Before her untimely death, Queen Padme Amidala was the leader of the Naboo and a Senator in the Galactic Republic. She was also the secret wife of Anakin Skywalker before he became Darth Vader. The two star crossed lovers married in a private ceremony as Anakin was not allowed to take a wife due to his status as a member of the Jedi order. Most Star Wars fans will be familiar with the story of Anakin’s turn to the dark side and eventual death but how did Padme die?
How Padme died
Padme died as a result of a broken heart after watching Anakin turn to the dark side. This occurred shortly after she gave birth to twins Luke and Leia Skywalker. While popular theories have suggested her death was due to complications in child birth or as a result of Anakin force choking her on Mustafar, these were never proven.
The best evidence to explain how Padme died comes from the medical droids that were assessing her after returning from Mustafar. One of them gives the following explanation to Obi-Wan Kenobi:
Medically, she’s completely healthy. For reasons we can not explain, we are losing her. we don’t know why. she has lost the will to live”
Medical droid explaining why Padme is dying
While many Star Wars fans are not happy with this reason for the death of Padme, it is the best canonical evidence available.
The Sidious Theory
There has also been suggestions in the Star Wars community that the timing of her death coincidentally overlaps with the first suit up of Darth Vader. This has caused some fans to theorize that Sidious drained Padme’s lifeforce to force heal Anakin resulting in her death. How else could he have survived such horrific burns? While the theory sounds plausible there is no viable proof to suggest it’s true beyond coincidental timing.
So how did Padme die? Perhaps in future stories we will learn the true cause of death, but for now, fans will have to make do with the fact that Padme simply lost the will to live after seeing the love of her life become the ultimate symbol for everything she stood against.
