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Located on the top floors of the Senate Apartment Complex on Coruscant, the Naboo Embassy allotted this space as an apartment for the current Senator of the Chommell sector and Naboo. It was later converted into a restaurant known as the Naboo Queen.
History[]
Built up in Coruscant's massive Galactic City, the penthouse suite of the Senate Apartment Complex was purchased by the Embassy of Naboo during the Separatist Crisis for the use of Senator and former queen Padmé Amidala.
After the attempt on Amidala's life upon arriving on Coruscant for the vote on the Military Creation Act, the Jedi High Council assigned Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, as security to the Senator. Arriving at her apartment, Kenobi and Skywalker met with their old acquaintance, as well as Representative Jar Jar Binks, Captain Gregar Typho of the Royal Naboo Security Forces, and Amidala's Handmaiden, Dormé, to discuss the threat.
After Amidala retired to her sleeping quarters, the Jedi searched the apartment to get a better understanding of the layout and locate possible entrances that a killer might use. While Kenobi was off checking the rest of the complex, Skywalker conspired with Amidala to set up a strategy of their own. As Amidala lay down to bed, she would instruct her astromech droid, R2-D2, to shut down all of the security cameras in her sleeping chamber. Skywalker would then stand guard outside and wait to sense an intruder in the Force before rushing in and defeating the assassin. Setting their plan in motion, the cameras were shut down as Master Kenobi re-entered the apartment. Angered that his apprentice set the woman up as bait for a murderer, Kenobi argued that they should go in immediately and have the cameras turned on. However, as they argued, an ASN-121 assassin droid cut through the permaglass window of the sleeping quarters and dispensed two deadly kouhuns into the room. Sensing them before they poisoned the sleeping Senator, Skywalker rushed in and bisected the insects with his lightsaber. As the assassin droid began to fly away, Kenobi leaped through the window and grabbed hold of the droid, which led him back to the assassin, Zam Wesell.[1]
The apartment bedroom
The assassination attempt foiled, Amidala was ordered by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to return to Naboo with Skywalker as her Jedi protector. Meeting the Senator in her sleep quarters, Skywalker escorted the disgruntled woman to the spaceport where they would travel disguised as refugees back to Naboo.[1]
After the Clone Wars began, Amidala returned to her apartment to deal with the war with the Confederacy of Independent Systems.[1] Upon the evening of her return from Geonosis, Knight Kenobi arrived at her apartment early in the morning on assignment from Grand Master Yoda. Kenobi demanded that Amidala break off the secret love affair with his Padawan, stating that to interfere in Jedi business was dangerous. Amidala promised to do so, though in actuality she had no such plans.[3] Agreeing to return to Naboo under Skywalker's escort, Amidala and the Jedi were secretly wed on her homeworld.[1]
During the war, Amidala would keep tabs on Skywalker whenever he was away,[4] keeping vigil from her window, waiting for her lover's return.[5] When he was free, Skywalker would meet his wife at her apartment for their passionate and secret rendezvous. During one such occasion, the pair was about to part when an explosion broke their reverie. Realizing that they would be needed in their separate roles as Jedi and Senator, they parted ways and rushed to assist the Republic.[3]
Early in the conflict, fellow Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan called on Amidala to meet him early one morning. Rushing to ready herself, she met the shaken Organa on her veranda's landing platform ready to hear the information he had received. Disturbed by mention of the Sith, a secret enemy of the Jedi Order to which most of the galaxy, including Senator Organa, were ignorant, Amidala commed the Jedi Temple and asked Jedi Kenobi to come and hear Organa's news. Learning of the threat from a group known as the Friends of the Republic, Organa detailed a plot on the Order stemming from a group of Sith on Zigoola, a planet in the depths of Wild Space. In order to garner more information, Kenobi shed some light on the Sith, revealing that they were indeed active and not just a myth, and that they posed a threat to all sentient beings everywhere. Returning to inform the High Council of the information Organa had shared, Kenobi left the apartment for the distant Temple. Organa, in need of sleep and with many chores still left undone, also left, hoping that he had not betrayed the trust of his informants. After Kenobi and Organa left for Zigoola, Amidala was awoken early one morning by Grand Master Yoda. The ancient Master asked if she would accompany of group of clone troopers to the Sith world and retrieve his wayward Jedi and Organa, because sending a Jedi would be too dangerous. Agreeing to the job, Amidala prepared to leave immediately.[3]
Soon after the Zigoola fiasco, Skywalker planned to surprise his wife by dropping onto her balcony from a parapet two stories up. Entering quietly through the transparisteel doors, Skywalker found Amidala enjoying a beauty mask and a holozine. After the Jedi caused her to break the mask, Amidala agreed to not reapply it and spend the evening with him. While enjoying a cup of caf, Amidala forced Skywalker to ponder on the worst possible scenario for when the Council discovered their marriage. Having never thought of it, Skywalker only became more unapologetic as he thought about Council member Ki-Adi-Mundi's own family and the hypocrisy of the Council for allowing him to marry out of expedience for the birthrate on Cerea.
Staying at the apartment for several days, Skywalker was alerted one evening on the diverting of the Leveler to the Fath system. Unable to stand by as his men went into a hostile situation, Skywalker quickly packed his satchel and headed for the Outer Rim Territories.[6]
Back from the Outer Rim briefly, Skywalker tried to have dinner with his wife, only for them both to receive a summons from the High Council to deal with a situation regarding the Senator Rush Clovis, and his ties to the Trade Federation.[7] After her return, Organa of Alderaan called on her again, visiting one morning with a report on the top-secret Mission to Lanteeb. Reassuring her that Skywalker and Kenobi were fine, although he wasn't sure himself, Organa left her to her duties on behalf of Queen Jamillia.[8]
Following the battle over Coruscant, Amidala was relieved to see Skywalker recalled from the Outer Rim Sieges again. Returning to her apartment, the pair spent the night together, falling asleep side by side. In the middle of the early morning, Skywalker woke abruptly after having a Force vision in his sleep. Coming to him on her veranda, Amidala stood in silence as Skywalker explained that she would die in childbirth, if his vision came to pass. Vowing to never let that happen, they returned to bed.[2]
The open veranda in the daylight
Returning home after a long day at the Senate, Amidala praised her waiting husband for his appointment to the Council, though he was bitter over what he saw as just political maneuvering. Changing the subject, Amidala questioned the way the Supreme Chancellor was directing the war, fearing that it was going in the wrong direction. Accusing her of sounding like a Separatist, Skywalker stormed out to meet with his close friend Chancellor Palpatine. Not long after, Master Kenobi arrived on Amidala's doorstep to request an informal meeting. Again, three years after a similar meeting, Kenobi pleaded with Amidala to give up on a relationship with the Jedi, though this meeting was less tense than the one following Geonosis. Promising to do the right thing, Amidala saw the Jedi out as he headed for a special Council meeting regarding the location of General Grievous.[2]
Calling a meeting at her apartment in reaction to the Sector Governance Decree, Amidala met with fellow Senators Organa, Mon Mothma of the Bormea sector, Bana Breemu of the Humbarine sector, Giddean Danu of Kuat, Fang Zar of the Sern sector, and Chi Eekway Papanoida of Wroona. The debate sparked tensions in the group as Eekway said her constituents were ready to force the Chancellor to return his emergency powers to the Senate at the end of the war. Amidala suggested seeking Jedi backing, to which Danu agreed, yet the other Senators, Breemu in particular, strongly rejected. Agreeing to wait on involving the Jedi, the Senators agreed to submit the Petition of 2000 to the Office of the Supreme Chancellor and base future action on his reaction.[2]
While she was away at the Senate, Skywalker broke into the apartment following an unsettling meeting with the Supreme Chancellor, looking for clues concerning the rumors the Chancellor had heard about Skywalker's wife and his former Master being involved in a secret tryst. Sensing the lingering energies of Kenobi's presence, Skywalker interrogated Amidala as she arrived. Eventually realizing the rumors were false and how ridiculous he was being, Skywalker calmed down and left the apartment. After the meeting with the Supreme Chancellor, Amidala returned to her apartment to retire for the evening.
She was awakened by C-3PO as the droid notified her that the Jedi Temple was in flames. Spending the pre-dawn hours watching and sobbing, she rushed to her veranda as Skywalker parked his green interceptor at the docking area and leapt out to comfort his wife. As Skywalker explained how the Jedi had attempted a rebellion, C-3PO talked in hushed tones with the Jedi droid R2-D2, who had accompanied Skywalker from the Temple. They watched as the two Humans discussed recent events and the disbanding of the Order. Amidala voiced her shock as Skywalker told her to avoid her friend in the Senate, as they were under suspicion and she would be in the clear if she kept out of trouble. Numbly, Amidala agreed to wait for his return, as her husband swept out to deal with the Separatist Council on Mustafar. Leaving the apartment for the Senate, Amidala returned as a Senator of the Galactic Empire.[2]
At home again, Amidala was visited by fugitive Obi-Wan Kenobi, landing his DC0052 speeder on the veranda landing platform. Amidala greeted her old acquaintance as he revealed that Palpatine was indeed the hidden Sith they had been searching for. Shocked and disbelieving, Amidala swooned when the Jedi revealed that Skywalker was behind the slaughter of younglings at the Temple. Kenobi sensed that she was indeed pregnant and that Skywalker was the father. Departing without an answer as to where his former apprentice was, the Jedi Master planned to follow Amidala as she left the planet to warn her husband that he was in danger. Contacting Captain Typho, Amidala unknowingly left her apartment for the last time, flying off to her death on the Outer Rim.[2]
After Amidala's death the apartment was cleared of her possessions, though it remained operational throughout the next century. Surviving the Yuuzhan Vong War, the apartment suite was transformed into an upscale restaurant known as the Naboo Queen. Serving guests as of 137 ABY, the restaurant was visited by Moff Nyna Calixte, her daughter Gunn Yage, and her former lover, Admiral Rulf Yage. Sitting together, they had a not unusual family argument, before Calixte left without picking up the tab.[9]
Layout[]
The penthouse suite of an ancient skyscraper on Coruscant, the Naboo Embassy furnished the entire apartment to suit the needs of the Senator at the time of the Clone Wars, Padmé Amidala. Made up of several rooms, the chambers were accessed via an exterior turbolift which deposited guests in a small lobby. Flowing into a wide, low-ceilinged sitting room, this main chamber was focused by a series of yellow-cream-colored sofas and chairs that were meant to encourage peaceful discussion. The ceiling and walls of the chamber were of a ribbed design, arching over the room to allow natural light to flow in through the floor-to-ceiling clari-crystalline windows and expansive skylights.[10]
Padmé's veranda at night
On either side of the sitting room, transparisteel doors could retract to allow passage onto the small open-air balconies which overlooked the Senate District. Small tables were dotted with carefully placed art brought in from around the galaxy, as well as Amidala's homeworld, Naboo. Leading out of the sitting room were two hallways which led into the private chambers of the Senator. Through one antechamber was the bedchamber which Amidala occupied after late nights at the Senate. With a broad window on one side, the chamber was notably less defended than that of most Senators of her importance; a mattress sat in the center of the room, while a low table was situated just in front of it. A Tarka-Null original sat on a small podium in one corner of the room. Opposite the window was a closet, through which was a staircase leading out onto the veranda.[10]
A large pillared area, the lightly furnished veranda was accessed by two staircases on either side of a central hallway which led further into the depths of the apartment. Equipped with a sitting area with two sofas and a bubbling fountain, the room was illuminated by disk-shaped lamps at night, as well as a small illuminator. A wish globe was situated in a corner, while several handing orbs and vases dotted the darker corners of the room. At the mouth of the veranda was a small docking area for personal airspeeders to rest. Flanked by two bronzium statues of Shiraya, the moon goddess of Naboo, the veranda's mouth was constantly guarded by a particle and energy shield which prevented attacks or accidental falls over the railing-less area. The space between the simple white columns was filled with the plain white drapes that stretched from floor to ceiling.[10]
Behind the scenes[]
Jay Shuster developed the room for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, drawing inspiration from the work of Frank Lloyd Wright to design the sitting and conversation area where Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi discussed her safety when Zam Wesell was attempting to assassinate her. The apartment was realized as a full walk-on set, seeing use in Episode II and later in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.[11]
The apartment was expanded for Episode III with the creation of the veranda, the setting for a scene that was originally to take place on Naboo. Erik Tiemens developed the art for the love scene, at first designing a zen garden for the senator. Eventually, after drawing on inspiration from Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, orientalists, Pre-Raphaelite painters, and Gerome, the veranda set was greenlighted by Rick McCallum, and Gavin Bocquet drew blueprints.[12]
Appearances[]
Sources[]
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 39 (COR17-20, Coruscant - Amidala's Apartment)
- Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary
"The Art of Revenge of the Sith" — Star Wars Insider 83–85- Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels
- Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (as The Naboo Queen)
- Friday Feature – Game Update 12 -- Engineering Trader on the official Star Wars Galaxies website (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 28
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season Three
- "Evil Plans" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Clone Wars: Wild Space
- ↑ The Clone Wars: Agenda
- ↑ Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
- ↑ The Clone Wars: No Prisoners
- ↑
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Senate Spy"
- ↑ Clone Wars Gambit: Siege
- ↑ Legacy (2006) 15
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels
- ↑ Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones
- ↑ The Art of Revenge of the Sith