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 | A Rebel's Ramblingsby: FAN4YRS date posted: Jul 20, 2007 12:04 PM | updated: Jul 20, 2007 12:04 PM |
 | Why Padme Lost the Will to Live |
 Why did Padme lose the will to live? She had just brought two beautiful babies into the "world".
This question, and the fact that she was willing--apparently--to leave those children behind, has haunted--and frustrated--fans for over two years now.
I think, to some degree, I have stumbled across the answer.
It started with a complaint. The History Channel was repeating their "Star Wars" special and I watched Padme's plea to Anakin. I have never liked that scene, because Padme seems so helpless and her words to Anakin are pleading, but not challenging, not in a way that makes Anakin think about what he is actually doing.
I have always had a problem with that scene. Padme was such a strong character in Episodes I and II, she was the most redeemable character in the Prequel series, in my opinion. In Episode III she seems needy and weak.
That's when it occurred to me. She was. And in the same situation, most of us, if not all of us, would be.
She has fallen in love with a man she should never have fallen in love with. She is now pregnant with his "child". Her world has turned to egg shells. She respects the Jedi, but to some degree, she is betraying them. She loves the Republic, but has left leadership--in the grand scheme--for leadership in the great scheme--motherhood. She is a woman alone, to a large degree, at a time when a woman would want and need friends and family surrounding her.
The best part of her world is her husband that she has left everything for. Now, he has betrayed her. She is truly lost. No wonder she is unable to find the words. No wonder her arguments are weak; she has to condemn herself for going as far as she already has (sneaking behind the Jedi Council).
Now I understand why she lost the will to live. She saw only darkness for her children if she remained their mother. She had been too weak to vanquish Darth Vader and save Anakin, how could she expect herself to lead the children she loved more than anything on the right path?
Was it a fale notion? Yes, I think so. I think there was forgiveness for Padme, compassion and understanding. I do not believe that Yoda or Obi-Wan would have turned her away. But she was consumed by the darkness: depression (losing her husband), fear (Darth Vader and his will for the children), and anger (at herself for letting it happen).
I do not mean she was consumed in the same way as Anakin, but she had fallen for the lie that it had overpowered her.
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http://blogs.starwars.com/rebel-ramblings1977-1983/180 |
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Rogueish
W.I.E.R.D.
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 12:25 PM
My thoughts?
Terrible script writing.
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comanderbly
That's Impossible. Even for a Computer.
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 12:28 PM
Honestly I never really gave it much thought. I think because I grew up with the OT, I probably did not question it because I knew that she had to die. I think her death works well with the context of the films because it helps with the tragic aspect of the story. I agree with your thoughts on the this one. The idea that love can kill someone is pretty powerful. Although I think she showed some strength - she went to Anakin pregnant and in the middle of a war, with 3P0 as backup.
Nice entry. 
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Captain Peabody
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 12:55 PM
I think you're probably right; it was a pretty dark time for the Galaxy, after all, and most especially for Padme. She'd lost everything she'd ever cared about; Anakin, her Senatorial position, even Democracy itself; with all this gone, she simply couldn't find the strength to keep on living.
Nice blog.
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ral_kleest
The Jedi Way: Preserving the Light
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 12:58 PM
Sure, Padme's death is to a certain extent the filling of a plot hole, but your thoughts about children are important. Obi-Wan's telling her that Anakin killed younglings appears to have been quite a blow. Notice that is the central charge she relates to Anakin on the Mustafar platform.
Imagine her struggle to conceptualize living in a world with a man who would do anything to "protect" his own family, even murdering innocents.
It truly was a "path she could not follow."
Good blog.
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Kenobi-fan
The Jundland Wastes Journal
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 1:00 PM
But she was consumed by the darkness:
I think most people, me included, have a hard time accepting that as the case. Having said that, I think that's exactly what occurred. Acknowledging this, it seems to me, is accepting the possibility that everyone can fall - even the supposedly virtuous and strong. It's a tough thing to accept...that heroes can fail completely. However, just as Anakin was saved by his children, so was Padme in my estimation.
(Rogueish...yeah, that's probably true too.)
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Qui-Tom Servo loves Padme
You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 2:12 PM
Interesting entry. I was watching part of ROTS last night and I was struck by Padme's desperation at this point. I think she knew that something was terribly wrong with Anakin, and she was powerless to help him. She didn't know how to react, and as you rightly point out, chances are none of us would either. As for her losing the will to live, I wonder if Padme didn't choose to die because of the children.
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Qui-Tom Servo loves Padme
You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned
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date Posted: Jul 20, 2007 2:12 PM
cont.
She had just seen what cruelties Anakin was now capable of. Did she lose the will to live in order to protect Luke and Leia? She knew that Anakin would not "lose" her, but if she died, than he would believe that the baby was lost with her. For an expansion on this theory, here's my entry on the subject.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Jul 22, 2007 7:26 PM
She has fallen in love with a man she should never have fallen in love with.
You make it sound as if it was wrong for Padme and Anakin to fall in love. There was nothing wrong with that . . . despite the so-called Jedi credo. Where Padme and Anakin went wrong is that they made their relationship a secret . . . for three years. And because their relationship was a secret, both feared that any kind of revelation would cause them to lose it. Which might explain why their love or their marriage started to mean TOO MUCH to them . . . to the point that both grew too attached to each other and feared losing each other.
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FAN4YRS
A Rebel's Ramblings
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date Posted: Jul 22, 2007 7:53 PM
If it was the Jedi Creed that no Jedi should marry; then it was wrong for Anakin and Padme to marry.
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Jade Sabre777
A luminous being, I am...
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date Posted: Jul 22, 2007 8:45 PM
While I think having Padme just lose the will to live was a very crummy idea, I loved your thoughts on that in this entry. They make sense to me.
And in the same situation, most of us, if not all of us, would be.
Yep!
Ral_kleest: I totally agree.
She had just seen what cruelties Anakin was now capable of. Did she lose the will to live in order to protect Luke and Leia? She knew that Anakin would not "lose" her, but if she died, than he would believe that the baby was lost with her.
Interesting point! Off to read your blog now....
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Elflord_2006
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 8:11 AM
I believe Anakin had actually killed her on Mustafar but the unborn twins kept her alive long enough to give birth. She was dead, spiritually like you explained. Hence the kids were the new hope.
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FAN4YRS
A Rebel's Ramblings
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 8:38 AM
I like those thoughts. So basically, she didn't give up the will to live, but when the babies were born they were all that was keeping her from death.
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Darth_Hiram
A Journey into The Force
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 9:27 AM
Good entry. I was always confused over the issue of Padme "losing the will to live", and always thought it was a cheap way out, to keep continuity. But some very good points are brought up here ... she stayed alive long enough to see the babies born. And that was her way of helping to bring Anakin back to the Light. Perhaps she knew something in that moment that the rest of them didn't.
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oxward321
LET'S THANK THE MAKER
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 11:56 AM
I alway felt that Anakin's "only my new powers can save you" line was the key. In other words he was so consumed by his greed, selfishness and hatred that the very powers he acquired to save her, was the very same powers he blindly killed her with. Hench the reason that the droids couldn't explain her demise, the Force doesn't show up on any monitors. That's my that on it. I like your interpretation as well FAN4YRS, very interesting.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 2:11 PM
As much as I want to argue this (I just LOVE love stories and romance and all), I can't. You're right. I could say: "But it was a dumb rule!" But just cause we think a rule is dumb doesn't give us the right to break it.
Yes, it does. Why does society frown upon those who are willing question authority? Anakin and Padme's mistake was not being honest. Anakin should have told the Council. And if they were unwilling to allow a married Jedi Knight in their midst, then the situation would have given him a choice to follow a certain path in life . . . instead of maintaining a secret that led to emotional flaws in both Anakin and Padme.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 2:14 PM
Again, I'm reading excuses on why Padme died the way she did, instead of simply accepting the fact that she died of a broken heart. I'm going to be harsh. I find it rather pathetic that many fans were incapable of accepting Padme's personality flaws and weaknesses. I have noticed that when it comes to fiction, fans want the characters to adhere to some kind of cliche or in Padme's case, an idealized vision. Padme was not perfect. She made mistakes and she had her weaknesses. Just because she was basically a strong-willed person, does not mean she was incapable of succumbing to despair.
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FAN4YRS
A Rebel's Ramblings
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 2:51 PM
{Clears throat nervously}...Remember, Fish1941, it's just a movie.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 6:59 PM
Yes, it is. And in a movie there is characterization to consider. To expect Padme to be portrayed as some idealized feminist incapable of succumbing to her weakness or any kind of despair strikes me as an example of bad characterization.
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FAN4YRS
A Rebel's Ramblings
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date Posted: Jul 23, 2007 7:01 PM
Wow! You must be having some kind of bad day. I have never thought of Padme as a feminist. Nope. Feminist don't get married, for one thing. I was merely surprised that she handled things the way she did...until I REALIZED (see the contents of this blog) what was happening to her and going through her mind.
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Elflord_2006
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date Posted: Jul 24, 2007 10:27 AM
Did anybody mention yet that Palp was behind all of this? He took strong characters and destroyed them - that's what Sith do. Palp had a hand in all of it. He played on both their weaknesses. Anakin fear of losing his mother and Padme. Padme's fear of losing her husband and father of her future children to the darkside. He used that same fear technique to consolidate his power in the senate. Lucas is warning us about how republics crumb like using the fear of terrorism to gain more power...
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Jul 24, 2007 10:42 PM
I don't think that Palpatine had destroyed them. They did it all on their own. They could have overcame any manipulations on his part . . . but they didn't. Anakin, Padme, the Jedi and the Republic have no one to blame but themselves. All of them proved that they were their own worst enemies in the end . . . not Palpatine.
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Elflord_2006
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date Posted: Jul 25, 2007 10:56 AM
Palp had everything to do with everything. Palp ordered the clones created 10 years before Geonosis. That should tell you how precise he was on his timeline of conquest. Putting Anakin and Padme together in Aotc. Palp heard Anakin's rant about "keeping people from dying" on Tattoine and used it against him at the Opera. Who knows when Order 66 was created, but he knew it would be used. Palp corrupted the senate just the way Dooku had said. You don't think Palp could have freed Shmi or at least brought her to see Anakin, of course but used her as an emotional anchor. Which leads me back to what I said, Lucas is explaining that fear can lead many to give up and in turn tyranny can rise.
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Elflord_2006
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date Posted: Jul 25, 2007 11:02 AM
FAN4YRS - You know what really bothers is, why Qui-gon had to cheat Watto with the chance cube? Didn't Qui-gon follow the "living force? The cube should have turned up in favor of Anakin anyways. Things could have been different if Shmi was freed instead of Anakin.
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FAN4YRS
A Rebel's Ramblings
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date Posted: Jul 25, 2007 12:08 PM
That scene has always bothered me, too. I also think that Shmi AND Anakin could have been set free.
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Jedimasterpheobe
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date Posted: Jul 31, 2007 5:56 AM
wow ! x
i nvr thought of it in tht way ! x
but i reli lyk it ! x
i fink its the best explaination for her death ! x
well doneee ! x
*&&* i always cry at tht scene ! x lol =P x
*&&* at her funeral x
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