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Star Words: Episode III, Part 13
Jul. 19th, 2018 03:11 pmIt's only natural that Anakin would go home after a day of disappointment and humiliation and seek the comfort of his wife's presence. Unfortunately, there is a growing rift between him and Padmé as well, and we see it illustrated all too painfully here.
When he expresses his fear that the war is destroying what the Council used to stand for, Padmé ventures the suggestion that the Republic itself might not be the good guys anymore. If you consider the deleted arc with Padmé and the proto-Rebellion canon (which I do) you'll know that Padmé is herself feeling conflicted about keeping something secret from Anakin, and she's hoping to gently bring him into agreement with the ideals of her secret Senatorial meetings. But Anakin rejects her suggestion as "talking like a Separatist." It's clear that Padmé feels she's not being heard from what she says next.
"This war represents a failure to listen."
It certainly does. Why did the Separatists want to leave the Republic in the first place? What sort of negotiations were attempted to keep them from leaving? We can safely assume that the Separatists didn't feel their concerns were effectively addressed. Why else would they be fighting a vicious war over it?
But the failure to listen, the failure to communicate, is epidemic in every level from the galactic to the deeply personal. It's a problem in their own marriage. Padmé pleads with Anakin to use his position with the Chancellor to help bring back peace. If only he had confided in her about the secret assignment the Jedi Council just gave him, she'd have known that her comment would hit a sore spot. Instead, he lashes out and walks away. She begs him to open up to her. He won't. She goes to him; he takes her in his arms, but they might as well be planets apart. She speaks, but he might not be listening at all.
Next time, a chilling scene with a master manipulator....
When he expresses his fear that the war is destroying what the Council used to stand for, Padmé ventures the suggestion that the Republic itself might not be the good guys anymore. If you consider the deleted arc with Padmé and the proto-Rebellion canon (which I do) you'll know that Padmé is herself feeling conflicted about keeping something secret from Anakin, and she's hoping to gently bring him into agreement with the ideals of her secret Senatorial meetings. But Anakin rejects her suggestion as "talking like a Separatist." It's clear that Padmé feels she's not being heard from what she says next.
"This war represents a failure to listen."
It certainly does. Why did the Separatists want to leave the Republic in the first place? What sort of negotiations were attempted to keep them from leaving? We can safely assume that the Separatists didn't feel their concerns were effectively addressed. Why else would they be fighting a vicious war over it?
But the failure to listen, the failure to communicate, is epidemic in every level from the galactic to the deeply personal. It's a problem in their own marriage. Padmé pleads with Anakin to use his position with the Chancellor to help bring back peace. If only he had confided in her about the secret assignment the Jedi Council just gave him, she'd have known that her comment would hit a sore spot. Instead, he lashes out and walks away. She begs him to open up to her. He won't. She goes to him; he takes her in his arms, but they might as well be planets apart. She speaks, but he might not be listening at all.
Next time, a chilling scene with a master manipulator....
