Padmé Amidala's story isn't found in the Star Wars movies. It's in the fragments left behind. (From 2019) StarWarsDay
, Padmé meets a few sympathizers from the Galactic Republic, which is faltering toward fascism. They form a coalition of planets concerned about democracy. Padmé leads the delegation to deliver their demands to Chancellor Palpatine; behind him, Anakin., when Palpatine convinced young Queen Amidala to call a vote of no confidence in the Senate. Despite the shattering consequences, it's a story the movies somehow couldn't tell.
One shadow looms over the new trilogy: Anakin and Padmé's impossible love story echoes through their grandson Ben, whose obsession with Rey reshuffles half a dozen facets of the first star-crossed love story. Rey is a scrapper from a sandy nowhere, in dire straits until a high-stakes emergency intervenes, and strong enough in the Force to make everybody nervous. Ben Solo grew up with a politician and was sent through the proper channels to get training for his abilities.
That's the other shadow: all that fighting. Politics gets heavy, and the psychological tolls are too close to the real. Trade blockades and murder by committee isn't the struggle people come to see. Everyone understands that loyalty will spur a hero to draw their sword against a sworn enemy; Padmé railing against a darkness with a hundred thousand hands is too much to think about.
The fights will happen without much political background noise. We do not yet know if any of the heroes have made catastrophic mistakes, but we understand any risk taken in the name of a good cause; the movies have made it clear enough that the law won't save you once the emperor comes. We know it—but we go to Star Wars for a myth. Some things have to be settled by the sword. Someone has to be right.
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