Summary
- Anakin and Padmé’s doomed relationship was filled with tragic moments.
- Anakin’s fear of losing loved ones, fueled by nightmares, ultimately led him to turn to the dark side of the Force.
- Palpatine exploited Anakin’s attachment to Padmé, manipulating him with promises of the power to save her life.
These 10 Star Wars moments sadly prove that Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala’s relationship was doomed from the very beginning. Anakin and Padmé may comprise one of Star Wars’ best couples, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t seriously flawed. In fact, their relationship is one of the greatest tragedies in Star Wars movies and TV shows.
However, there is a reason they fell for one another and were willing to risk it all to be together. In fact, although it’s been debated how much Anakin really loved Padmé, their love for one another was real—they just faced a series of insurmountable issues that contributed to their tragic end. These 10 moments in particular reveal why Anakin and Padmé were fated to fall apart from the beginning of their Star Wars story.
Related Did Obi-Wan Know About Anakin & Padmé’s Relationship & Did He Try To Stop It
Star Wars has dropped many hints over the years that Obi-Wan knew about Anakin and Padmé, but did he really, and if so, why didn’t he stop them?
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10 Padmé Was Nearly Assassinated
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
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Padmé Amidala
Created By George Lucas Cast Natalie Portman , Catherine Taber First Appearance Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Alliance Naboo, Republic
Anakin and Padmé met in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, yet that wasn’t really the beginning of their trouble. Rather, they met when Anakin was a mere child, and it was appropriate for him to have a crush and for Padmé to be oblivious to those feelings—she was a teenage queen of a planet, after all. Padmé and Anakin’s troubles really began in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, when an attempt was made on Padmé’s life. It was this event that ultimately brought them back together.
Because someone had been paid to kill Padmé, Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi were both charged with protecting her, which meant Anakin and Padmé coming back together. At this point, it became clear that Anakin had never lost his obsession with her. Sadly, it was precisely this obsession that ultimately catapulted them toward their devastating demise.
9 Anakin & Padmé Were Sent To Naboo Alone
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
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Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Created By George Lucas Cast Bob Anderson , Hayden Christensen , James Earl Jones , Matt Lanter , Matt Lucas , Jake Lloyd , David Prowse , Sebastian Shaw First Appearance Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Alliance Jedi, Sith
If Padmé and Anakin reconnecting following Padmé’s assassination attempt wasn’t bad enough, the decision by the Jedi Council to send none other than Anakin Skywalker to be Padmé’s protector on Naboo certainly was. Bewilderingly, the Jedi thought Anakin was best-suited to this mission, which would see Anakin alone with Padmé on this gorgeous, nearly resort-like planet. Presumably, Anakin was not truly the best equipped nor the most responsible Jedi for the job, and this was simply essential to move the plot along—however, it is one of many moments that sealed Padmé and Anakin’s fates.
On Naboo, Anakin and Padmé truly fell in love, even if Padmé remained in denial about it for a time. This is where and when Anakin delivered his many iconic lines in Attack of the Clones, from his hatred of sand to his inability to breathe because of how deeply he loved Padmé. Ultimately, it was this time alone that propelled Anakin and Padmé further on their romantic path.
8 Anakin’s Mother Died
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
The death of Shmi Skywalker was detrimental to Anakin in every sense, including in his relationship with Padmé. In a way, this moment was the beginning of the end for Anakin’s Jedi path, as it was quickly followed by his brutal massacre of the Tusken Raider men, women, and children—a clear moment of the dark side. Specific to Padmé, though, this was where Anakin’s anxiety about his loved ones dying really began, which would shape their future together and his inevitable turn.
The death of Shmi Skywalker was detrimental to Anakin in every sense.
Specifically, Anakin realized that, even as the Chosen One, he was unable to prevent death. He had been experiencing nightmares about his mother dying, yet he had been unable to prevent the premonitions from coming true. When he began having the same type of nightmares about Padmé, he believed the same thing would happen, and it caused him to act completely irrationally. In fact, these very fears led him directly into Palpatine’s Sith trap.
7 Padmé Believed She Would Die On Geonosis
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
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While Anakin may have been ready to confess his love to Padmé on Naboo, Padmé did not feel the same. Instead, she told Anakin (correctly) that having a romantic relationship would destroy them, especially because it would have to be done in secret. Nevertheless, when Padmé believed she was going to die on Geonosis, she abandoned this concern and told Anakin that she loved him.
Although this change of heart was understandable, as Padmé genuinely believed she had nothing to lose and the two were no longer in any real danger of destroying one another with a secret relationship (because she thought they were both about to die), this did doom their relationship. In the end, Anakin and Padmé survived Geonosis, and it was too late to rescind what she had said. Padmé had confirmed to Anakin that she loved him too, and that was all the affirmation he needed to fully commit to her.
6 Padmé & Anakin Secretly Got Married
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
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Following Padmé’s confession on Geonosis, and the couple’s survival of the battle, Anakin and Padmé did not reconsider their relationship. In fact, they did quite the opposite. At some point following the Battle of Geonosis and the beginning of the Clone Wars, Padmé and Anakin were married on Naboo. This, perhaps more than anything else in Attack of the Clones, truly sealed their fate.
Anakin and Padmé secretly being married escalated both the intensity of their relationship and the threat level of their secret.
Anakin and Padmé secretly being married escalated both the intensity of their relationship and the threat level of their secret. While a romantic attachment between Anakin and Padmé would have been troubling enough for the Jedi Order, a full-fledged marriage would have confirmed that Anakin would be kicked out of the Order if their relationship was discovered. Because of this, their marriage forced Padmé and Anakin further and further into deception, which was extremely detrimental to them both.
5 Padmé Became Pregnant
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
Anakin and Padmé’s marriage certainly accelerated things between the two of them, and furthered the dangers of their relationship, but so did the revelation that Padmé was pregnant. In fact, the pregnancy arguably caused even more distress, as it effectively introduced a ticking time bomb to their secret. As Padmé herself said, if Anakin’s relationship to the baby was discovered by the Jedi, he would surely be kicked out of the Order, and even Padmé’s Senate seat would be in jeopardy if this truth came to light.
Whereas a marriage could be concealed relatively easily, as Padmé and Anakin proved throughout the Clone Wars that they could go a long while without seeing one another, a baby posed brand-new issues. After all, it was clear that Anakin wanted to be an involved father, and there was really no way to do that while maintaining the illusion that he and Padmé were not involved. Worse still, it was the pregnancy in particular that seemed to trigger Anakin’s nightmares.
It was the pregnancy in particular that seemed to trigger Anakin’s nightmares.
4 Anakin Began Having Nightmares
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
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The death of Anakin’s mother undoubtedly worsened Anakin’s fear and even his resentment of the Jedi, but the true cause of Anakin’s anxiety about Padmé possibly dying was his intense nightmares about her dying in childbirth. In fact, even after losing his mother, Anakin didn’t seem to have these concerns about Padmé. During Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Padmé came close to death many times, and Anakin handled it relatively well.
What really caused Anakin to panic enough that he was ready to commit to the dark side of the Force were his premonitions of Padmé dying in childbirth. In that sense, both the pregnancy and the nightmares themselves were massive contributors to Anakin’s fall. In the end, Palpatine preyed upon those very nightmares and the fear they inspired in Anakin to convince him to turn to the dark side of the Force.
3 Yoda’s Advice Increased Anakin’s Fear
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
Surprisingly, Anakin at first attempted to do the right thing when he began experiencing his nightmares about Padmé dying. While he certainly didn’t come completely clean about the nature of his relationship with Padmé or the fact that Padmé was pregnant with his child, Anakin did seek Yoda’s guidance, even confessing that this was about someone he was close to. In truth, this was a massive step for Anakin.
Unfortunately, Yoda’s advice in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was not all that helpful to Anakin. Arguably, this advice really came down to telling Anakin to ignore these visions and the feelings they created in him, which, understandably, Anakin was unable to do. Yoda, of course, had no idea the magnitude of the situation, but his lack of more direct support while Anakin was grappling with his fear served only to doom Anakin and Padmé further.
2 Palpatine Exploited Anakin’s Attachment
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious
Created By George Lucas Cast Ian McDiarmid , Sam Witwer , ian abercrombie First Appearance Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back Alliance Sith, Empire
As mentioned, Palpatine took full advantage of Anakin’s volatile feelings about the possibility of Padmé dying and effectively weaponized them by convincing Anakin that it was only through the dark side of the Force that Anakin could gain the power to save Padmé’s life. Interestingly, this wasn’t entirely untrue; Darth Plagueis seemingly really did wield this incredible ability and the power to create life along with it. However, while Palpatine undoubtedly wanted Anakin’s help in learning to obtain that same power his former Sith master once had, he clearly never really intended to help Anakin save Padmé’s life.
After all, Palpatine spent a considerable amount of time in the prequels working against Padmé, including in plots actively threatening her life. Moreover, Anakin maintaining this relationship (and Padmé staying alive) simply wouldn’t have been conducive to Darth Vader’s rise to power. In the end, this manipulation was only meant to draw Anakin to the dark side—and, sadly, it worked.
1 Obi-Wan Kenobi Hid On Padmé’s Ship
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
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Obi-Wan Kenobi
Created By George Lucas Cast Alec Guinness , Ewan McGregor First Appearance Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Alliance Jedi
The moment that clearly pushed Anakin over the edge in his relationship with Padmé was on Mustafar when Obi-Wan Kenobi emerged from Padmé’s ship. Anakin, already corrupted by the dark side of the Force and ready to believe everyone was conspiring against him, truly believed Padmé was working with Obi-Wan to have Anakin killed. Because of that, Anakin choked Padmé in what was the worst moment of their relationship together.
While this didn’t directly kill Padmé, it more or less caused her death, as she soon after lost the will to live. Although a terrible end to a brilliant character, it was seemingly this moment, when Anakin fully turned on and attacked her, that caused Padmé to give up. Truly, each of these moments doomed Anakin and Padmé, but this brutal Star Wars moment truly was the most significant when it came to the tragic fate of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala’s love.