In the middle film of both the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies, a heroine goes on a rescue mission set in motion by the sacrifice of her double, who died fulfilling her duty. The heroine is joined on the mission by a young man who dislikes following orders, and she teaches him about the relationship between duty and sacrifice.
In the opening scene of Attack of the Clones, Senator Padmé Amidala’s ship explodes, killing her lookalike bodyguard Cordé. When Padmé won’t leave Cordé’s body to get to safety, Captain Typho reminds her that, to honor Cordé’s death, she must stay alive for the Republic: “You did your duty, Cordé did hers.”
When Obi-Wan Kenobi goes looking for Cordé’s murderers, he is captured on the planet Geonosis. Padmé insists that she and Anakin Skywalker go rescue him, leading Anakin to disobey an order he doesn’t like (“stay where you are”) to obey another he would have followed anyway (“protect the Senator at all costs”). But later, when Anakin insists on rescuing Padmé instead of pursuing Count Dooku, he begrudgingly accepts his master’s order. Obi-Wan asks him, “What do you think Padmé would do were she in your position?” Anakin answers, “She would do her duty.” Just as Padmé imitated Cordé’s dutifulness by leaving her behind, Anakin imitates Padmé’s by leaving her behind. Padmé’s example reminds Anakin that duty often requires sacrifice.
In the opening scene of The Last Jedi, gunner Paige Tico sacrifices herself to blow up a First Order Dreadnaught so the Resistance, including her sister Rose, can escape. To ensure that Paige didn’t die in vain, Rose goes with Finn on a mission to disable the First Order’s hyperdrive tracker. When Rose first meets Finn, she arrests him for attempted desertion, but by the end of the film, he is inspired by Rose’s heroism to sacrifice his life for the Resistance just as Paige did.
However, sacrifices aren’t always dutiful. Paige did her duty out of love for Rose and the Resistance. But unbeknownst to Paige, her superior Poe Dameron was disobeying an order to retreat when he sent her into battle. While Paige was fulfilling her duty to love, Poe was failing his: he considered it his responsibility to destroy as many of his enemies as possible, not to keep alive as many of his people as possible. But later, having learned his lesson, Poe orders a retreat on the planet Crait. When Finn disobeys and tries to sacrifice himself anyway, Rose violently prevents him from dying needlessly. In doing this, she imitates her sister by risking herself out of love for another. When Rose tells Finn, “That’s how we win: not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love,” she is teaching him that, whether it requires dying or staying alive, his first duty is to love.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Anakin Skywalker / Cordé / Finn / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Padmé Amidala / Paige Tico / Poe Dameron / Rose Tico
Films: Episode II: Attack of the Clones / Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
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