Tear Jerker / The Phantom Menace

And his death among many others marked the beginning of something worse down the line...

• Qui-Gon's death after the battle with Darth Maul.
  • That he tells Obi-Wan, who he has a father/son relationship with, to train Ani when he obviously wants to say something different is another one. The way he gently brushes his tears away is heartbreaking.
  • Made even worse when you realise that Obi-Wan freaking knows that Qui-Gon is losing the fight. His expression goes from anxious to terrified during the sequence, and then the Big "NO!" happens...
  • As if his death itself weren't sad enough, there's also the later scene of his funeral pyre, as pictured.
  • Qui-Gon's death becomes even more tragic, when it's revealed to be the catalyst for Anakin's journey to the Dark Side. According to Dave Filoni, Qui-Gon's duel against Maul was the fight that would ultimately determine the fate of Anakin Skywalker. Had Qui-Gon won, Anakin would've had a understanding mentor and father figure that he needed, and wouldn't have sought a Parental Substitute in Palpatine, which could've prevented him from falling to the Dark Side. The moment Qui-Gon was impaled by Maul, Anakin's fate as Darth Vader was sealed.
    • Qui-Gon's death also had an impact on his former master Count Dooku. While he was already Slowly Slipping Into Evil offscreen, Qui-Gon remained his main Morality Chain. Once Qui-Gon died, Dooku's fate as Darth Tyranus was also sealed.
• Before Anakin left Tatooine, he asked his mother if they would meet again. Those who watched the following film know that they will, but under very painful circumstances.
• When Anakin had to choose between his life on Tatooine with his mother or following his life dream of becoming a Jedi Knight. Made even worse that he eventually turns Sith.
• Mixed with Nightmare Fuel, but during the escape of Naboo, the shields are damaged, which results in R2-D2 and three other R2 droids waking up to fix the shield generator. As the droids try to repair the shields, they're all shot and destroyed except for R2-D2, letting out a loud noise that rather disturbingly sounds like a human scream of agony and horror each time they die.
  • A particularly heartbreaking interpretation of this scene is that the droids that were destroyed were his siblings who came from the same creator. If this is the case, this makes R2 the sole survivor of his family's slaughter.
• It really hurts to think how Anakin was such a cute, caring, helpful kid before he turned into Vader.
  • What's worse is that he sees the Jedi as the ultimate saviors, out to free the slaves on Tatooine and virtually unkillable. That myth he holds on to slowly crumbles over the course of the film as he finds himself initially rejected by Jedi Council for simply being too old and later on, after the Battle of Naboo, learns that his Jedi father figure Qui-Gon was killed by a Sith Lord. As the next two films reveal, it only goes downhill from here.
    Qui-Gon Jinn: Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him.
    Anakin Skywalker: I don't think so, no one can kill a Jedi.
    Qui-Gon Jinn: [smiles tenderly] I wish that were so.
• In the deleted scene introducing the podracers on the grid, we see the commentators introducing racer Ratts Tyerell and his family, including his newborn child. One lap into the race, he was killed when he crashed into a stalactite. Cue the tears of sympathy for his family when you realise that his family was likely watching the entire incident take place. Shmi states earlier how much she hates it when Watto makes Anakin race. No doubt she's terrified of watching something like this happen to him.
• Shortly after the Senate meeting, the Queen is dressed in mourning wear and looking out the window. The look on her face is hard to watch as she knows that the longer she sits there, the more people on her planet are going to die.
  Jar Jar: Do you think yousa people is going to die?
  Amidala: (mask just slips) I don't know.
• During her meeting with the Senate, Amidala tries to calmly address the senators about the crisis on Naboo...only to be cut off by the Trade Federation's senator. As the senators discuss having a committee to discern the truth of the matter, whilst completely ignoring Amidala, she is left struggling to maintain her composure. For all her heavy make-up, fancy crown and regal clothes make her look larger-than-life, for a moment we are starkly reminded that she is just a fourteen-year-old girl, newly elected into office, who is surrounded by corrupt and powerful people much older and more politically experienced than her, whom she must somehow persuade to help her as her people's fate hangs in the balance.
• There is also Chancellor Valorum, who by all counts is a reasonable authority figure who wants to do right for Naboo and the Republic as a whole. However, he is hamstrung by the corruption, factionalism and political dysfunction gripping the Senate and bureaucracy, reducing him into the alleged boss. Things come to a head when he is unable to get the Senate to act to end the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo, resulting in Amidala calling for a no-confidence vote against him as a last resort. As the enormity of it all sinks in, he can only collapse into his chair with a heartbreakingly stunned expression as he fully realizes that his career is over. Thus is the last democratic head of state of the Galactic Republic forced out of office, only to be replaced by someone much worse, though that will only become apparent much later...
• The look of shocked hurt on Obi-Wan's face when his master Qui-Gon tells the council that he wants to train Anakin, apparently completely forgetting that he already has a Padawan. It's even worse when you realize Qui-Gon dies the next day.

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