Tonight, while I was watching Return of the Jedi with my mother, she said something interesting when we got to the very end of the movie. When it got to the point where the galaxy is celebrating the Fall of Palpatine and the Empire and everybody is reuniting back on the Forest Moon of Endor; Luke looks and sees the ghostly images of Yoda, Obi-Wan, and......Anakin, but as my mother points out......."Something's missing. Where's Padme? She should be standing there with Anakin." I thought about that for a second and I realized that she's right. Padme should be there next to Hayden's likeness.

Now, I know what some people are going to think. "But Padme wasn't a Jedi. She didn't have training to retain her identity within the Force." Well, that's true, but what if Padme, though not a Jedi, still had a strong connection in the Force, through her marriage to Anakin and from giving birth to his children; plus a strong Force connection to Luke and Leia themselves just because she is their mother. That would even help explain Leia's memory of her. In fact, if Padme appeared at the end of ROTJ, that would help explain the whole purpose behind Luke and Leia's conversation about their mother.

The other thing someone might argue is, "What are you talking about? Anakin Force choked her!" Well, he did from a certain point of view. Remember, he wasn't Anakin anymore. "The good man that was" Anakin was basically dead. Vader controlled him. The Dark Side. "The good man" that was Anakin still loved Padme and she still loved him. And she knew there was still good in him. She said this at the end of Revenge of the Sith to Obi-Wan while he was holding Luke (hmm...interesting). So, if she appeared with Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin before Luke, it would represent a complete circle. Not only are Obi-Wan and Anakin best friends again and able to stand together as friends instead of as enemies, Anakin and Padme are able to be together as husband and wife. Everything is complete and in one piece.

Now, if there were no other DVDs coming out there would be no point in bringing this up except as a point of interest. However, as probably everyone, or at least most people know, there will eventually be a six-pack DVD collection coming out. Now, I am wondering if Padme will actually be in there for the reasons I have given; which I must actually give credit to my mother. It's just if you look at that scene, it seems like somebody is missing. Anakin should be standing closer to Obi-Wan and Yoda unless someone is going to be dubbed in for future copies. And why wouldn't Padme be in current DVD copies? Because George Lucas would want to give it away that she dies at the end of ROTS.

So, what does everyone think? Be kind. This is my dear mother you're dealing with. You don't have to agree but you do have to be respectful. She'll be looking forward to hear what everyone thinks.

As Always.

-The Star Wars Uncle