Memoirs of a Sith Lord

How Padmé really Died

It was a long time before I escaped, or was summoned, again. When it finally happened, I was on Mustafar, the planet of fire, the place where my skin was burned from me. When I arrived, the spiritual chains took hold at once and bound me to the site of my death. Fire cannot burn me any longer, but memories could. And this place abounded with them.

"The place, this is," said Yoda. "The place where you nearly killed Padmé."

Even after all I'd told them, they still believed the stories they'd cobbled together for themselves. I laughed, bitterly.

"Here your lies we will uncover," Yoda said. "Strangled Padmé you did, before Obi-Wan struck you down."

"Well," Obi-Wan said, "Luke may have taken a little liberty with historical facts. We fought on Mustafar twice."

Yoda gave him a withering look. "Mentioned this before meeting in tribunal, you might have done."

"The first time, Lord Vader choked her and left her badly injured. I retreated and took Padmé to safety."

"So," Yoda said to me. "Loved your Padmé, you would have us believe. How do you explain this?"

I pounded my fists into the lava of Mustafar. "You don't understand the power of the Dark Side. I sensed the presence of life in Padmé's womb, and I feared the Emperor would discover the truth as well. What he might have done to my children--it was something I feared beyond anything. I resisted him, here as at other times. I unleashed a portion of my anger at Padmé to drive her away, to keep her and the children safe."

Yoda snorted. "Ridiculous this is. Hide her from you we did."

"Obi-Wan, you tell him," I said.

"Well," Obi-Wan looked away and scratched his neck. "Well. He has a point. Her children were strong in the force. Both of them. You couldn't expect Anakin--sorry, Lord Vader--not to pick up on something like that. I always wondered how we were able to keep that secret."

Yoda glared, menacingly. "Need to talk more often, we do, Obi-Wan."

"The second conflict," I said, "when Obi-Wan bested me. I'm still not sure how he did it. I had him on the run, but then he got me instead. No one here, I'm sure, believes that nonsense about 'higher ground.'"

Everyone looked at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan looked at his feet.

"Something to share, do you have Obi-Wan?" Yoda asked.

"I was in top form that day," Obi-Wan said. "I loaded up on carbohydrates the day before. Stretched."

The council remained silent. Fiery pain stabbed along my arms. Finally, Obi-Wan said, "Oh, to the Dark Side with it. I planted explosive devices all through that cave and lured Lord Vader to stand over top of one." He paused. "The Trade Federation was dumping munitions at a really low price."

"So," said Yoda, scratching his head. "If an ally of Lord Vader Padmé was, why of a broken heart did she die?"

We all stared at him.

"No," Obi-Wan said. "She didn't die of a broken heart. She was burned to death."

Yoda blinked. "What did you say?"

"And her body was found here on Mustafar," Obi-Wan added.

They all looked at Obi-Wan. When he shrugged, they looked to me.

This was the greatest lie of them all, the greatest truth, the most important secret. "The Force has great power to extend life. I used it, holding myself together as I burned. The Emperor himself stretched his might across space to aid me, hoping against hope that I'd find a way out. Death was close. But there was nothing I could do. I was immobile, fighting a losing battle against destruction."

"So what happened?" Yoda asked. He hopped nervously from foot to foot.

"Padmé. She'd stowed away on Obi-Wan's cruiser. She put on one of the worksuits used by the laborers on Mustafar and waded into the lava to save me."

"No," Obi-Wan said. His hands went to his mouth, and I swear, ghostly tears ran down his face.

"The suit was not rated for walking directly into the magma," I said in a hollow voice. "Just for working along the edges. She died saving me."

Yoda wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Beautiful, this story of love and self-sacrifice is."

For once, I agreed with him.

"Talk more, will we when Lord Vader is safe," Yoda said and gave Obi-Wan a squint-eyed glare.

And with that they sent me, rather unceremoniously I might add, back to my spiritual prison.

Wait. When Lord Vader is safe? What did that mean?