Questions tagged [the-phantom-menace]

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999, fourth movie produced), was the first of the "prequel trilogy" Star Wars movies. It tells the story of Anakin Skywalker, and how he became the apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Use with the [star-wars] tag.

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Are there too many Sith in The Phantom Menace?

I read on Wookieepedia that Darth Plagueis was still plotting with Darth Sidious during "The Phantom Menace". If Plagueis is Sidious' Master and Maul is Sidious' Sith Apprentice doesn't that violate ...
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Why didn't the Jedi/Sith use Force pull/push in the generator complex?

When on the bridges/catwalks, why did neither the Jedi nor the Sith use the Force to push/pull their enemy to their death? The Jedi may have had a purpose, but why didn't the Sith use it? Every Jedi ...
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Why did the Trade Federation blockade Naboo?

In Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the Trade Federation blockades Naboo at the start of the film. The opening crawl says the reason for this is due to taxes the Republic is charging. ...
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81 votes
10 answers
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Who was "The Phantom Menace"?

This might seem ridiculous, but I realised that, years after I watched the film, I've still no idea to whom the title was referring. Who was it? Anakin - not realising his hidden (phantom) side? ...
Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE's user avatar
23 votes
3 answers
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How did half of Darth Maul survive?

From what I have read on Wookieepedia, Darth Maul survived by using the Force, drawing from his hate to hang to a air vent, but then what? He crawled to a spaceship with his entrails sliding out?
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Why can Darth Maul successfully combat Qui-gon and Obi-Wan simultaneously, but not easily defeat them individually?

In the scene between Darth Maul and the two Jedi, multiple times he's faced with fighting just one while the other isn't relevant to the fight: (a) first when Obi-Wan falls down several levels, and (b)...
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Why didn't anyone free Shmi Skywalker?

One thing that's always confused me during Star Wars was the fact that NO ONE freed or even did anything to help Shmi. I mean, this is the mother of the Chosen One. Why didn't the Jedi do anything? I ...
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Why didn't Qui-Gon Jinn use his Jedi mind tricks to exchange his Republic credits?

In Star Wars Episode I, Qui-Gon Jinn tries to use his Jedi mind tricks to convince Watto that Republic credits will do fine as payment for the hyperdrive they need. Conveniently, mind tricks don't ...
ShemSeger's user avatar
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What Purpose Did the Laser Gates in "The Phantom Menace" Serve?

In this question about Obi-Wan crossing all the laser gates during the duel with Darth Maul, there's this good screen shot of the laser gates: Which raises a question I've wondered about over and ...
Tango's user avatar
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Can Watto get drunk and blow up Anakin?

In The Phantom Menace, Anakin talks about having a bomb inside of him and, should he try to escape, Watto can simply blow him up. SHMI: All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies ...
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Why was Padmé made to clean an astromech?

Reading the answer to a question about Sabé (the Amidala stand-in) I remembered that I always wondered why she ordered the actual queen to scrub R2-D2. There were enough actual servants who could have ...
bitmask's user avatar
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Did Darth Plagueis know about Darth Maul?

During the events of Episode 1, Darth Plagueis is still alive, although he is never mentioned or seen on screen (Plagueis wasn't killed until Palpatine was Chancellor). The Sith Lord we do see is of ...
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Why did Padme use her real name?

Near the end of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Queen Amidala reveals that she's also Padme, one of the Queen's handmaidens. She would travel freely as Padme, and have Sabe, one of her ...
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Why did Qui-Gon advance against Darth Maul without Obi-Wan?

In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi engage in a two-on-one battle against Darth Maul. Together, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan seem evenly matched against Darth Maul, with both sides getting ...
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Where are Obi-Wan Kenobi's and Qui-gon Jinn's lightsabers?

In Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, when Darth Maul kills Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi starts a saber duel with Darth Maul, and Darth Maul uses a force push on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan hangs on ...
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Does every podracer pilot have Jedi-like reflexes?

In episode I, when Anakin mentions to Qui-Gon that he is a podracer pilot (and the only human one), Qui-Gon tells him that he must have Jedi reflexes. Does he mean that because Anakin is human and ...
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Did Palpatine expect Darth Maul and the Trade Federation to be successful in the Phantom Menace?

I recently re-watched parts of the Phantom Menace and it doesn't seem clear to me whether or not Palpatine planned for the counter-insurgency to be successful on Naboo. Darth Maul's unsuccessful ...
Mark Rogers's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
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Timeline of events in/around 32 BBY

I would like to get the timeline of the following events - which has never been entirely clear to me - straightened out once and for all: The Phantom Menace - including the Battle of Naboo, the ...
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How did "Weird Al" Yankovic predict "The Phantom Menace"?

In the "Weird Al" Yankovic song The Saga Begins, he makes a bunch of predictions about Episode One that all seem to be valid, and unless I'm mistaken wrote the majority of the song before ...
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What's in Naboo's core, liquid water or plasma?

One of the many things that bothers me about The Phantom Menace is the part where Obi-wan, Qui-gon, and Jar-Jar drive through 'the planet core'. I assumed that this meant that they literally drove ...
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Why was the trade federation's blockade on Naboo legal?

This question came about from this quote very early in the film. NUTE: Yes, yes, of course...ahhh...as you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to receive the Ambassador Link ...
Shadow's user avatar
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What exactly are the Jedi measuring in the Phantom Menace?

In this clip from the Phantom Menace, we see Qui-Gon take a blood sample from Anakin and have Obi-Wan analyze it for midi-chlorians. From there they get this number: Anakin has a midi-chlorian count ...
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How did Padme's decoy from The Phantom Menace know what to say all of the time?

Queen Amidala's stand-in for the majority of the film is constantly negotiating with senators, Trade Federation leaders, and even Jedi. How did she know what Padme's wishes were, and how did she know ...
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1 answer
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What is the significance of the glowing orb at the end of the Phantom Menace?

At the end of the Phantom Menace, at the celebration on Naboo, Boss Nass (if memory serves), holds aloft a great, glowing orb. I remember reading at the time that Lucas had some great significance ...
Chris B. Behrens's user avatar
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2 answers
10k views

Was Boss Nass a Gungan?

I'll admit that this seems a silly question, but after observing the images from this recent question I had the obvious realization that other than skin tone and dress, Boss Nass looks absolutely ...
RLH's user avatar
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32 votes
4 answers
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How powerful was Darth Maul?

Beside from his slaying of Qui-Gon and his subsequent death at the hands of the young Obi-Wan, I don't know many things about Darth Maul. I read somewhere that Dooku was considering him merely a ...
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How do you go from Naboo to Tatooine without the hyperdrive?

According to Star Wars wiki, the two planets are in different star systems. How did Queen Amidala and the two Jedi get to Tatooine with a broken hyperdrive? Wouldn't that take thousands of years at ...
Jasmine's user avatar
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27 votes
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Why did Anakin build C3PO?

C3P0 is a protocol droid that seems to be used mainly for translations. Anakin said he built it to help his mother do her work. What use would a protocal droid be to a slave? (Please note that this ...
Stefan's user avatar
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Why Obi-Wan wasn't able to cross all laser gates in the fight with Darth Maul?

At some point during the battle between Qui-Gon and Darth Maul, then enter a corridor. Obi-Wan follows them, but is separated from them by some kind of laser gates. Qui-Gon and Darth Maul reach ...
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23 votes
8 answers
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Why Didn't Darth Maul Slice Obi-Wan When he Jumped over Him?

At the end of his Duel with Darth Maul, Obi-Wan is trapped on the edge of a pit. He then jumps up out of it, calls Qui-Gon's lightsaber and chops the Sith Lord. While in the air, Obi-Wan did a Berani ...
DavRob60's user avatar
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2 answers
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Why didn't a more experienced Jedi train Anakin?

At the end of The Phantom Menace Yoda and Obi-Wan have a conversation in which Yoda voices his concerns regarding Anakin. He also reveals that the Jedi Council has agreed to train Anakin, and that Obi-...
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21 votes
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How did Anakin restore a protocol droid and build a pod racer in secret?

With Anakin being a slave it is reasonable to believe that anything he may have built or salvaged would belong to his master/owner, Watto. Considering how technically proficient Anakin was, which ...
Xantec's user avatar
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20 votes
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If Queen Amidala had signed the treaty, would the Republic Senate recognize it as legitimate?

We learn in the opening crawl of The Phantom Menace that the Trade Federation has set up a blockade around Naboo in response to taxation of trade routes. The opening crawl states: Hoping to resolve ...
Spar10 Leonidas's user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
13k views

How is Anakin’s nickname spelt?

This question was inspired by Valorum’s answer to the question on what the Tuskens did with Shmi Skywalker. In it, he quotes the following from the official Attack of the Clones novelisation: ...
Janus Bahs Jacquet's user avatar
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2 answers
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How did Darth Maul know that Amidala was on Tatooine?

After evading the Trade Federation blockade, Padmé and her chums make an emergency landing on Tatooine. Sidious and Maul are hunting for them and appear to use a transmission from Sio Bibble as bait ...
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What is the history of Gungans and their tech?

The Gungans have a dry city underwater, which keeps the water at bay via force fields that block water, but not people entering them. This struck me as odd, as I wouldn't think they'd evolve to be an ...
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14 votes
2 answers
9k views

Is this Maz Kanata?

My wife and I were watching The Phantom Menace after watching The Force Awakens. In the scene right before Anakin shows Padme C-3PO, it shows a clip of his room. In that scene everyone has had the ...
Darktwin18's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
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When did the name "Sidious" first appear?

In the Star Wars movies, we first hear the name "Sidious" used in The Phantom Menace (referring, of course, to Palpatine). Did this name appear earlier in any other media, or was that name created ...
Lee Goodloe's user avatar
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2 answers
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What did Qui-Gon mean by "We cannot use our power to help her"?

In Episode I, when Queen Amidala returns to Naboo and is comming up with a plan to attack the Trade Federation, Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan that they cannot use their power to help her: OBI-WAN: Do you ...
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Did Obi-Wan sense Darth Sidious at the beginning of Phantom Menace?

At the beginning of The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan remarks that he has a bad feeling, not about the mission, but something else elusive. Is it Sidious?
Max Nocerino's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
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Was Darth Maul part of the Separatist movement?

In Star Wars Battlefront II (2005 and 2017), we see Darth Maul in the side of the Separatist. In the Phantom Menace, The Confederacy of Independent Systems or the Separatist is not yet formed only ...
The Witch King of Angmar's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
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Is there evidence that Lucas intentionally introduced similarities between Episodes I and IV?

Is there evidence that Lucas intentionally introduced similarites between Episodes I and IV? A Skywalker boy (Luke/Anakin) lives with his relatives in Tatooine, until he encounters a Jedi master (Obi ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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How did the Trade Federation plan to "process" Queen Amidala?

In Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Nute Gunray instructs a Droid Commander to "process them" (referring to Queen Amidala and her entourage). The Droid Commander then asks they be taken to "...
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