gon is trying to influence Padme, to agree with his decisions.

 

He's teasing, that's all. She's trapped in her own deception and he knows she can't do anything about it.

 

IMO he really does look like he's teasing her in that picture. And she looks like a little girl pouting.

 

Always liked that scene its a nice little humanising moment. Padme may be a child prodigy who governs a planet, but deep down she's still a teenager.

 

I just wish we'd gotten more of Chancellor Valorum. Terrence Stamp is great.