A Thousand Stars: Episode II, Part 42

After a conversation between Obi-Wan, Yoda and Bail tells us how Luke and Leia end up with their respective foster parents (as well as an exchange with Captain Antilles about the droids) we are done with dialogue for the movie. The remainder of the film tells a superb visual story. From Threepio's alarmed reaction we transition to a somber evening on Naboo. It's a world whose lush green and abundant water have always evoked the senes of life and vibrancy, but now as dusk closes in, the water carries instead the symbolism of dark, inescapable sleep.

After a first glimpse of Padmé with a vast backdrop of mourners, we are shown those who knew her well, one by one. (Granted, some faces will be more familiar if you've seen the Episode II deleted scenes of Padmé's family. But you can intuit their identity well enough.) Family, dignitaries, the entire planet has apparently come to say farewell to a beloved leader. Except, of course, the one closer to her than any other.

He is present, though, in a sense. In the token she carries into death. In the children whose survival must be hidden, above everything else, from their own father. Note how the japor snippet lingers through the screen transition to the very last moment, till it is swallowed up by the brutish Imperial forces.

Next, despair and hope...