I watched Attack of the Clones last night and honestly… how does Padmé fall for this guy? Every time Anakin talks to her, he sounds like a walking red flag. He’s intense, moody, and somehow manages to make flirting sound like a hostage situation. The man goes from “I hate sand” to “I’m haunted by the kiss you should never have given me” in the same conversation.
And yet — she falls for him. Hard.
This is the same guy who confesses to murdering a whole village, complains about Obi-Wan every five minutes, and stares at Padmé like she’s his next target instead of his crush. Meanwhile, Padmé’s out here running the Galactic Senate and somehow decides this is the one.
She Liked Him Because He Wasn’t Like Anyone Else
Padmé wasn’t some random woman who just fell for the first Jedi that showed up. She was a queen, a senator, and one of the most respected people in the Republic. If she wanted, she could’ve had anyone, royalty, politicians, or any of the powerful men who followed her career from Naboo to Coruscant.
But that’s what makes it interesting, she didn’t want any of them.
Anakin wasn’t polished. He wasn’t calm, and half the time, he didn’t even know what to say. But what he did have was honesty, the kind that Padmé never got from the people around her. He didn’t hide behind manners or political talk. He said exactly what he felt, even when it sounded reckless.
And according to the Attack of the Clones novelization, that’s exactly what moved her. There’s a part where Padmé listens to him open up, completely vulnerable, and it says she was “amazed” at how honest he was. For someone who spent her life surrounded by people who only said what she wanted to hear, that moment hit differently.
“Padmé’s hand slowly dropped to her side and she sat listening in amazement at how honestly he was opening up before her, baring his heart though he knew she might tear it asunder with a single word. She was honored by the thought, and truly touched. And afraid.
‘You are in my very soul, tormenting me,’ Anakin went on, not a bit of falseness in his tone. This was no ploy to garner any physical favors; this was honest and straightforward, refreshingly so to the woman who had spent most of her life being attended by handmaidens whose job it was to please and entertaining dignitaries whose agendas were never quite what they seemed.”
For most of her life, Padmé was surrounded by people who spoke in half-truths, politicians, advisors, and diplomats who only ever said what they needed to. Anakin was different. He didn’t play games, and he didn’t want anything from her except her attention.
As the book also puts it:
“Most of the men she had come into contact with had been more concerned with what she could bring to them in practical terms than with her beauty, or, for that matter, with any true personal feelings for her.”
To her, Anakin’s emotions weren’t scary, they were real. So yeah, maybe “I hate sand” wasn’t smooth. But to Padmé, he was the first person in years who wasn’t trying to impress her. He was just being himself, awkward, intense, and completely honest.