PadMay is an annual event in celebration of our beloved former queen and senator of Naboo, Padmé Naberrie Amidala. There are thirty one prompts, one for each day in the month of May.
Week one is a celebration of music in the galaxy far, far away.
PadMay Day One:
- Duel of the Fates (John Williams)
“Duel of the Fates” is an incredible piece of music and every use is exciting and important. It plays over the saddest binary sunset, when Anakin is racing to find his mother in Attack of the Clones, and most recently showed up in the trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Written for the first prequel film, it’s most closely associated with the lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.
Padmé is directly responsible for that duel. When her pleas to the Senate fail to result in Republic action, Padmé builds her own coalition of misfits to fight for her planet, including the two Jedi.
Padmé is the protagonist of The Phantom Menace. “Duel of the Fates” isn’t her song, but her fate is part of the duel.
PadMay Day Two:
- Across the Stars (John Williams)
PadMay Day Three:
- Anakin and Padmé (Kevin Kliner)
PadMay Day Four:
- Binary Sunset (John Williams)
Anakin and Padmé are physically separated for their final scene before his turn. Physically apart but emotionally connected.
Sunsets on Tatooine highlight its binary suns. It is a simple but powerful effect used to turn Earth’s desert into a galaxy far, far away. Whether on Tatooine or another planet, sunsets in the Saga also include a binary of characters: lovers, twins, a dyad, Master and Padawan, Jedi and Sith.
- Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan argue about Anakin and the council as the sun sets on Coruscant in The Phantom Menace.
- In Attack of the Clones, Padmé watches Anakin speed off to find his mother.
- The sun sets on Anakin and Ahsoka as she leaves the Jedi Order in Clone Wars.
- Anakin and Obi-Wan argue about Palpatine and the council as the sun sets on Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith.
- Also in Revenge of the Sith, Anakin and Padmé watch the sunset in turmoil right before he chooses to protect Palpatine.
- The suns set on infant Leia and Luke at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
- Kanan & Hera and Kanan & Ezra share a few different sunsets in Rebels.
- In A New Hope, Luke watches the suns set after finding Leia’s hologram and learning of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- In The Last Jedi, the sun sets on Luke & Leia and Rey & Ben, both pairs separated but connected through the Force.
- The final frames of The Rise of Skywalker feature Tatooine’s sunsset as Luke and Leia are reunited but Ben and Rey remain apart.
PadMay Day Five:
- The Imperial March (John Williams)
PadMay Day Six:
- Padmé (Kevin Kiner)
PadMay Day Seven:
- Maiden Voyage (Joseph Shirley, Ludwig Goransson)