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Okay, I have a question for you Prequel EU gurus out there...

We all know what happens to Shmi Skywalker in Episode II, but I recall some vague story from back in the day along the lines of "Qui Gon slipped a valuable jewel to Shmi and she used it to purchase her freedom later on."

I couldn't remember who said it, or the source, but now I can't locate it. Was this just a wild rumor? Fan speculation? Or was it in some official source and then retcon?

I confess it's been about six years since I read the novelization (never owned my own copy), and couldn't find it mentioned anywhere else. At the time I remember thinking it was stupid, but honestly thought it was some kind of "official" explanation (I think this was before Episode II had actually come out in theaters).

I'm just curious where that claim came from...

flash back in tattoinne's ghost

If Qui-gon had bought her freedom and not even told Anakin, he'd be a real fucking son of a bitch.

Ender wrote:flash back in tattoinne's ghost

Thanks!

So did it "really happen"? Was the novel canon? Or is it retconned now?

The Romulan Republic wrote:If Qui-gon had bought her freedom and not even told Anakin, he'd be a real fucking son of a bitch.

Well, he could have done that as a surprise... and the cutting in half stopped him from revealing it to Anakin.

I'm interested now in the context of the scene... was the whole point for Qui Gon to free Shmi in secret? Because if he had this jewel beforehand, why could he have used it to help buy the Ship parts... and if it were after the Pod Race, why not use it to buy Shmi right then and there?

The gem was obviously not worth enough to purchase spacecraft parts, or even make a significant dent in the cost, while Watto would likely refuse to let Shmi go after the podrace regardless of the gem's price, out of spite. They basically had to wait until Watto's frustration dies down and he'd be willing to let Shmi go.

Kurgan wrote:I'm interested now in the context of the scene... was the whole point for Qui Gon to free Shmi in secret? Because if he had this jewel beforehand, why could he have used it to help buy the Ship parts... and if it were after the Pod Race, why not use it to buy Shmi right then and there?

Qui Gon gave Shimi the gem AFTER they had left Tatooine..... through the equivalent of the Galactic Postal Service.

Its stated specifically that she received the gem only after Anakin had already left Shimi, and since that they left the planet on the same day, presumably, once Qui Gon reached the temple, he drew out some funds from the Jedi account and sent it to Shimi.

Since we know from Rogue Planet that Jedi don't generally have their own bank accounts and draw on temple funds, which are privately donated(along with presumably government funds), this probably accounts to abuse of Jedi funds, which explains why he never told Obiwan Kenobi and hence, Anakin.

That brings up a question: Why could they not access Jedi funds from on-planet to acquire money for that motivator? Or even send a call and ask for help? Are interstellar communications and banking that bad in the Old Republic? I mean, alright, they say Tatooine is outside the Republic sphere, but if the planet is supposedly the headquarters of a major Hutt lord, should there not be some bank that can handle such transactions?

Hell, why was there no single bank or moneylender who could exchange Jinn's money for local currency? I simply cannot believe commerce would be that primitive around a prime planetary spaceport. Is it just shitty writing on Evil's part, or has there been a rationalisation in some EU book?

They didn't want to make any communications for fear of the Trade Federation dropping in on them.
As for banking, I don't really think a shit hole like Tatooine would be home to any, really. Yeah it's Jabba's HQ but then it might be so precisely because it's a third rate shit hole, the Hutt equivalent of a country retreat or something.

Tatooine is basically an illegal shipping port, ultimately. It's little more than a place for smugglers to get jobs and lay low, in galactic terms. Basically, it's a little nothing planet in the middle of nowhere that happens to have a wierdness magnet attached making it central to various plotlines. Any exchange that happens there is likely to be the sort which has an absurdly unfair conversion rate.

from the little i remember of tatooine ghost the gem itself was of little value, but it was a crucial component in a rare and exotic starcraft or speeder which a certain Lars happened to have, Shmi gave him the gem and he traded the vehicle for her.

The Romulan Republic wrote:If Qui-gon had bought her freedom and not even told Anakin, he'd be a real fucking son of a bitch.

More of a son of a bitch than if he did bother to buy her freedom at all?

Marko Dash wrote:from the little i remember of tatooine ghost the gem itself was of little value, but it was a crucial component in a rare and exotic starcraft or speeder which a certain Lars happened to have, Shmi gave him the gem and he traded the vehicle for her.

Clever!

Kurgan wrote:

Marko Dash wrote:from the little i remember of tatooine ghost the gem itself was of little value, but it was a crucial component in a rare and exotic starcraft or speeder which a certain Lars happened to have, Shmi gave him the gem and he traded the vehicle for her.

Clever!

If only slightly convoluted.

What has never been adequately explained to me is why the Jedi aren't out helping people like those in slavery on Tatooine. Of course, they have duties to the Republic, but shouldn't their duties to the sentients of the galaxy by way of the Force have some bearing on the decisions they make?

DesertFly wrote:

Kurgan wrote:

Marko Dash wrote:from the little i remember of tatooine ghost the gem itself was of little value, but it was a crucial component in a rare and exotic starcraft or speeder which a certain Lars happened to have, Shmi gave him the gem and he traded the vehicle for her.

Clever!

If only slightly convoluted.

What has never been adequately explained to me is why the Jedi aren't out helping people like those in slavery on Tatooine. Of course, they have duties to the Republic, but shouldn't their duties to the sentients of the galaxy by way of the Force have some bearing on the decisions they make?

Emotional connections are bad, remember?

Not to mention they are probably obsenely busy- there is about 1 Jedi Knight per 10 thousand planets.

DesertFly wrote: If only slightly convoluted.

What has never been adequately explained to me is why the Jedi aren't out helping people like those in slavery on Tatooine. Of course, they have duties to the Republic, but shouldn't their duties to the sentients of the galaxy by way of the Force have some bearing on the decisions they make?

Out of the Republic Jurdisication? The Hutts must had some major political influence or power of some sort to had held off the Republic, espeically since prequel fluff shows the Republic having some influence over Tatooine/Hutt space,.

IIRC, didn't the Hutts remain aemi-autonomous during the New Order? That in itself would require a fuck load of clout.

DesertFly wrote:What has never been adequately explained to me is why the Jedi aren't out helping people like those in slavery on Tatooine. Of course, they have duties to the Republic, but shouldn't their duties to the sentients of the galaxy by way of the Force have some bearing on the decisions they make?

The Jedi were an arm of the State, so they had to abide by Republic directions, and the republic told them to stay in the republic as much as possible?

Darth Yoshi wrote:IIRC, didn't the Hutts remain aemi-autonomous during the New Order? That in itself would require a fuck load of clout.

The Hutts had a governor during the Han Solo books (the Hutt Gambit ones), and was attacked by an imperial fleet to restore order. But I do think they were for the most part autonomously ruled by the Hutts themselves.

Darth Onasi wrote:They didn't want to make any communications for fear of the Trade Federation dropping in on them.

Is Jedi cryptology so pathetic that the TradeFed could decipher a coded message and send people to deal with them as quick as/quicker than the Temple could? That is asinine.

As for banking, I don't really think a shit hole like Tatooine would be home to any, really. Yeah it's Jabba's HQ but then it might be so precisely because it's a third rate shit hole, the Hutt equivalent of a country retreat or something.

Except that they hold the supposedly greatest podracing contest in the Outer Rim. The betting around that alone should be of some importance.

open_sketchbook wrote:Tatooine is basically an illegal shipping port, ultimately. It's little more than a place for smugglers to get jobs and lay low, in galactic terms. Basically, it's a little nothing planet in the middle of nowhere that happens to have a wierdness magnet attached making it central to various plotlines. Any exchange that happens there is likely to be the sort which has an absurdly unfair conversion rate.

A major smuggler/pirate port is exactly the place I would expect to have a major exchange industry, what with the diverse currencies such people are paid in or else obtain.

Karmic Knight wrote:The Jedi were an arm of the State, so they had to abide by Republic directions, and the republic told them to stay in the republic as much as possible?

They were arguably never an agency of the Republic Authority, certainly not before Palpatine's massive consolidations in the Clone Wars. This is quite specifically stated; they were at most a quasigovernmental organisation in the time of the TradeFed's invasion of Naboo.

The Hutts had a governor during the Han Solo books (the Hutt Gambit ones), and was attacked by an imperial fleet to restore order. But I do think they were for the most part autonomously ruled by the Hutts themselves.

The Imperial State's authority over Hutt Space was at most a legal fiction, if the Han Solo trilogy's depiction is to be taken at face value; the Imperial employees on the Smugglers' Moon supposedly numbered in the single digit area.

Darth Hoth wrote:Is Jedi cryptology so pathetic that the TradeFed could decipher a coded message and send people to deal with them as quick as/quicker than the Temple could? That is asinine.

Who said anything about cryptology? They were probably more worried about the Trade Feds detecting and locating the origin of their transmission.

They were arguably never an agency of the Republic Authority, certainly not before Palpatine's massive consolidations in the Clone Wars. This is quite specifically stated; they were at most a quasigovernmental organisation in the time of the TradeFed's invasion of Naboo.

In theory. In practice they were at the beck and call of the Chancellor, per the intro the TPM which described Qui Gon and Obi Wan being sent to Naboo by Valorum.

Captain Seafort wrote:Who said anything about cryptology? They were probably more worried about the Trade Feds detecting and locating the origin of their transmission.

How would such a thing work; is the Queen Amidala's ship the only one with a hyperwave communicator on Tatooine? Is it else distinctive in such a way as to make it immediately traceable? There must be billions of communications in the Outer Rim alone; how would the Federation isolate theirs, in particular?

In theory. In practice they were at the beck and call of the Chancellor, per the intro the TPM which described Qui Gon and Obi Wan being sent to Naboo by Valorum.

The Power of the Jedi Sourcebook specifically states that "the Republic and the Jedi are not the same, and the Jedi hold no authority in the Republic." Furthermore, it notes that the Jedi "serve when asked and stand aside at all other times". The Jedi aided the Office of the Supreme Chancellor as auxiliaries when called for and liaised with the Judicials (under Senate oversight, as per Cloak of Deception) as part of their duties, in return for which they received limited governmental funding. They were indeed monitored by the Republic Authority, but maintained considerable latitude in their actions, whether on its behalf or not.

Darth Hoth wrote:How would such a thing work; is the Queen Amidala's ship the only one with a hyperwave communicator on Tatooine?

Wouldn't be surprised - the place is a backwards shithole, and hypercomms are, IIRC, rare and expensive bits of kit.

Is it else distinctive in such a way as to make it immediately traceable? There must be billions of communications in the Outer Rim alone; how would the Federation isolate theirs, in particular?

Of course it's distinctive - as I understand it, all comms devices have unique characteristics, or at the very least particular designs do. Even if there are a few hypercomms on the planet, if the TF detects Nubian transmissions from Tatooine, it's not to be one of the locals, is it?

The Power of the Jedi Sourcebook specifically states that "the Republic and the Jedi are not the same, and the Jedi hold no authority in the Republic." Furthermore, it notes that the Jedi "serve when asked and stand aside at all other times". The Jedi aided the Office of the Supreme Chancellor as auxiliaries when called for and liaised with the Judicials (under Senate oversight, as per Cloak of Deception) as part of their duties, in return for which they received limited governmental funding. They were indeed monitored by the Republic Authority, but maintained considerable latitude in their actions, whether on its behalf or not.

That's the official, legal, situation. In practice, the "guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic" did as the Chancellor requested, and were a de facto, if not de jure, arm of the Republic's executive branch. If they were not, then why were they used as the Chancellor's personnal emissaries, why were they freqently used as the Chancellor's advisors, why were they used as bodyguards, why were they used as an internal investigatory service, and why were they used as special forces and military commanders, all before Palpatine's Clone War reorganisations?

Except that they hold the supposedly greatest podracing contest in the Outer Rim. The betting around that alone should be of some importance.

Since when? As I understand it, Malastare is the Podracing capital by far. Certainly, the Boonta seems to attract a fair number of exotic racers, but I've never seen anything to make me think it's the greatest anything.