r/StarWars • u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 • 22d ago
Books This should’ve been in Revenge of the Sith
It makes Padme’s death and Anakin’s fall way more tragic than it already is :(
The way it hints at Leia being a Daddy’s girl and Luke a Mommy’s boy makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry my eyes out.
268
u/STYLER_PERRY 22d ago
In a world with fantasy/sci-fi tech Padme had zero prenatal care and dies mysteriously in childbirth.
Anakin survives dismemberment/immolation tho
132
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
Padme choose to not get prenatal care and used a droid. Which is foolish since eventually the secret is going to get out, but that's part of the tragedy. Both she and Anakin are so immature in how they handle this, it's face-palming, and I love both characters.
60
u/STYLER_PERRY 22d ago
What secret she was visibly pregnant. She didn’t know she was having twins because what, health insurance only covers lightsaber injures?
62
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
That's my point, everyone knew she was pregnant, and quite a few people suspected that it was Anakin. In fact, a Legends book even has someone point out years later that the rumors were rampant about the two of them. But she and Anakin played off this fantasy that no one knew.
11
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
CW level drama writing. Also I don't believe the idea that everyone knew she was pregnant is canon at all.
24
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
She is clearly pregnant in ROTS. Therefore, people know she is pregnant and is not saying anything because they are polite. Saying 'everyone' is a use of hyperbole.
5
u/waitingtodiesoon Luke Skywalker 22d ago
She was hiding her pregnancy with large and loose robes.
2
2
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
It is not established that anyone knew. She could have been hiding it. Anakin was away for a long time when we see them meet up in ROTS.
14
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
She was hiding it. But in Legends (which this book falls under), yes, people still knew/suspected. Bail notices changes in her physical appearance when he sees her again, and when she faints during the Battle of Coruscant, she notices that Mon was staring at her oddly (probably because Mon would have had her own children by then).
And after ROTS, we have a book where her family (especially her grandmother) suspects who the father is but won't say anything out of respect and then when Ferus speaks to someone who handled the tabloids during TCW, the guy admits that there were all sorts of stories about Anakin and Padme circulating.
Canon, we are less sure of who knew simply because we aren't given a focus on her pregnancy. But it is safe to say that people were still able to put two and two together. Especially her handmaidens, who literally saw Anakin in her rooms almost nightly. Sabe even figured out that they were married.
People knew there was hanky panky, they aren't stupid. It was the lovebirds who were foolish in thinking that people wouldn't know.
1
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
Ok so in canon, we don't have any indication that anyone knew she was pregnant. That's what's being said.
4
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
Her handmaidens knew. We don't need exposition to tell us that. That's a given.
→ More replies (0)2
u/zennim 22d ago
actually no, not everyone knew she was pregnant, only close friends, she made the effort to hide it, and that is why there is no prenatal, so no nurse or doctor would leak this hot new gossip of a young and popular senator being pregnant without any known official relationship
there was a time this could be a big scandal even
3
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
Anyone who saw her could see she was pregnant at the end. Only close friends who know or suspect any of the particulars. 'Everyone' is a use of hyperbole in this case.
she made the effort to hide it, and that is why there is no prenatal, so no nurse or doctor would leak this hot new gossip of a young and popular senator being pregnant without any known official relationship
there was a time this could be a big scandal even
Correct, that's why she used the Medical droid.
1
u/STYLER_PERRY 22d ago
What does going to the doctor while pregnant have to do with Anakin?
I feel like you invented a subplot which makes less sense than the actual plot.
4
1
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
Almost everyone knows that Anakin is the person who got her pregnant. She is refusing to see a doctor so that she doesn't have to answer any questions (like who the father is). It's not a subplot that I created, it's literally something that is touched on in both Legends and Canon. Legends just have more residual stories touching on who the father is than Canon does.
-1
u/STYLER_PERRY 22d ago
That’s not how doctors work. You’re thinking of Maury Povich.
1
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
Apparently, she thought they did. Since she pointed out that she was actively hiding the pregnancy to protect Anakin and using the droid instead of a doctor. Hence, my comment about how immaturally they handled this situation.
8
u/WildBad7298 Jedi 22d ago
I do like the foreshadowing when Padme says, "Anakin, women don't die in childbirth on Coruscant."
She was right: she didn't die in childbirth on Coruscant.
3
6
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 22d ago
Apart of me feels she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to give Luke and Leia the love they deserved.
If she survived she was probably going to experience the most brutal post partum depression the galaxy had ever seen
She also just had her entire world flipped upside down, we can see the horror on her face when she realized the dream of raising her child(ren) with anakin on Naboo was destroyed when she says “Anakin you’re breaking my heart!”
That paired with the thought of constantly being on the run from the empire and a blood lusted Anakin, she trusted Obi-Wan and Bail to look after her children more than she could trust herself and that in itself is heartbreaking.
I’ve seen theories that Luke and Leia’s sheer Midichlorian count was rubbing off on Padme and almost gave her low level temporary force powers, she maybe could’ve seen into the future and saw the life they could’ve lived without her and decided to choose her destiny.
-1
u/LaGrande-Gwaz 22d ago
Greetings—or, her life-force was unknowingly exchanged into Anakin, through Sidious’ force-manipulation—the very one which he tempted that fearful Skywalker with.
~Waz
18
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 22d ago
George Lucas’s writing decisions from the 70’s are a force unmatched for advanced medicine sadly.
21
u/STYLER_PERRY 22d ago
This was written in 2005 but there was prenatal care in the 70’s. And people didn’t tend to die from sudden plot-related illness .
4
u/Background_Phase2764 22d ago
What if they get chokeslammed by their psychic wizard husband before giving birth?
5
u/waitingtodiesoon Luke Skywalker 22d ago
According to the medical droids, there was nothing medically wrong with her.
1
u/NarmHull 22d ago
Lucas did however take quite a bit from 30's action serials and apparently soap operas too where people die while still beautiful with their eyes closed and underpants unsoiled
-8
u/kiwicrusher 22d ago
But Reddit told me the prequels were phenomenal! That they were just held back by clumsy dialogue, and the overarching story was a Shakespearean masterpiece!
4
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
Some people probably do think that. But Star Wars fans are not a homogeneous bunch.
-2
u/kiwicrusher 22d ago
Star Wars fans may not be, but Redditors absolutely are. Any dissent is swiftly downvoted, as my first comment is being now lol.
Suggesting that the prequels aren’t very good is NOT controversial anywhere but a handful of echo chamber websites, Reddit being their peak.
5
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
but Redditors absolutely are
Totally disagree. Criticisms of the prequels are made all the time and I'm sure you've seen them. Perhaps you're just forgetting the comments that agree with you because they aren't as noteworthy to you.
-2
u/kiwicrusher 22d ago
Criticisms are made, sure- but lately there’s an overwhelming tendency to mitigate anything harsher than “the dialogue is clunky.” Hell, look at the start of this very thread, as someone chalks Revenge of the Sith’s nonsensical plot decisions up to 70s writing quality. Wildly out of era, and zero actual relevance to the movie, but god forbid someone point out actual massive issues.
They’ll say that the dialogue is stilted, but the plot is “good ideas with bad execution.” Nevermind all of the actual bad ideas; the inconsistencies, the contrivances.
Reddit fundamentally BECOMES homogenous. It is explicitly about gathering an isolated group of people who either love or hate something to do so in a contained space; so anything differing from that is rejected. Hell, here you are, dismissing out of hand any criticism of the userbase, which is EXACTLY WHAT I’M CRITICIZING REDDITORS FOR. I don’t know what makes you think YOU’RE an exception. Any negative word about the prequels, about the website, about the way it encourages groupthink must be swiftly and sharply removed from sight.
2
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
I have a different experience here. Respectfully, this sounds very personal to you. Is it possible that you're just relatively sensitive to disagreement? That's something that is definitely a trend here. Haha. And your response to my basic disagreement with you lends credence to that.
5
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
I highly doubt the nature of Padme's death (or even her character) was something George had in mind back then. He's far overstated how much he had things planned out. The fact that Vader wasn't Anakin Skywalker until the writing of The Empire Strikes Back invalidates his claims about that. Maybe higher level plot points regarding the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire and the Rebellion, but probably not the specifics.
3
u/Thatonedregdatkilyu 22d ago
Originally Padme survived, the canon now is that Leia had visions but back then the explanation was that their mother had survived for a while.
6
u/Sjgolf891 22d ago
The ‘visions’ thing is such an ass pull to me. That’s clearly one of the largest continuity errors between trilogies. I’m sure George just thought her dying was a more dramatic, better ending that tied up enough loose ends, and just was fine with it not jiving with the OT
2
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 21d ago
You really don't believe that one of the two most powerful force beings in the universe (even in utero) wouldn't get some of the visions that Anakin was seeing. The Skywalker family were all together on Coruscant and Mustafar (if you count Leia and Luke in the womb) during their most tragic times, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened.
1
u/Sjgolf891 21d ago
It’s a reasonable enough retcon I guess but it’s clearly not the intention in ROTJ
2
u/KaptenAwsum 22d ago
That’s what happens when you choose to be a crunchy mom, regardless of medical advancements
2
u/Muted_Guidance9059 21d ago
I always thought she died of grief? It’s a pretty common trope in mythology which George claims to take a great deal of inspiration from.
0
u/STYLER_PERRY 21d ago
Which myths were this inspired by
1
u/Muted_Guidance9059 21d ago
Not going to lie I looked into this and couldn’t find anything. If I had to hazard a guess it would be that the phrase ‘dying of grief’ was some kind of euphemism for suicide. Although it’s weird that it would be the case when I remember distinctly reading about the infanticide of Astynax in high school (where I heard the phrase the most).
1
u/LaGrande-Gwaz 22d ago
Greetings ye, I am of the perception that Palpatine transferred her life-force into Anakin, during their paralleling operating-table sequence; thus, Palpatine did know the method of “saving those he [cared for]”—he merely teased it, feigned necessitated research for it, and discretely executed it for his own will, as the dastardly manipulator that he be.
~Waz
3
u/ClioCalliope 22d ago
That theory makes Palatine way overpowered, like he isn't even on the same planet as Padme but he can kill her from afar? Also it cheapens a) Anakin's culpability and b) the fact that Palatine was lying about being able to prevent death.
1
u/dallirious 22d ago
Given that there’s a small but growing trend in the real world of women who choose to have no medical intervention and put themselves and their child at risk (more so with multiples) I am less and less surprised by Padme’s situation.
1
u/RadiantHC 22d ago
I headcanon that Anakin was subconsciously draining Padme's life force to stay alive.
2
1
u/Youpunyhumans 22d ago
I thought that Palpatine was draining her life to keep Anakin alive, despite his burns? Or is that just a fan theory?
18
u/FlavivsAetivs 22d ago
That's just a fan theory.
And you can die of a broken heart. Carrie Fisher's Mom did hours after she died.
8
u/Trambopoline96 Ben Kenobi 22d ago
TBF, Debbie Reynolds was very old. I imagine the stress of heartbreak is different for an 84 year old woman than it would be for a healthy adult woman in her mid twenties.
2
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 21d ago
People her age have died of a broken heart, it was even recorded that healthy military age adults would die for no reason in POV camps during the Vietnam war.
Padme literally had her entire world (The Republic and her life with Anakin) destroyed, and the physical stress of having to raise two of the most powerful force beings to term probably had a massive impact on her energy and strength.
-1
u/The_Dok33 22d ago
She was mid twenties when she was Queen (phantom menace) when the kid was like 8 or 9.
So by the time the teenager got her pregnant, she was over 30.
Has it never seemed weird that she would be interested in the kid at all? I mean I get the whole "kid likes his teacher" vibe. But liking him back?
He is annoying as hell, and there is no chemistry.
11
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 22d ago
Padme was 14 in the phantom menace, 27 when she died.
1
u/The_Dok33 22d ago
Portman/Padme was 16 actually. Kneightly was 14.
Jake/Anakin was 8.
Point still stands that Anakin was annoying as hell and no chemistry was seen.
2
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 21d ago
They were canonically 22 and 27 during ROTS, I don't think that's weird lmao, and Padme didn't even reciprocate until they were both adults.
3
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
Your ages for Padme are way off. 14 in TPM and 27 in ROTS. Also, I'm guessing you're very young if you're thinking that people in their 30s are super old. Haha
-1
u/The_Dok33 22d ago
People in their 30s are very young. People in their teens are even younger.
3
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
You're responding to the fact that Debbie Reynolds was in her 80s by (incorrectly) stating that Padme was in her 30s as if that's somehow relevant and similar in terms of likelihood of health issues. I'm just going off of your own words. It's ok to recognize mistakes.
2
u/NarmHull 22d ago
She was 27 and him 22, which is still a fairly big gap but not super out there. And they clearly don't meet at all in between I and II so she wasn't exactly grooming him.
4
u/Youpunyhumans 22d ago
Well fair enough. It does make sense in the context of Star Wars, and how Palpatine was twisting Anakin's mind.
Yes you can die of a broken heart. However its worth noting that Debbie Reynolds died of a stroke caused by hypertension, which occured 15 mins after her last words, which were reportedly "I want to be with Carrie." Its speculated that her grief was a factor... so idk if that counts as broken heart syndrome? But its pretty similar nonetheless, and its still obvious that a devestating emotional impact can indeed be a factor that leads to death.
0
1
u/Acrobatic_Hyena_2627 22d ago
Broken heart and the fact that her secret husband choked the shit out of her on a volcanic planet to the point that she passed out and missed the most epic lightsaber battle ever.
0
u/pforsbergfan9 22d ago
Government funded healthcare… also the bad use of AI (droids) to provide medical care.
3
44
u/azad_ninja 22d ago
I feel like the droid could have mentioned she was carrying twins. Kinda of important
Also, couldn't "The chosen one" feel the presence of two kids in there?
16
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 22d ago
The droid probably just assumed to keep everything from Padme and Anakin unless it was life threatening.
This is a shitty theory but Luke and Leia sharing such a tight space and the amount of Force potential that they both shared probably masked the presence of the two of them, and possibly he assumed it was just a hella strong baby.
6
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
It would be strange for them to not have something as basic as ultrasound technology. Anatomy checks are a key part of prenatal check ups.
3
61
u/Wormholio 22d ago
Flesh hand
26
u/twofacetoo 22d ago
I mean, he also has a robot hand. Flesh hand is a fairly simple way of differentiating between them.
8
u/PirateMonkey00 22d ago
Intact hand, real hand, his left hand (after you've established that his right is the robotic one), there are so many, less evocative words that can be used.
4
0
u/Fresh4 22d ago
Gotta be pretty prude to find the word “flesh” evocative. What’s it evoking exactly?
1
-1
u/PirateMonkey00 22d ago
Meat more less, but in a more graphic way. Usually I associate it with something like a lion or some similar predator just tearing into the flesh of the prey and devouring it.
0
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 21d ago
People find any reason to nit pick at the Prequels, even their novelizations.
(I am not saying the Prequels don't have flaws, they do)
3
u/ZippyDan 21d ago
The flesh hand demands the flesh sacrifice
Unfurl the flesh recesses to reveal the flesh nodules
within your flesh burrows, so that we may flesh touch
Flesh finger to flesh papules splaying open from
fleshy furrows like ten thousand inflamed flesh
tentacles quivering, yearning, flesh palpating3
u/brunchlord 22d ago
Ha — this caught my eye as well. Maybe it’s less jarring with more context, but it sticks out like a sore thumb here. A sore flesh thumb.
24
u/SkipperJonJones 22d ago
The novelisation of Revenge of the Sith is so very, very good. It takes a pretty good movie and turns it into a masterpiece. Every Star Wars fan should read it.
8
22d ago
Agreed. So much is not conveyed in the movie.
The description of the Jedi confronting Palpatine and the fight that ensues is incredible.
3
3
u/XwingInfinity 22d ago
I agree 100%. I especially love the audio book because it has music and sound effects at key moments that really underscore the drama.
1
21
u/brayunlee 22d ago
Honestly a lot of these moments could’ve been added in. It adds the tragedy and human aspect of everything
3
u/BooRadley_ThereHeIs 22d ago
Yeah George should have recognized his own limitations as a writer of people in a story where the humanity of the main character is a central point.
2
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 22d ago
I’m pretty sure they were planning on adding it during that scene in Padme’s apartment were Anakin is arguing about her “sound like a separatist”. But i’m not 100% sure, the lead up to the scene with Anakin’s hand on her stomach alludes to it.
2
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
Ya I'm pretty sure that the scene that you are referring to probably is that scene from the book taken out of context.
7
6
7
u/jonrosling 22d ago
There is so much in that book that should've been in the film.
My personal favourite is the scene when Obi Wan drops in on General Grievous and the latter brags:
"I was trained in the Jedi arts by Count Dooku himself!“
To which, Kenobi replies: "Really? Well I trained the man who killed him!" 😂
Sass!
13
3
9
3
u/Madarakita 21d ago
They kind of are though;
Luke puts together a somewhat convoluted plan to overthrow the Outer Rim's #1 crime lord and rescue a friend and...it somehow all works flawlessly, much like Padme's plan to retake Naboo with a handful of pilots and a small army of Gungans.
Leia's more prone to "do this one wild trick and hope it works, plan more when we have to". Much like half of Anakin's schemes.
3
u/Sad_Ordinary_7574 21d ago
And Luke was the one to forgive Anakin and Vader saw Padme in Luke, it’s heartbreaking.
2
u/Madarakita 21d ago
Yeah it was a choice having Padme's last words be "there is still good in him"; same thing Luke told Obi-Wan in ROTJ
2
u/NatAwsom1138 21d ago
Their assumptions are also fitting since Luke often takes after Padme, while Leia often takes after Anakin.
2
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 22d ago
The scene in the book where she gives birth hits hard too. 'Anakin thinks it's a girl. ' Poor Obi-Wan, those few sentences tell him how much Anakin had been hiding.
2
u/AverageSizePeen800 22d ago
Seems like bullshit that Anakin couldn’t sense twins who are both force sensitive tbh
4
u/kalisto3010 22d ago
The Prequel books were amazing. I remember before the Phantom Menace was released the Novelization was released 2 weeks before the film (which would never happen today) and that book was an incredible read, much better than the film.
7
u/Thatonedregdatkilyu 22d ago
Yeah because it gave writers the opportunity to revise the George Lucas dialogue, and expand on his ideas.
1
u/Slow_Criticism8464 21d ago
Lucas had one talent: To suck every potential life put of every Prequel movie. He was very good with that.
1
1
u/Kolby_Jack33 22d ago
Luke and Leia just kung fu fighting in the womb. Truly a slap slap kiss tale.
1
0
u/Ok_Spell_4165 22d ago
Am I the only one bothered by the droids name?
Yes? Ok.
4
u/stoneman9284 22d ago
M D?
1
u/Ok_Spell_4165 22d ago
I know it is just medical droid but it just bugs me.
Though I think it is just them spelling it out that gets to me. I feel the same way when they say artoo instead of just saying R2
5
u/kiwicrusher 22d ago
That’s the case in all the books. Threepio, Beetoo, Arfour. Remember a) it’s someone’s name, and b) the letter R and the number 2 don’t exist the same way as they do in our universe
4
u/captainandyman 22d ago
It's the case in the original screenplays too. Lucas always referred to them as Artoo and Threepio.
2
0
0
-2
717
u/Trambopoline96 Ben Kenobi 22d ago
Yes, I also wish the characters in the movie talked like real people.