Did Padmé Really Die Of A Broken Heart? (2024)

Padmé Amidala's death in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is one of Star Wars' greatest tragedies; however, the thin explanation of how she died left many questions unanswered. The original trilogy had confirmed that Padmé died long before A New Hope in the Star Wars timeline. However, Leia's description of her mother as "very beautiful, kind, but sad" implied that Padmé had at least seen her daughter into toddlerhood. George Lucas even considered having Padmé live on Alderaan briefly, uniting at least part of the Skywalker family tree. Ultimately, Revenge of the Sith ended quite differently.

While Anakin accurately predicted that Padmé would die in childbirth, Star Wars movies and TV shows have never precisely clarified exactly how that happened. Because her final encounter with Anakin in Revenge of the Sith was so brutal and based on the medical droid's assessment that Padmé "lost the will to live," speculation has arisen that perhaps she simply died of a broken heart. However, that may not be the case.

Padmé Is Said To Have "Lost The Will To Live"

While Padmé was in labor, the medical droid assisting her in childbirth stated that, for unexplainable reasons, they were losing her. Obi-Wan Kenobi's incredulity at that moment reflected quite clearly that she didn't otherwise seem to be in poor health; instead, Obi-Wan was completely shocked to hear that she was dying. Although the droid followed that vaguer explanation with the assertion that Padmé had lost the will to live, there are several issues with that claim.

On the one hand, it's unclear how a medical droid would have effectively made that assessment. It seems more than dubious that Padmé would have said as much. In terms of vitals, too, there would be no identifiable metric for such a thing. This explanation also seems flimsy at best; without some sort of outside force, it wouldn't be possible for Padmé to simply decide to die. Surely, there had to be some sort of physical manifestation or issue that caused her to die, even if it was rooted in the devastation and heartbreak she was experiencing.

Although the droid specifically referenced Padmé losing the will to live as the source, over time, the narrative within the franchise and Star Wars audiences has become that Padmé died of a broken heart. After all, she did explicitly say "Anakin, you're breaking my heart." Oddly enough, while Star Wars is a galaxy far, far away, there is some precedent for so-called broken heart syndrome in real life. However, even with that stretch, broken heart syndrome can't take an otherwise healthy person and kill them.

Padmé Had Just Experienced A Traumatic Assault

Another critical factor in Padmé's death was the physical violence she had just been subjected to. While the explanation the medical droid gave was more emotion-based, Padmé had just experienced a near-death assault. On Mustafar, when Anakin saw Obi-Wan at the entryway of Padmé's ship, he believed that Padmé was betraying him. Because of that, he began choking her, and he held on long enough that as soon as he stopped, she collapsed, unconscious.

Although that alone did not kill her, as she ultimately came to in time to give birth to the twins, it was clear that this was a significant assault. In fact, it may have been easier had Star Wars simply had her die from a complication related to that attack. Moreover, it's unclear what sort of effect a Force choke may have on a person. Presumably, it isn't a one-to-one equivalent of choking someone without using the Force. Padmé may have been suffering from underlying issues undetectable by the medical droid by nature of the way she was attacked.

Anakin's Visions Hint There May Have Been Complications In The Pregnancy

It's possible that, even prior to Anakin's assault on Padmé, she and the pregnancy may have been developing other issues. While Anakin's attack and the crushing loss of the person she loved no doubt played significant roles in her demise, Anakin had nevertheless had premonitions long before those things came to pass. In fact, in some ways, these events all transpired because Anakin foresaw that the pregnancy had complications already.

From early in Revenge of the Sith, Anakin was having nightmares that Padmé died in childbirth. Arguably, this was an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, wherein Anakin's own fear and need for control led him to cause the very thing he most feared. However, another reading of this plotline could be that Anakin's premonitions revealed that childbirth complications in and of themselves would be the root of Padmé's death. After all, whether in Star Wars or real life, that is sadly never outside the realm of possibility.

Although this may be a bit more of a stretch because Revenge of the Sith does very much seem to nod toward Anakin being the cause—after all, Palpatine does verbatim say, "In your anger, you killed her"—it remains a possibility. This would also explain why Padmé succumbed to death if there was no physical malady the medical droid could detect. While it still wouldn't be a perfect explanation, it would at least avoid the vague description that she simply lost her will to live, a claim only further complicated by the fact that she had two children to live for.

Whatever The Truth May Be, Padme's Death Was A Disappointment

No matter the cause or explanation, Padmé's death remains a major disappointment in Star Wars. While, yes, the original trilogy had already set in stone that her demise was imminent, the prequel trilogy revealed what an incredible character she was. Padmé, as Obi-Wan aptly described her in Obi-Wan Kenobi, was "wise, discerning, and kind-hearted." Throughout the prequels, she proved herself to be a devoted queen, a brave politician, and a truly selfless person in both her personal and professional lives.

That Padmé would have lost the will to live is somewhat bewildering given how much she had overcome. Moreover, she very clearly anticipated what was to come with the Galactic Empire; while, sure, that may have made things seem even more dismal and hopeless, everything revealed about Padmé's personality in the prequel trilogy seemingly indicated that she would have wanted to stay and fight. Whether or not Padmé Amidala died of a broken heart in Star Wars remains unclear, but her death was nevertheless a tragedy in more ways than one.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the sixth film in the Star Wars franchise and chronologically the third in the Skywalker Saga. Set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker is tasked with keeping an eye on Chancellor Palpatine while other Jedi battle across the galaxy. In the background, however, a mysterious Sith lord begins to make their move to destroy the Jedi once and for all.

Director

George Lucas

Release Date

May 19, 2005

Studio(s)

Lucasfilm

Distributor(s)

20th Century Fox

Writers

George Lucas , John Ostrander , Jan Duursema

Cast

Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Hayden Christensen , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Frank Oz , Ahmed Best , Temuera Morrison

ALL STAR WARS MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON DISNEY+