George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise has been popular for well over four decades and continues to enjoy plenty of fanfare. After completing the original trilogy of films, Lucas returned to the franchise for the prequels, which explore Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side and transformation into the nefarious Darth Vader.
However, for Vader’s backstory to work, Lucas had to kill off a fan-favorite character in the final installment of the prequels. Nonetheless, Lucas’ original plans for the prequels did not involve the death of Vader’s love, Padmé. Here is everything you need to know about Lucas’ original plans for Padmé and her fate.
George Lucas’ Original Star Wars Prequels Plan Avoided Padmé’s Untimely Death
Natalie Portman‘s Padmé Amidala serves as the primary love interest for Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. However, in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Anakin falls to the dark side unaware that Padmé is pregnant with his children. In the end, Padmé dies during childbirth, and her children, Luke and Leia, are separated to keep them safe.
However, George Lucas originally had a different plan for handling Padmé’s fate. According to The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III: 1999-2005 (via ScreenRant), by author Paul Duncan, Lucas’ initial plan for the prequels involved Padmé surviving childbirth and hiding on Alderaan with Leia before she passed away for reasons unknown.
Lucas likely changed Padmé’s fate to add more misery and tragedy to Darth Vader’s backstory as it is implied that Padmé lost her will to live after seeing Anakin succumb to the dark side. While Lucas has never outright explained why he chose to kill off Padmé, her death contributes to Anakin’s seduction by the dark side. However, Lucas’ original plan would have made Padmé’s death less untimely.
George Lucas’ Original Star Wars Prequels Plan Would Have Avoided a Major Leia Plot Hole
By choosing to have Padmé die shortly after the birth of her children, Lucas inadvertently created a major plot for the original trilogy. During the events of Return of the Jedi, Luke and Leia learn about their sibling relationship and Luke asks Leia about their mother. The conversation confirms that Leia remembers their mother despite having lost her when she was just a baby.
Over the years, fan theories have attempted to resolve the plot hole by using Leia’s force sensitivity as an answer for why she remembers her mother. However, Luke is also force-sensitive, which only adds to the confusion about why he doesn’t remember Padmé but Leia does. This confusion could have easily been resolved with Lucas’ original plan for Padmé’s fate in the prequels.
Ultimately, Lucas initially did not intend to kill off Padmé shortly after the birth of her children, but most likely realized that it was necessary to further Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader. As needless as it might seem on paper, Padmé’s death is a major plot point that shapes the rest of the Skywalker Saga, making it important for Lucas to change his original plans for the character.
The Star Wars films are streaming on Disney+.
