Padmé Amidala Naberrie

Padmé Amidala Naberrie, also simply known as Padmé Amidala, was a human female politician who represented the people of Naboo during the final years of the Galactic Republic. Prior to her career as a senator in the Galactic Senate, Amidala was the elected ruler of the Royal House of Naboo. A political idealist, she advocated for the preservation of democracy as well as a peaceful resolution to the Clone Wars. However, her secret marriage to the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker would have a lasting effect on the future of the galaxy for decades to come.

Born in 46 BBY during the Age of the Republic, Padmé Naberrie was raised by her parents, Ruwee Naberrie and his wife Jobal, on the peaceful Mid Rim world of Naboo. Despite the humble background of the Naberrie family, Padmé was identified early for her potential in public service. Devoting her life to civic duty, she was elected queen and, therefore, adopted the regnal name "Amidala" in 32 BBY. Due to the machinations of her advisor, Senator Sheev Palpatine, Amidala's reign was put to the test by the Trade Federation's blockade and subsequent invasion of Naboo. Unable to fight the Federation's army of battle droids without assistance, the queen beseeched the Galactic Senate on Coruscant for help, only to see her efforts hampered by bureaucracy and procedure. Although she ultimately liberated her homeworld with the help of the Jedi Order and the Gungan Grand Army, her decision to cast a Vote of No Confidence against Finis Valorum enabled Palpatine to become the Supreme Chancellor.

Following her reign, Amidala joined the Senate and struggled to resolve the Separatist Crisis through diplomacy, becoming a leading voice in the Loyalist Committee by 22 BBY. After surviving an assassination attempt planned by the Trade Federation, she was removed from the capital and sent back to Naboo under the protection of Padawan Anakin Skywalker. Though the Jedi Code forbade personal relationships, deeming attachment, and possession unbecoming of a Jedi, the two gradually became closer as their feelings for each other grew. In the aftermath of the First Battle of Geonosis, Amidala secretly married her Jedi protector, despite her own reservations about their relationship and the consequences they would face if the truth ever came to light. Their subsequent interactions were limited throughout the Clone Wars, with Amidala continuing to advocate peaceful solutions in the Senate while Skywalker served on the front lines as a Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Republic.

In the waning months of the pan-galactic conflict, Amidala revealed to her husband that she was pregnant. As a result of Skywalker's fear of loss, he was seduced by the dark side of the Force, believing that by becoming a Sith Lord he would gain the power to prevent his wife from dying in childbirth. Amidala witnessed Emperor Palpatine's declaration that her fears had come true; the Republic had become the Galactic Empire. After she learned of her husband's transformation into a Sith, she confronted him on Mustafar in the hopes that he had not truly changed, but he instead attempted to kill her. She ultimately died of a broken heart after giving birth to the twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Amidala Skywalker. With her dying breath, she insisted that there was still good in the former Anakin Skywalker, who embraced the persona of Darth Vader throughout the reign of the Empire.

Amidala's children played a major role in the fragmentation of the Empire and the redemption of her husband. Like her mother, Leia entered public service and became a flag-bearer for the democratic ideals of liberty and justice as a leader in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and its successor, the New Republic, before becoming the founding general of the Resistance against the First Order—a successor state to the Galactic Empire. Luke, on the other hand, was trained in the ways of the Jedi like his father before him and was a celebrated war hero of the Rebel Alliance. Through Luke's efforts to redeem his father back to the light, Amidala's last words proved true when Anakin killed the Emperor during the Battle of Endor.

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