Star Wars fans uncover truth behind fate of Anakin's mum

Star Wars fans on Reddit have been discussing the truth behind the fate of Anakin’s mother but it might pose more questions than answers.

For all the criticism that the Star Wars prequel trilogy gets, it still provided some memorable moments, right? For example, the badass-looking Darth Maul, Yoda’s battles with Count Doku and Emperor Palpatine, and the heartbreaking corruption of Anakin Skywalker.

Check out Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones trailer below!

I am about to venture into spoiler territory concerning the fate of Anakin’s mother, Shmi Skywalker, so consider this your spoiler warning. In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn freed a young Anakin Skywalker as a slave owned by Watto to eventually be trained as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Padawan, but sadly, he could not free Anakin’s mother.

In Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, an older Anakin goes back to Tatooine to free his mother but discovers that she had already been freed from Watto by a man named Cliegg Lars who she would eventually marry. To cut a story short, when visiting his mother's new home, Anakin discovers that she has been tortured and killed by Tusken Raiders.

This helps to push Anakin over the edge as he transcends to the dark side. Yet, before Anakin lets loose on the Tusken Raiders, fans have been asking if there was a simpler solution to freeing his mother which ultimately led to her demise.

“Why didn't Padmé just buy Shmi Skywalker and set her free?” asked Redditor Bootlebat. “She's a queen, so she obviously has a lot of money.”

“Presumably, at some point, Anakin would have told her "Hey, my mum is still a slave back on Tatooine" and Padme, being a good person, would want to help,” they continued. “So why didn't she just do this?”

“The book Queen’s Shadow details that Padmé did send her handmaiden Sabé to try to free Shmi (and others),” Sir_Douglas_of_Fir replied. “However, by the time Sabé arrived, Shmi had already been purchased and freed by Cliegg Lars.”

“Padmé planned to go to Tatooine to free slaves after her reign as queen ended, but when the next queen asked her to be a senator instead, Sabé took over that mission but couldn't find Shmi by that point,” adds brassyalien.

Yet, as NateShaw92 mentioned, in Attack of the Clones, both Padmé and Anakin discovered the whereabouts of Shmi with relative ease. “It was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Just find Watto,” they said asking a very reasonable question.

At the end of the day, Padmé with all her resources and the persistence of Anakin, it’s hard to believe that they couldn't have found Shmi sooner and saved her. I guess it’s just one of those times when we have to disconnect ourselves from movie logic.