One of the most-often heard criticisms of “Sith” is that the intimate scenes between Anakin and Padme fall flat – that their dialogues (esp. the “no, you’re beautiful…” bit) are silly or insipid, that their acting is wooden and lifeless, and that Padme has, for a former queen and a current senator, become something of a domesticated wallflower, relegated to a largely passive and reactive role, with little real assertiveness or persuasiveness in her increasingly troubled relationship with Anakin. Taking those criticisms in account, the following is my radical rewrite of the first domestic scene, at the couple’s apartment on the first night after his return. I hope you enjoy it…
[SCENE: APARTMENT PATIO BALCONY; TWILIGHT. Anakin and Padme are tired and tense. Padme is standing by the door; Anakin is restlessly prowling back and forth near the balcony’s edge.]
PADME: Anakin, I don’t know what to say. We’ve been discussing politics all afternoon, without being able to agree on anything, except for a shared general devotion to democracy and the Republic. I’m really worried. I think the Chancellor is becoming more like a dictator each day, but I don’t seem to be able to convince you. We’ve never disagreed like this before on anything.
ANAKIN: [sadly] But we have, and we still are.
PADME: [shoots him a questioning look]
ANAKIN: [stops pacing] Our marriage? Your pregnancy? How much longer do you think we can keep these secret from everyone, Padme? [impatiently] And why should we?
PADME: [apologetically] Not much longer, Ani, I promise…
ANAKIN: But why, then? Are you afraid the Jedi Council will kick me out? Because I’m not.
PADME: I know. I wasn’t sure about that before, Ani, but when I saw how well you and Obi-Wan were getting along, I felt certain that the Council wouldn’t expel you if they learned about us.
ANAKIN: [pained] Then why, my love?
PADME: [pausing, then agitatedly] I can’t take that risk with respect to the Senate. This civil war is beginning to wind down, and before long, I may have to spearhead a motion to curtail the Chancellor’s emergency powers. For the sake of the Republic, I can’t reveal that I’m secretly married to a Jedi, not yet. It’s a potential conflict of interest that could be used against me in the Senate…
ANAKIN: [relieved, rushes to Padme, sweeping her in his arms] Trust me, Padme, you can handle yourself in the Senate just fine. Everyone there looks up to you… [fleetingly grins down at her, savoring the irony] …because you’ve got more leadership qualities than the rest of them put together…
PADME: [a bit alarmed, and recoiling slightly] No, I don’t! You mustn’t say things like that…
ANAKIN: [gently drawing her to him again] We’re going to have to learn to relax a bit and trust in each other, and ourselves, a little more, or… [drawing her very close, a prelude to a kiss, his voice deepening] …we’re not going to have much fun…
[A nice, long kiss.]
PADME: [noticing the darkened sky] It’s getting dark. We should go inside…
[ANAKIN notices a large, unlit candle either in an alcove or on a pedestal a few feet from where they’re huddled together.]
ANAKIN: Wait…
[With a hint of a mischievous grin, he turns his attention towards the candle, concentrating, and subtly motions towards it with his left (human) hand. Without any obvious Force lightning per se tracing from his fingertips, a tiny yet unmistakable blue sparking, lasting a second or two, ignites the candle.]
PADME: [recoiling strongly, gasping] What was that!?
ANAKIN: Don’t worry; it’s just another Jedi trick, something I picked up lately.
PADME: [still alarmed] I didn’t know the Jedi could do that.
ANAKIN: [slyly] They don’t. At least I don’t know of any who can. Or could, in all our history.
PADME: [gasps again] Then how, Anakin?
ANAKIN: [confused] I don’t know. Not long after I’d arrived at the Outer Rim assignment with Obi-Wan, dreamt it. When I woke up, I somehow knew I could do it, if I tried, really tried… So I did…
PADME: Is this even… natural? Is it… right?
ANAKIN: I didn’t plan it; it just happened to me.
PADME: What did Obi-Wan say? And the Council?
ANAKIN: [evasively] I haven’t told them yet.
PADME: [sotto voce, bringing her fingertips to her lips] No!
ANAKIN: They wouldn’t understand, they’d just be jealous of me! Padme, I have to learn more about this power on my own, before I go running to them…
PADME: [bewildered] You can’t, you… shouldn’t be keeping this a secret from them…
ANAKIN: [accusingly, cutting her off] Look who’s talking.
PADME: [recoiling further, backing away, seriously taken aback, and taking a long pause] You’re right, but that was still a cruel thing to say, Anakin.
ANAKIN: [ruefully] I’m sorry, Padme.
PADME: [earnestly] This new power you have is something different… you need the guidance of the Council.
ANAKIN: [firmly] I do not. [softening] Not yet, anyway.
PADME: Please, Ani, you must trust them.
ANAKIN: [forlornly sad again] We each have our secrets, don’t we?
The pre-emptive “what the hell was I thinking?!?” section of explanations:
First, at the beginning of this scene, Anakin still feels a little insecure about Padme’s love for him, because of her continued unwillingness to go public about their marriage.
Secondly, as of Padme’s line “I know. I wasn’t sure about that…,” they’re talking at cross-purposes to each other. Padme doesn’t really understand the ways of the Jedi Council, nor does Anakin truly grasp current trends in Senate politics – a gap only exacerbated by their recent lengthy separation. In fact, each has a measure of blind faith in the other’s abilities to manage their respective organizations. Padme in fact misreads Anakin’s defiance as a shared understanding of the Council’s faith in him, where the opposite is actually the case – Yoda and Mace don’t, and he’s chaffing at them because of it. Similarly, Padme’s grasp of Senate politics has been on the wane (in the same way that the Jedi’s perceptive abilities have been clouded by the Sith) for some time, her pregnancy is at this point probably an open secret, and her ability to lead an organized opposition to the Chancellor (whose dictatorial potential she’s only now becoming aware of) is fast diminishing – yet Anakin is blissfully oblivious of her vulnerability. The one thing they’re both right about is in their fears for their own future careers in the Jedi and the Senate.
Thirdly, about that Force-sparking bit: it’s an obvious parallel both to his mother’s immaculate conception and, less obviously, to his wife’s more natural pregnancy. Just as Palpatine (or Plagious) had earlier manipulated the damned Midichlorians to create Anakin, so has Palpatine arranged for this new “Jedi” talent in Anakin. Palpy’s purpose in this, of course, was to further drive a wedge of ambition, secrecy and distrust between Anakin and the other Jedi. (In this scenario, Anakin would probably first divulge news of his newfound ability to Palpatine, who would persuade him to continue concealing it from the Jedi.) Anakin’s new trick also establishes a new, doubled parallel with Padme’s pregnancy: for both, a new life (or life-force) is awoken in the body, around the same time (a few months previous), and both elect to keep it a secret indefinitely. Both share their secret with the other on the same day, after their months of separation. Additionally, that Anakin learns of his new ability via a dream reinforces the motif of the dreadful infallibility of his dreams, bridging his prophetic nightmares in AOTC and the ones he’ll be having about Padme and intensifying his dread of Padme’s fate.
It’s also worth pointing out that although it’s just a beginner’s tentative use of Force lightning, Anakin shouldn’t be using The Force for such cheap seduction tricks, period. In this respect, his observance of Jedi law (or creed, or custom) hasn’t improved a whit since his courtship days, when he was using lesser Force tricks to flirt with Padme in AOTC. I think it’s significant, though, that Padme has been portrayed consistently, up to this point, as being genuinely impressed (enthralled, even) by such tricks, and has been more vulnerable to Anakin’s charms when he uses them. (Perhaps Ani has been able to use Jedi Mind Tricks over her after all?) In any event, it’s Padme’s Original Sin – her starstruck, eroticized fascination with Anakin’s strength in The Force, even when overwhelmed by evidence of his shortcomings in other, crucial aspects – and in the long run, her credulousness will get her killed. (It’s too bad her weakness wasn’t illustrated a bit more forcefully in AOTC, and more strongly linked to her declaring her love for him.) Nevertheless, Padme’s alarmed reaction to Anakin’s latest trick is a very human one, rooted in her sense of decency and her sounder instincts. Something about Ani’s latest “Jedi” trick makes her uneasy and suspicious for his sake, without understanding why exactly it should make her feel so.
Fourth, Anakin’s egotism and emotional outbursts further drive them apart. At the end of the scene, they are, emotionally, back where they started – tense, uneasy, at odds and not entirely trusting of each other.
