Why Does Padmé Love Anakin?

Padme remembers Anakin when he was a kid so to her she sees the good in him even in his darkest times, it also helps that he grew up tall and handsome.

We really see the unhealthy nature of their relationship in Season 6 of TCW. Anakin and Padme's constant separation due to the war had probably created great obsession...leading to Anakin's downfall.

I agree with this, but I also think that Anakin being kind of awkward and unhinged perhaps came off as a feature rather than a bug to Padme, because she grew up around a bunch of smooth-talking people who always wore masks. I can imagine that after all of that someone as awkwardly straightforward with his feelings as Anakin would feel simultaneously safe and exciting to her. And because she won't or can't admit to her own strong feelings, him doing all the work means that she can live vicariously through him. Remember, Padme is in a position where she has to observe ploys to destroy her home planet with an impassive face and carefully think before saying anything, or pretend to be her own handmaiden for days, can you imagine how much she'd LOVE to be able to just go AHSFJDSAFHAFJAK THOSE BASTARDS I HATE THEM the way Anakin consistently does.

Padmé was immediately physically attracted to Anakin when she saw him again. He had grown into a very handsome young man and once she recognized he was little Ani she probably felt awkward and why she said “you’ll always be that little boy I knew on tatooine”. She said that to put her feelings/ hormones back in check and for him too for calling her beautiful so openly. Then in the bedroom when he’s staring down at her and she says “please don’t look at me that way it makes me uncomfortable”. What was making her uncomfortable was her attraction to him. Let’s face it he was HOT. It has to feel so weird to be suddenly so attracted to the little kid you once helped babysit so to speak 😂

honestly, all we needed were like two pov scenes of Padme where we see her either talking about Anakin or checking him out. It's just so awkward that it feels like he pursues her

I think I understand Anikin’s sand reference even though it was poorly executed, anikin grew up as a slave on a desert planet and when he was freed had to leave his mother behind and now whenever he is on beaches or desert areas it probably reminds him of being a slave and leaving his mother behind

Actually it makes sense when you really think about they have a lot in common. Both of them never got to have normal childhood. They both had huge responsibilities put on there shoulders at a young age. And were told to be selfless for the sake of the galaxy. When there together they don't have to be the Senater or the chosen they could just be Anakin and Padme.

The actress who potrayed Padmé,Natalie Portman,said Anakin allows Padmé to be less serious about herself and have fun as evident in their lighthearted,silly,playful,fun moments/scenes in Attack of the Clones like when Anakin pretends to be hurt to trick her as a gotcha moment after he tries to balance on some animal in a field on Naboo,causing Padmé to run to him in concern,and she realizes he pranked her when she turns him around to make sure he's okay,which leads them to playfully rolling around giggling like kids,then stopping in unresolved romantic and/or sexual tension,implying that he helps her relax or unwind and truly live as she's dedicated her whole life to serving the people and the Republic for a noble cause of a better future for the Galaxy and its inhabitants,1st as a queen rulingher country and people of Naboo,then as a senator.Not only can Padmé be herself with Anakin,Anakin can be himself with Padmé in spite of the masks they had to wear bound to their respective responsibility,jobs,and duties as a former queen turned poltician senator and a former slave turned Jedi padawan who is the Chosen One of the prophecy,later revealed to be conceived by the force as its son.Anakin and Padmé actually have more in common than people would think, assume and believe otherwise.Although they didn't go through the exact same things,they share similar experiences they can relate to,not only sympathize with but truly understand, emphasize with and resonate with.They both lead burdensome lives without childhoods forced to grow up fast with big responsibilities thrust upon them early on in their lives from a very young age.Teenage Padmé was elected to be queen of Naboo,so she likely sacrificed her childhood and teenage years committed to studying and learning how to rule whether it was by choice or not.Then she continues to sacrifice her personal life for duty as a senator.Anakin's life is much worse since he was born into slavery as he was enslaved with his mother by the Hutts,robbed of his childhood working for slave masters like Watto for example for nearly a decade until the age of 9.Anakin sacrifices the life he desires For all his flaws,some of which are his qualities made into weaknesses,Anakin is so passionate about who and what he loves,fiercely protective of the people he loves,devoted to them and everything and anything he sets his mind too,loyal to a fault.I think he loves easily.When he loves,he loves hard going all in ride or die.So it's highly likely that Padmé saw that in Anakin as someone who'd likely be able to read people and be a good judge of character.Natalie expressed that Padmé was intrigued by the darkness that lurked within Anakin and remarked about there being something about the bad boy.But those qualities of bravery,loyalty,heroicism,passion,loving,protectiveness,steadfastness,and borderline savior complex ultimately led Anakin down the path to the dark side.And his resilience and endurance helped keep him trapped in darkness after his transformation into Vader.People say Anakin clings onto Padmé because of his mommy issues and inability to be detached from others,but Padmé is naturally motherly,probably purposely characterized that way by the creator George Lucas.Like the Jedi Council,people fail to realize,understand,and accept why Anakin is so easily attached when literally all he ever had was his mother,not to mention never really had anything either,forevermore being forced into the Jedi order as the Chosen One with the overwhelming burden of fulfilling the prophecy who only had no choice but to agree just to be freed from slavery.To make matters worse,Jedi Code forbid possessions and attachments which is difficult for someone like Anakin to abide by just like the Jedi doctrine and rules is difficult to follow when Anakin never really had any possessions to begin with and he's always been unable to be free to live however he desired.So antis in the fandom claiming Anakin was jealous of perfect Obiwan who benefits from plot armor and craved power is understandable,acceptable,and valid when he's always been at the bottom of the pyramid as a slave,hence his low self-esteem and self-worth,looked down on nearly everyone he ever encountered at that point despite constantly being told he's the Chosen One especially by the Jedi Council,especially Obiwan (with their high unrealistic unachievable expectations for someone who had his whole life turned upside down to exchange one form of slavery for another) and other padawans who bullied him.Even self-righteous Mary Sue archtype Obiwan as a padawan had the audacity to refer to Anakin as a "low lifeform" before he was forced to honor his late master Qui-Gon Jin's wish to train Anakin,which makes for a bad 1st impression of the character.The Jedi all treated him like an outsider who must be shunned and isolated as if Anakin hadn't been isolated enough in slavery since birth;The Jedi Council never approved of and trusted Anakin because they feared him.Much of Anakin's character and why he was so susceptible to the dark side is due to his traumatic background and upbringing being exposed to the dark side,horrors,and terrors of humanity with slavery,abuse, and mistreatment of himself,his mother,and others who were enslaved.It's proven that your early years of life are when we are the most vulnerable,the most crucial time and stage of life for development.Even after being forced to abandon his mother for Jedi training,Anakin isolated himself so he didn't make friends and break the Jedi Code of forming attachments,trying to oblige and assimilate until he reunited with Padmé "he had a crush on" (borderline in love with) and his mother on the verge of death.But the people he could never let go of was his mother and Padmé,the people he already loved.It's so tragic and heartbreaking that everything Anakin gained he ultimately lost and what he was to gain never came to fruition;His whole life was full of agony,suffering and misery that only ended with his early death.Anakin really needed the Jedi Council's support and guidance at least but only ending up receiving Palpatine's manipulation due to Palpatine's grooming since Anakin's childhood.I went off on a tangent ranting but back to the subject.There's mutual understanding,respect,and admiration for each other.George Lucas had Anakin do all the pursuing and pining,which could come off across as making Padmé unsettled and uncomfortable.The writing of this kinda could be perceived as one-sided,unrequited attraction,but George just relied on Natalie's reactions like her facial expressions (to show Padmé is affected by Anakin's "unwanted" flattery and appraisal that is causing her to unwillingly developed feelings for the forbidden Jedi of great power and responsibility with the weight of the world on his shoulders as the Chosen One who is destined to defeat the sith and bring balance to the force) even subtle changes you have to pay attention for like unsteady breathing patterns.Natalie also said behind the scenes part of the reason Padmé is so attracted to Anakin is for his good looks, so I don't know George wasted time having Padmé tease Anakin about some crush she had on another guy back then named Palo but couldn't write at least one scene in which Padmé stares at him in endeared attraction and adoration,or checks Anakin out at least.There would be no dialogue needed for these scenes considering George sucks at it because the purpose of film is to show,not tell. Padmé is more reserved, capable of controlling and concealing her emotions considering that's an essential skill to have as a ruler,politician,and leader in the field of government.Padmé is more mature as 24,a young adult 5 years older than Anakin of 19 years who's still a teenager,not even legally an adult yet by the real modern world society standards.Given these facts including Jedi being forbidden to form attachments,it makes sense why Padmé was holding back for most of their scenes in AotC as the voice of reason for their sake and duties to their jobs,not to mention Anakin's as the Chosen One who is essential to the fate of the Galaxy as his actions will change the course and impact the future for everyone.

I feel like the deleted scenes from episode 2 - especially the ones with Padme's family - should've been kept in. I believe those add a little more depth to this love arc.

Watch closely the scene when she meet Obi-Wan in Coruscant, and then recognizes Anakin. This is the beginning when she falls in love with him. She even calls him Ani. She always do. In Naboo they spent several days, weeks, we don't know with him all day long. Even if Anakin doesn't express like a politician his feeling for her, she can't accept being together because she is committed to her duty as politician, to serve her people. She tells him that after the diner. But it's in Geonosis facing death that she tells him that she truly, deeply loves him. The sentence: "I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life." explains the struggles she had in choosing between her duty and her personal happiness. Every day that she denies her own feelings she dies a little more. On the verge of actual death, she comes to the decision that the price of her self-denial has been too high to bear any longer. She had a real crush on Ani.

He's good looking and he's a space wizard. That's why... Do you think any woman would turn down a good looking guy with magical powers?

Because she was the first person to show anakin any signs of kindness, much like how yanderes are formed. Anakin is a space yandere because he had a shit childhood and then he instantly falls in love with the first person who shows him any compassion

I would add the Episode 1 events here too. Remember how Padme was the one of all characters there with the LEAST faith in the boy. Yeah, he was cute and kind, but she was rational enough to constantly ask "are we seriously handing our destinies to this kid? Are you guys grown up? What is this circus?" And then when Anakin overcome ALL the difficulties and won the race, she was impressed, and then when he saved HER planet from war, she was impressed and grateful even more! That's also why she shines when she recognizes him in Obi-Wan's padawan, she remembers all what he did, she sees that he didn't fade away (as many talented people do) but, on contrary, grown up, prospering and doing good and he still cares a lot for her (in a VERYYYY obvious way, khmm). But now that he's not an underage boy, but a handsome young man, she can let her feelings go.

taylor swift said it best: even in my worst times, you could see the best of me

Honestly there were a lot of deleted scenes cut from Epesode 2 that add a lot of depth to the characters. I think if they left some of them in there would be more natural chemistry between the characters because you see more than a surface level romance and you realize what Anakin’s feelings are (other than just horny for Padme lol). He came off as more sweet and concerned for Padme’s safety and curious about her earlier life than just creepy. You also learn about Padme’s family, how she grew up and used to help underprivileged aliens, and how her younger sister already had a family but she never did because she was too focused on politics. Padme reveals that she really wanted to get married and start her own family eventually when she was a child. She might have been attracted to Anakin for his looks and how different he acted compared to others in her life, not to mention he was very devoted to her

Cause he is HOT

I love how you connect their love with Luke and Vader's resolution

I think one of the main reasons the Jedi failed as peacekeepers wasn’t just because they were hypocrites who got themselves wrapped up too much in politics, it was their poor approach to fear. Fear is something that eventually leads to the dark side and the Jedi did everything they could to avoid that by any means. Such as attachments and the fear of loss. Their methods have shown to involve detaching yourself from these problems and trying to bury them like they never existed. And because the Jedi never provided Anakin with any help to actually deal with his problems, this led to him being manipulated by Palpatine through temptation and led to the rise of the Empire. This is what I love about Luke’s arc in both the Originals and the Sequels. He comes to learn from his mistakes and muster up the courage to face his fear of failure by confronting Kylo Ren and the First Order. This eventually leads Luke being there for Rey and teaching her that confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi, a far cry from they way Yoda and the Jedi used to teach in the Prequels.

This should be a mini series! Why does Ben fall for Rey? Why Does Rey fall for Ben? Why does Leia fall for Han? Why does Han fall for Leia? Why do any Star Wars couples fall in love? I think you get the point 😁

5:13 and maybe Qui-gon had unconditional love for Anakin (because he believed even as a force ghost that Anakin has good in him/can be redeemed) as a father figure (counter father figure against Palpatine).