Beautiful Star Wars Theory Explained

Summary

• Padmé Amidala’s death in Revenge of the Sith may have saved her children from Darth Vader.
• Vader’s belief that Padmé was alive could have actually been him sensing the twins’ presence.
• Believing he was sensing Padmé may have prevented Vader from discovering Luke and Leia.

Padmé Amidala’s death in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was devastating, but one beautiful Star Wars theory suggests it may have saved Luke and Leia from Darth Vader. Among Star Wars movies and TV shows, Revenge of the Sith is one of the most important. In addition to being one of Star Wars’ best movies, Revenge of the Sith was critical to the Star Wars timeline, depicting Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side, the birth of Luke and Leia, and the dawn of the Empire.

However, Revenge of the Sith also needed to address various tragedies. While Order 66, especially the slaughter of the younglings, was the most upsetting, Padmé’s death was also a crushing moment. Although his initial goal was to keep Padmé safe, Anakin’s turn to the dark side led him to become so twisted and violent that he choked his pregnant wife. While this wasn’t precisely the cause of her death, the combination of the recent horrifying events seems to have been. Despite that grave loss, though, one Star Wars theory suggests it may have been the ultimate sacrifice Padmé’s children needed.

Vader Tells Palpatine That He Felt That Padmé Was Still Alive

After Palpatine had rescued the severely burned Anakin Skywalker from Mustafar and successfully sustained his life by placing him in the iconic Darth Vader suit, Vader’s first question was where Padmé was, followed by whether she was safe. When Palpatine informed Vader (incorrectly, although no doubt on purpose) that in his anger, he had killed Padmé, Vader’s response was odd. Before screaming his now infamous “no,” Vader insisted that it couldn’t be true, saying, “She was alive; I felt it.”

Interestingly, it’s entirely ambiguous when Vader felt that Padmé was still alive. Arguably, he could have meant that after choking her, when he was still fighting Obi-Wan on Mustafar, he reached out with the Force and felt that she was still alive. However, this would have been odd for a number of reasons.

For one, it seems unlikely that while engaged in the most intense, demanding, and dangerous fight of his life, Anakin would have been checking on Padmé through the Force. While possible, given his obsession with her, it seems dubious at best. Even after that, he was lying near dead on Mustafar, burnt and presumably unconscious; again, the likelihood that he was reaching out with the Force at that point seems low.

In that case, the only other period he could have been actively searching for Padmé in the Force would have been when she was in labor and he was being placed in his suit. However, this is only more confusing. Had Vader reached out with the Force and sensed Padmé during her labor, what he would have sensed was her life fading and, ultimately, her death.

Had Vader reached out with the Force and sensed Padmé during her labor, what he would have sensed was her life fading and, ultimately, her death.

Given that, few alternatives make sense; after all, very little time passed between when Anakin was left for dead and when Padmé died in labor. One alternative, however, not only makes sense but also brings a sense of poetic justice to her demise. Rather than Vader feeling that Padmé was alive in the Force, he may have been sensing their children, who were intrinsically linked to Padmé then.

Vader Sensing Padmé In The Force Could Have Been Luke & Leia

In light of Padmé’s extremely precarious state from the moment Anakin choked her until her death, Anakin confusing her life in the Force with the twins’ makes considerable sense. For one, Anakin was unaware the twins had been born; in the end, he believed Padmé died before delivering them. This means that, had he felt something (or someone) in the Force linked to Padmé’s life, he would have been unlikely to read it as anything other than Padmé herself.

Moreover, while the exact rules of the Force as it pertains to pregnancy are unclear, it would be more than reasonable for Luke and Leia to be bonded with Padmé’s presence in the Force. In fact, in that way, Luke and Leia could symbolize a part of Padmé enduring in the Force. Given that Vader believed Padmé lived, this could explain why, even at that moment, he was in denial.

Luke and Leia could symbolize a part of Padmé enduring in the Force.

Most importantly, this would explain why Vader never felt the twins’ presence in the Force after their birth. This is particularly confusing in Leia’s case, as not only was she directly in front of him multiple times early on in A New Hope and he had no idea she was his daughter, but also, in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader had multiple moments of proximity to Leia and expressed nothing other than a desperation to hunt down Obi-Wan. If, from the beginning, Vader had sensed Luke and Leia in the Force as Padmé, he may have simply ignored any similar feelings.

Vader Thinking He Was Sensing Padmé May Have Saved The Twins

If this theory is true, it may be the reason Luke and Leia survived Revenge of the Sith. Had Padmé lived, Vader no doubt would have come looking for the child he knew Padmé was carrying. In fact, given how powerful a child of Vader would no doubt be, Palpatine would likely have led the hunt himself, wanting them either as an Inquisitor, as a specimen for Project Necromancer and his resurrection plan, or wanting them killed so they posed no further risk. Tragically, this meant that, for the sake of her children’s safety, Padmé had to die.

However, this possible Force connection may have added yet another critical layer of protection for the twins. If Vader indeed believed it was Padmé or even Padmé’s memory he continued to sense in the Force, he would never have acted on any similar feeling he had; Luke and Leia’s very presence in the Force could have been swallowed up by his understanding that it was Padmé. Add to that the guilt of believing he killed her, and it’s possible that, rather than ever question what he sensed in the Force, he just felt haunted by what he’d done.

Luke and Leia’s very presence in the Force could have been swallowed up by his understanding that it was Padmé.

While it could be argued that Padmé dying for someone else is an injustice to her character, it’s really quite the opposite. For one, self-sacrifice is exactly the kind of thing Padmé would have done without question. Even as a teenager, she was willing to lay down her life for her people when Naboo was under attack. Critically, though, this was not just any sacrifice—it was a mother’s sacrifice. For however brief a time she was a mother, Padmé was an incredible, selfless one. It’s very befitting of her character.

This would also reflect a profound connection to her daughter, Leia, who went on to lay down her own life to save her son, Ben Solo, in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As George Lucas has said, Star Wars is like poetry in that it rhymes. This full-circle moment, connecting mother and daughter despite the fact that they never truly met, would certainly reflect that. Although only a theory, the idea that Padmé Amidala saved her children through her death in Star Wars is a deeply meaningful, beautiful possibility.

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