Has there been any kind of consesus regarding who was responsible for the kidnapping of Shmi by the Tusken Raiders? I had assumed that Darth Sidious had been responsible for it, sensing Anakin’s power and wanting to give him a basis for his flip to the Dark Side. However, I don’t remember any mention of it in ROTS, which makes me wonder if that it was nothing more than it appeared to be: A random capturing during a Tusken raid.
However, a few things still make me reserve final judgement:
[list=a]
[li]The kidnapping was way too specific[/li][li]No ransom was demanded, and she didn’t seem to be being kept alive for any reason other than torture[/li][li]The Tuskens’ defenses seemed pretty aggressive regarding the protection of their prisoner, with quite a bit of forethought[/li][li]We know for sure that Darth Sidious helped in sending the visions of Padme dying to Anakin, so he certainly could have aided with the visions of Shmi[/li][li]If, as some have suggested, Darth Sidious was responsible for the Force impregnation of Shmi, he certainly would have been keeping an eye on her[/li][/list]
I think it was bad luck. Tusken raiders are just brual, creepy folk who do nasty bad things. It certainly gave Anakin’s fall a push, but I’m sure Sidious had other ways to precipitate that.
[list=a]
[li]The kidnapping does seem oddly particular. [/li][li]There is no indication that Sandpeople kidnap people for ransom. Certainly the Lars’ weren’t expecting one.[/li][li] Tuskens are aggressive by nature.[/li][li]How do we know that Sidious was sending the visions? They seemed reasonably accurate to me.[/li]I think Palpatine forgot all about Shmi once he had what he wanted (Anakin).
It never occured to me that the Tuskens were anything other then nomadic desert barbarians/bandits*, the kind of people who enjoy/subsist off looting, pillaging the homes of those they come across who can’t aqualtly repel them.
Shimi was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why did they want her? Maybe they were going to ransom her, though it’s entirely possible they just wanted to do horrible things to her. They’re barbarians after all.
I disagree about the defenses. The Raiders didn’t seem to have been expecting Anakin, and he had no problems sneaking into the camp and even into the tent. In fact, it looked like he could have slipped out almost as easily without killing anyone.
*I’m not saying all nomads are bandits, but some of them are.
God damn Tuskens. When they’re not making delicious white-truffle risotto, pasta pomodoro or tender veal chops that melt in your mouth, they’re kidnapping your mother. Savages…
Dooku arranged it under orders from Sidious. It was written in the script of Episode III to be revealed that way, but changed before shooting, and again in the edit. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true, because it wasn’t contradicted and indeed was hinted at during the Dooku duel.
My cite is from the “Making Of Revenge of the Sith” book, which is a verythorough and informative read, actually.
Palpatine all but said his Sith master created Anakin with the force to become an apprentice, so it makes sense that Palpatine would set this up to tempt him to do dark side stuff.
Both Lucas and his legion of fans are giving Palpatine too much credit. So, he created Anakin, gave him visions of both his mother and wife dying, and killed his mom in the process, but the man is incapable of knowing who Luke Skywalker is or that Leia Organa resembles some senator he used to work with? Yeah, brilliant.
I know speculating is fun and all, but I wish people would stop with this ridiculous stretching of the story. Yes, this includes Lucas as well. Here’s the real deal:
The Force made Anakin.
Tusken folk just like to kidnap women and hold them prisoner (and possibly “do” stuff to them).
Anakin has more visions than John Nash on shrooms due to his abilities.
Sidious got lucky by finding Anakin.
Han shot first.
If it wasn’t mentioned in the film, it didn’t happen.
The answer that “Tuskens hate the settlers” is therefore every bit as correct, and, based on what was actually in the movie, probably more so. It’s also not ridiculous, whereas the “Palpatine arranged every single event” thing IS ridiculous.
Which means he told him about his mother and the sand people. Nothing more can be said about this dialogue other than Anakin trusts Palpatine enough to tell him about a defining event in his life. It could be argued from this that Anakin didn’t tell Obi-Wan (“I murdered a bunch of kids” doesn’t looks good for a Jedi) and relied in the Chancellor for approval and comfort. Other than that, nothing more.
