Up until recently it always bothered me – as I think it bothers a lot of people to this day – that Padmé died in childbirth.
“She is completely healthy. For reasons we can’t explain, we are losing her…she has lost the will to live.”
For the past 20 years there have been countless memes that basically boil this down to Padmé died of sad 😦. Which I personally believe is missing the entire point. Padmé as a person is a strong-willed individual who, while she quite obviously has emotions and feels them deeply, doesn’t just die because she’s “sad”.
(Quick disclaimer that while I believe Padmé dying of a broken heart makes sense within the film, there’s other frustrations I have with her lack of true character presense in the film when compared to the previous two films and The Clone Wars.
. . . . . . . . .
Padmé Amidala is elected Queen of Naboo at the young age of fourteen. Within a few weeks of stepping into the position, she successfully leads the planet through The Battle of Naboo and unifies the Gungans and The Naboo. She’s so well loved that her people try to amend the constitution so she can remain queen for longer than the 8 year limit. She then goes on to represent Naboo in the Galactic Senate and is still widely loved and successfully betters not only Naboo but the entire galaxy through her work.
This of course leads her to reconnect with Anakin, whom she had met on Tatooine ten years prior. He’s assigned to protect her after multiple assassination attempts and throughout their time together, they fall in love and eventually marry just as The Clone Wars are beginning. For three long years, they keep their marriage a secret as Anakin fights on the front lines of the war and Padmé works to do what she can from a governmental perspective. It’s clear that while Anakin is important to her, her work is just as important; her dedication to helping others is a non-negotiable aspect of her life.
Then suddenly, Padmé finds she’s pregnant and excitedly tells Anakin upon his return to Coruscant for the first time in months. It looks like the war is coming to an end. Unfortunately, Anakin starts to have visions of Padmé dying in childbirth and makes it his sole mission to ensure she doesn’t die. He’s desperate to not lose Padmé as he lost his mother – and that desperation only becomes more and more intense as the days continue (partially due to increasingly more detailed visions, partially due to manipulation from Palpatine). When it reaches the apex, he chooses to abandon all other alliances – to the Jedi, to his friends, and to the galaxy – and focuses solely on saving Padmé for his own sake. His love for Padmé has turned possessive.
While Padmé is continuing to fight against corruption in the senate & is laying the groundwork with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma for what eventually will become the Rebellion, Anakin continues to become more delusional. He continues to cut himself off from others, including Padmé, and ultimately turns to Palpatine for help. It seems as though he has a solution. Anakin ultimately chooses the temptation of saving Padmé over everything else he ever stood for and falls to the dark side. He becomes the antithesis of everything he and Padmé ever stood for.
Padmé then, of course, goes after him because she knows that despite everything, she’s the person he can trust most. He always has been and always will be. They’ve kept their marriage a secret – he can’t keep whatever he’s struggling with from her. And yet, when she arrives on Mustafar to hear his answer, he reveals the heartbreaking truth.
Anakin has turned to the dark side.
His abandonment of the light side lead to the massacre of thousands of Jedi – he’s even killed Jedi himself, including defenseless younglings hoping he was there to save them.
He provided a direct pathway for the Republic to fall and the Empire to rise in its place. Palpatine has declared himself Emperor (something she was already weary of).
And he confirms that he’s done all of this for you.
He selfishly destroyed everything you ever fought for – both of you fought for – because he decided he couldn’t live without you. On the surface, a grandiose declaration of love, but ultimately he proves he’s no longer the same person you met on Tatooine so many years ago. He’s no longer the Padawan running around in the grassy fields of Naboo with you. And he’s no longer the man who chose to spend the rest of his life with you.
He did this all for you. Because of you.
And upon seeing Obi-Wan emerge from the ship, he assumes you’ve now turned against him as well, chokes you in his anger, and the world goes black.
“Obi-Wan, there is good in him…I know there is…still…”
. . . . . . . . .
Her entire world had been destroyed by the one person she thought she could trust in the galaxy – and now he was gone too. It’s no wonder Padmé had lost the will to live and died of a broken heart.
Jakku Journal 