This post may contain spoilers for Star Wars: Queen’s Hope by E.K. Johnston.
At its heart, the Padmé trilogy of Star Wars books — Queen’s Shadow, Queen’s Peril, and Queen’s Hope — is a celebration of love, friendship, and legacy. But E.K. Johnston’s books are about so much more than the impact just one character had on the galaxy. They’re also about how one character connects to another in sometimes small but largely essential ways.
Throughout the final book, Queen’s Hope, there are “interludes” — short narrations from the points of view of different women that have interacted with Padmé in the past. These also happen to be women directly connected to the Skywalkers and their legacy, and these interludes paint a heartbreaking yet powerful picture of how important they all were to the story even if their respective roles seemed small.
From Shmi Skywalker to Beru to Breha Organa, the women Padmé crossed paths with throughout her life were some of the most influential women in the history of the galaxy. The Skywalker saga would have been nothing without the woman who raised Anakin and the women who cared for the Skywalker twins until the Force brought Luke and Leia together again.
The trilogy is so wrongfully criticized for being shallow and “just about girls and fashion” when in reality all three books remain some of the most important and in-depth stories Star Wars has ever told. The Skywalker saga and surrounding narratives would be nothing without the connections between people. These books show just how strong bonds between friends and loved ones can be, which makes their potential for shattering so much more devastating.
The women highlighted in these interludes and in all three Queen’s books may not be the Star Wars characters with the most quoted lines, the most merchandise or sometimes the most memorable names. But their legacies run so much deeper than many will ever give them credit for.
Without them, the overarching story wouldn’t be anything like the one you know so well.
Queen’s Hope, the third and final installment of E.K. Johnston’s “Padmé trilogy,” is available now wherever Star Wars books are sold.
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