Mothers and Daughters: The evolution of Padmé and Leia

There are loads of mothers and daughters in Star Wars. Padmé and Leia are the most famous pair, though they never got to meet face-to-face.

Mothers and daughters. The main makeup many units, and Star Wars is no different.

The concept of mothers and daughters was indirectly referenced during Return of the Jedi. The film made a passing mention to Luke and Leia’s then-unnamed mother. In a brief scene between the siblings, we learn their mother died when they were young. Luke had no memories of her while Leia had a faint impression.

In 1999 with the introduction of The Phantom Menace, fans finally got an answer to the question they had asked for 22 years: who was Luke and Leia’s mother? The first prequel film introduced Padmé Amidala, a 14 year old who served as the Queen of the planet, Naboo. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones got one step closer to explaining how Padmé and Anakin got together while Revenge of the Sith explained what happened to Padmé before the rise of the Empire. The film also showed the births of the twins.

When looking at the evidence, Padmé and Leia were very much alike. They had similar morals and similar skills during their time as politicians.

Different Beginnings

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Despite having a vast array of similarities, Padmé and Leia were also different from each other. One difference that stands out is how they started in politics.

Padmé was born on Naboo as Padmé Amidala Naberrie to Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie as the youngest of their two daughters. Padmé had an older sister, Sola, who had two daughters, Ryoo and Pooja. At a young age, Padmé enrolled in the Apprentice Legislators before later becoming a senatorial adviser. It was during her time in the Legislative Youth Program that she met Palo Jemabie. Despite only being 12 at the time, Padmé became romantically involved with Jemabie who was a couple of years older. The relationship didn’t last and Palo quit politics to follow his passion for art.

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After completing a two-year mandate as a supervisor in Naboo’s capital of Theed, Padmé was nominated for election to be monarch. Upon her successful election, Padmé dropped her surname of Naberrie and used her middle name ‘Amidala’ as her public office name.

Padmé’s daughter, Leia was born on Polis Massa just minutes after her twin brother, Luke. Born as Leia Amidala Skywalker, Leia was born just moments before her mother’s death and somehow gained a lasting memory of her as being “beautiful, kind, but sad.” Padmé’s husband and Luke and Leia’s father, Anakin Skywalker had just fallen to the Dark Side, becoming Darth Vader.

Leia was adopted after Padmé’s death by Viceroy Bail Organa and his wife Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan. She became their heir as they had no biological children of their own and they had spoken about adopting a daughter. Only a select few knew of Leia’s true parentage while the rest of the galaxy believed Leia was one of the thousands of orphaned children left behind from the Clone Wars.