Ever since Disney took over Star Wars, the franchise has gotten better about giving the spotlight to female characters, with the last two movies starring female characters and the announcement of the female-driven Forces of Destiny. The Star Wars franchise also has some new books coming out that will focus on female characters, such as one about a young Leia and one focusing on Captain Phasma. However, one character isn’t getting enough attention. Padmé Amidala is largely ignored compared to the other leading ladies of Star Wars.
Padmé is often ignored and/or disliked by fans of the franchise due to the stigma against the Prequel Trilogy. To many of the fans, the prequels did not live up to the Original Trilogy and they often take a lot of flak for the effects and dialogue. I could talk about my personal feelings about how good they would have been if Lucas had had less control, but that’s not the point. The point is Padmé, due to the unpopularity of the prequels, is underappreciated by fans to the point that the franchise itself seems to forget she exists sometimes, despite the fact that there is great story potential with her.
She’s in The Clone Wars animated series, she's been mentioned in the Darth Vader comic series, and she’ll get her own adventure in Forces of Destiny, but Star Wars could use her a bit more than they choose to. She deserves a book. She is the female lead of a trilogy, just as Leia is and Rey will be. She was the elected monarch of her whole planet at just fourteen years old and was so great her people offered to change the constitution for her to stay in office longer. There’s a lot of story potential there. There was an entire decade between Episode I and Episode II in which she was doing great things and I want to know what those great things were. I feel like that decade gets ignored because she wasn’t interacting with Anakin then, but Padmé can exist as a character without Anakin. Her stories don’t have to be only the ones that include him.
There are also characters that are part of Padmé’s life that have been completely forgotten by Star Wars canon. There was a deleted scene from Episode II in which Anakin meets her family, introducing Padmé’s sister Sola and her daughters Ryoo and Pooja. They’re seen again in the funeral scene in Episode III, credited as Sola, Ryoo, and Pooja Naberrie. So, even though the first scene with them was deleted, their existence as the family of Padmé Amidala Naberrie is still canon. But we never see them or hear about them again. I want to know what happened to the cousins of the saviors of the galaxy. In the old EU, one of them became a senator and befriended Leia. I would love to see them acknowledged in the new canon.
Padmé has never really gotten much attention, despite being the leading lady of a trilogy. In the old EU the only books you can find that focus on her are very short children’s books, including one in which she secretly trains for combat alongside her handmaidens. I would love to know more about the beginnings of her life, like how a fourteen year old even got elected. Or, going the opposite way, I’d also like an expansion on what happened at the end of her life. Episode III has two deleted scenes in which Padmé spoke with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and other senators about creating an alliance. A book about her could include an epilogue that shows the beginning of the Rebel Alliance, with the mother of its most important figures taking part in its creation. There is so much that could be done with Padmé and its a waste not to use her character more.
