#THE PHANTOM MENACE

[writerbuddha]

Good evening. I would like to ask why the Trade Federation invaded Naboo? I know they created a blockade to protest the taxation of trade routes over which they have a monopoly, but why did they invade Naboo? What will they gain by conquering and dominating the planet?

Hello! :)

If you remember, Qui-Gon indicates not once, but twice in The Phantom Menace that invading Naboo "is an odd play for the Trade Federation" and that "There's no logic in the Federation's move here." If they can control and rule a planet as bountiful as Naboo it would obviously bring them considerable wealth, but their decision to invade Naboo simply makes no sense.

It's important to remember that the Viceroy - and therefore, the Trade Federation - is following Darth Sidious/Senator Palpatine's plan and instructions. So, the question you should ask: how Darth Sidious/Senator Palpatine benefits from the invasion of Naboo?

The invasion of Naboo exposed that, as Padmé put it, “the Republic no longer functions.” The reason for that is because, as Palpatine tells her, "There is no civility, only politics. The Republic is not what it once was. The senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good" and "the chancellor has little real power. He is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now." He asserts "best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger supreme chancellor, one who could control the bureaucrats and give us justice," advising Padmé to move for a vote of no confidence against the Chancellor. When she does, he tells her, "Now they will elect a new chancellor a strong chancellor... one who will not let our tragedy continue."

There's a reason why he chose Naboo, his own home planet to be invaded: he was nominated to succeed the Chancellor. As he says, "I feel confident our situation will create a strong sympathy vote for us. I will be chancellor." Who else would be seen by the Senate as the perfect candidate to put an end to corruption and take control of the bureaucrats, than the Senator whose home suffers the most because of the failure of leadership?

The treaty that was supposed to legitimize the invasion of Naboo if Queen Amidala signs it and gets ratified by the Senate serves the same purpose. The treaty would totally violate both Republic law and common sense, but we must remember that the Senate is without a real leader and bureaucrats are in charge, and their priority is not to exercise intelligent judgment or to respond to situations or the needs of the people - they care only about procedural correctness. They would ratify the treaty, because on paper, it has all the requirements that makes it enforceable. It would've been the ultimate proof that the Republic doesn't function, the laws are no longer enforced, that there's just no compassion and sanity in the Senate anymore. This is why Queen Amidala signing the treaty is so important to them - it would have caused panic, just like the Separatist crisis did in Attack of the Clones, leading up to granting Palpatine emergency powers. It would've quicken the process of the galaxy descending into the mentality that Anakin expresses to Padmé in Attack of the Clones: democracy is broken so the solution is a strong, wise leader who will solve the problems if he is given the necessary power to do so.

[jaydude1992]

[The Phantom Menace begins with two Jedi intervening on behalf of a planet currently being blockaded by a greedy, ruthless corporation looking to bully the Republic into reducing trade route taxes cutting into their profits. Serving as official ambassadors, they hope to resolve things through peaceful negotiation, but end up forced to fight against the corporation's armed forces; first in self-defense, and later to keep the planet's ruler out of the corporation's grasp. It's soon very strongly implied that the corporation plans to get its way by starving out the planet's population, and said corporation is later indicated to be a part of the Republic's ruling elite via having a voice in the Galactic Senate, while also (implied to be*) controlling the Republic's head of state through bureaucracy and bribery.]

Jedi critical folks: The Jedi are just violent hired thugs of the Republic ruling elite and don't care about the common folk!

*Technically speaking, Palpatine/Sidious is the one making this claim, and he's doing so in order to manipulate Padmé into effectively making him the head of state in Valorum's place. I don't know what's said on the matter outside of the film, but given that one of Lucas's themes in the Prequels is the Senate being corrupt, I wouldn't be surprised if Palpatine was telling the truth here.

[varanidius]

The Shadow Hunter [Print Available]

[gil-estel]

he’s getting flashbacks

[verc0pa]

obligatory obi-wan doodles bc i watched tpm at the theatre yesterday!!!

[reactorshaft]

😘sexy💯 independent😈✨free-thinker😝🎱 roger, roger!🙊real🏅yes, we are hooman😇💫all your base are belong to us👍🙌🏼💋

[padmestrilogy]

darth maul and padme amidala: discarded pawns

iain mccraig on doing concept art for the phantom menace / wookieepedia / james dillon / star wars tales volume 6 / paul mcdonald

[02png]

“See, it’s healing. It wasn’t so bad, right?”

X | instagram

[trixeclipse]

Padawan Obi using references of young Ewan McGregor with long hair ❤️

[sabellart]

i’m having a maul moment

[hayden-christensen]

STAR WARS WEEK 2024 DAY 2: TRILOGY WARS - FAVOURITE TRILOGY ▸ THE PREQUEL TRILOGY (1999-2005)

What if I told you that the Republic was now under the control of the dark lord of the Sith?

[lady-arryn]

PADME AMIDALA costume appreciation: ▶ The Phantom Menace [4/9] (costume design by Trisha Biggar)

[galactic-rhea]

Quick Shmi drawing.

Do no separate her from her baby, please.

Got inspired from a painting of the virgin Mary and Jesus : )

[milkcioccolato]

How the phantom menace should have gone, imo😌

[ginalongillustrations]

Darth Maul

He's done y'all and I am so happy

P.S. because I always feel like I'm deceiving people when it gets mistaken. This is a vitrail painting, not an actual stained glass window. I am the dollar store version of stained glass 😎

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

Jedi neutrality in TPM comes not at all from not taking sides. They get there and pick a side in under five minutes. They are 100% team Naboo. No, their neutrality, and their cultural moral authority, comes from not having a stake in this fight. They're not mixed up in the trade federation. They don't have personal ties with the Naboo. They don't stand to benefit or to lose from the success of either party. They can just show up and say, hey, just decided you guys suck. And no one can accuse them of being secretly married to the Naboo queen or having offshore investments in the Lake country, or whatever completely hypothetical thing a person might have going on that would hypothetically compromise that neutrality