In The Phantom Menace, the senator from Naboo – Padmé Amidala – comes before the Senate because a droid army threatens the people of her home planet. Because she is afraid the Senate is too weak to remedy the situation, she calls for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum, ultimately leading to his replacement by Palpatine, who promises to be a stronger chancellor. Padmé's first act after unseating Valorum is to form an alliance with the "grand army" of the Gungans to take back her planet from the droids.
In Attack of the Clones, the senator from Naboo – Jar-Jar Binks – comes before the Senate because a droid army threatens the people of the Republic. Because everyone fears the Jedi are too weak to remedy the situation on their own, Jar-Jar calls for emergency powers to strengthen Chancellor Palpatine. Palpatine's first act after receiving these new powers is to form a "grand army" of the Republic to fight the droids.
Jar-Jar gives Padmé the idea to ally with the Gungans when he says, "Wesa warriors. Wesa got a grand army. That's why you no likin' us, mesa thinks." On the surface, the Naboo are a peace-loving people, but they harbor repressed impulses towards aggression; it is telling that their throne has a secret compartment with guns hidden inside it. Jar-Jar's comment suggests that the Naboo dislike the warlike Gungans because the Gungans reflect their own aggressive instincts – instincts they would rather repress and deny.
Palpatine manipulates representatives of Naboo by engineering situations charged with fear. This fear triggers them to act out of aggression, go against their stated interest in peace, and seek the strength of a "grand army." First, Padmé allies with the Gungans, reversing her earlier refusal to condone a course of action that would lead to war. Later, Jar-Jar takes Padmé's place as the representative of Naboo in the Senate and helps to authorize the creation of the Clone Army, reversing Padmé's earlier opposition to the idea. In both cases, the net result is that Palpatine – who started out as the senator from Naboo himself before becoming Chancellor – gains more power.
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Characters: Chancellor Valorum / Jar-Jar Binks / Padmé Amidala / Palpatine
Films: Episode I: The Phantom Menace / Episode II: Attack of the Clones
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Concepts: aggression / fear / repression / war and peace
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