And Boba didn’t get revenge on any of them lol. Ironically he has worked with Vader who was responsible for both Windu’s and Kenobi’s deaths, the enemy of my enemies is my friend and all?
Also I have him hating Anakin too because he was there and a big part of why Kenobi went to Kamino. He’s shocked and pissed when he finds out who Vader is
I agree, she was engaging in magical thinking and being irresponsible. She had already married his ass knowing he had massacred Sand People, including children by his own admission. I mean, what did she think was going to happen? The mass murderer, in possession of his full freedom and power with the aid of her silence, committed mass murder again. I am shocked, shocked!
I wish they’d gone along with an earlier idea of having Padmé try to stab him on Mustafar. It would have been at least as much a suicide as an attempt to kill him, and he could have given her a mortal wound in his rage. They could perform emergency C-section to save the twins while Vader breaks the fuck down over what he did, and her death would have made some sense while her character could at least have tried to set things right if in a too little, too late sense.
I know reincarnation theories tend to favour finn as padmé but you know what? I think it’s anakin as finn. anakin as a child was such a kind and gentle soul who wanted to free the slaves. it’s not that big of a stretch that his wish would be fulfilled in his next life as finn, who frees the stormtroopers from the first order after breaking away from slavery himself.
I wouldn’t change Padmé’s story but I would add her deleted scenes back in. Padmé has a political arc that is mostly invisible to the mainstream audience, and the scenes with her family build both her character and her relationship to Anakin.
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
The opening Senate scene:
emphasizes the threat against her and directly ties it to both the Trade Federation/Separatists and her position in the Senate
emphasizes her refusal to be cowed or back down, and her preference not to hide from danger
positions her as a strong voice in the Senate
makes it clear she is opposed to an Army of the Republic, which makes Jar Jar’s later intervention on her behalf that much more misguided
The extended conversation on the way to the palace:
reveals Padmé’s desire for children (let’s all cry forever)
look at those smiles
look at them!
Visiting the Naberrie home:
introduces her family (!)
emphasizes their concern for her life and her happiness
parallels the dinner scene in The Phantom Menace
builds up Padmé’s attraction to Anakin
reveals details about Padmé’s political training and history of compassion
ANAKIN INTERACTS WITH AN INTACT HAPPY HEALTHY FAMILY
The interrogation:
shows Padmé attempting a diplomatic solution
emphasizes that the Separatists are working within the law, at least for show
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The confrontation of Palpatine:
proves at least a faction of the Senate was not only working to remove Palpatine, they put their plan into action
again shows Padmé attempting a diplomatic solution
makes it clear Padmé is not on Palpatine’s side
pits Padmé against Anakin, making it visually clear that Palpatine has deliberately and specifically placed himself between them
and Padmé uses the interaction to try and make Anakin see that Palpatine is part of the problem
and Anakin is visibly conflicted
The scenes amongst the senators:
where do I even begin
include a crowd of interesting characters from different planets
who are as diverse in gender, race, species, culture, even body shape as the Empire is not
and they are the founders and leaders of the Rebellion
and their group meetings are shown to be just as messy as the Jedi Council meetings
they are equally secretive, paranoid, and all around Terrible At Communication(™)
and Padmé is just as frustrated as Anakin
because no one listens to her
and all that emphasizes how everything that matters to Padmé is crumbling under the stress of it all
and how isolated she is due to no one knowing the whole story
this arc is HUGELY important to Padmé’s story, to the Republic’s and the Rebellion’s story, and to the overarching story of Star Wars
So yes, that’s what I would change. I would make it so everyone knows ALL of Padmé’s story.
I kind of subscribe to the idea that Rey is the reincarnation of Anakin. By this I don’t mean she’s a Skywalker or is Anakin himself, only that she has Anakin’s spirit returning to take care of unfinished business–and boy does that fucker have lots of it.
Maybe it’s my cultural background, but I was always confused when reincarnation was called a “parentage theory.” Reincarnated people, at least in the popularized version of Buddhism I grew up with, have their own parents and are not usually related by blood to their previous incarnation.
Heck, in this worldview reincarnation doesn’t even make Rey special, it’s just something everyone does until they throw off all worldly attachments and leave the cycle altogether. I would argue that Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and now Luke achieved this state but Anakin did not, for all his spirit appeared briefly next to Obi-Wan. I think Anakin still has too much to make up for, and this was a brief pit stop before he moved on. Between his death and rebirth as Rey I imagine he was reincarnated hundreds of times as, like, worms and lice that were painfully killed as a very small portion of the punishment he deserved for his actions as Anakin/Vader. Now that his spirit has advanced through these incarnations he was brought back as a human again because the galaxy needs his power and he can try and begin to make up for the harm he did.
Rey as Anakin’s reincarnation would explain a lot of things, like how she is so powerful in the Force and grasps new powers so quickly. It would also explain Kylo’s fascination with her, because as a Force user he can sense people’s souls and she is his actual idol brought back to life. Also like, her being forced to live for most of her life on a desert planet. If that’s not the universe playing a cosmic joke on Anakin Skywalker, noted sand-hater, idk what is.
On the same note, I imagine Finn as the reincarnation of Padmé. She probably had much better reincarnations between her death and being born as Finn, maybe she even took a break from corporeal life for a few decades or lived as a succession of beautiful flowering plants and beloved sad-eyed dogs while she tried to recover from the grief still in her soul. Maybe she was someone’s much-loved and short-lived child for a while because I have an evil imagination. When she was ready to come back as a sentient being she willingly took on more suffering than she deserved to try and make up for Anakin’s sins and her own perceived faults, and thus Finn’s kidnapping and long period of enslavement.
Like Padmé, Finn is a natural leader with firm conviction and unshakeable principles. He is a mean shot with a blaster, loyal to his friends, and inspires devotion in people. He was so sure that the galaxy would rise up against the First Order’s tyranny and rally around Leia, he was willing to give his life for that belief. It wasn’t just Leia that he so strongly believed in and supported–he also wanted to run out and help Luke against an entire army despite never having laid eyes on the man before in his life. Maybe not in his own life, but a previous one?
Much as Anakin’s soul seeks Padmé out, her spirit seeks him–and that’s why, in addition to Finn’s own goodness, he was drawn to help Rey at first sight, and why they hit it off so quickly despite a rocky start. The idea of being separated was unbearable to them after knowing each other only for a few hours, and when Finn saw Rey being carried off by a Dark Lord to face torture and a possible fall to the Dark Side, it shattered him and he moved heaven and earth to be by her side again.
Together they must succeed where their previous incarnations failed and save the galaxy from the fascist threat. They must also resolve what went wrong between them last time, and Rey already passed the first test by resisting Kylo’s temptation where Anakin had fallen to Palpatine’s wiles. Finn and Rey’s souls will always pull each other, yearning to find happiness together where they could not the last time around.
I’m not saying any of this is going to be some big dramatic reveal, it’s how I understand the dramatic motifs and characters. Stories of reincarnated romance are common in the culture I grew up in, and I find the idea of Finnrey as reincarnated Anidala terribly romantic and compelling.
L.J.'s Obsessions 