The novel's ending will segue into the beginning of The Phantom Menace.
It's a prequel detailing the early part of Padmé's reign, and the announcement article included a mention from the author that the Trade Federation might be showing up and causing trouble...- Jossed; the second half of the novel actually covers the events of The Phantom Menace, rather than it simply being referenced in the ending.
The real names of the original handmaidens besides Sabé will be revealed.
Queen's Shadow revealed many of the names of the handmaidens seen in Attack of the Clones, so it's likely that this novel can reveal the real names of all the handmaidens seen in The Phantom Menace.- Confirmed.
The novel will have an epilogue that ties into that of Queen's Shadow.
Queen's Shadow ended with an epilogue set after the end of Revenge of the Sith. So maybe this novel will reveal what may have happened with Sabé and Tonra after changing their identities to discover why Padmé truly died? Maybe it could even tie in with the Darth Vader (2020) comic series, which shows Sabé is looking for answers of Padmé's death by the end of The Empire Strikes Back...King Veruna will appear.
King Veruna has been stated to have been the Monarch of Naboo before a fourteen years old Padmé defeated him in an election. If the novel begins before Padmé gets elected, possibly we can see how Veruna lost the election to Padmé. Or at the very least, we can expect a mention of him.- Jossed. Veruna not only doesn't appear, it's established that Padmé's immediate predecessor was a woman named Queen Sanandrassa (which contradicts the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded).
One of Padmé's handmaidens will be transgender, nonbinary or AMAB.
Back when writing Queen's Shadow, E.K. Johnston toyed with the possibility
of revealing Versé to be transgender, but desisted from openly mentioning it in the novel when she realized she couldn't do it justice. In the same tweet, however, E.K. noted that she is a better writer now and can do it better next time, so maybe she uses this idea here now?Characters of Padmé's life who may appear
As a Prequel to The Phantom Menace, there are many characters from the prequel trilogy and Star Wars: The Clone Wars who could be making an appearance in the novel. Here are some previously seen characters that could be appearing in the novel:- Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie - As Padmé's parents, I think it's pretty obvious that those two will be making an appearance, possibly aiding their daughter on her queen campaign. Especially if you consider that their scenes were deleted from Attack of the Clones. This is a good opportunity to flesh out her relationship with their daughter.
- Sola Naberrie - Same as her parents. Her scenes were deleted from Attack of the Clones, so this can be also a great opportunity to flesh out her relationship with Padmé as previously done in Queen's Shadow.
- Palo Jemabie - In Attack of the Clones, Padmé mentions that she used to be in a relationship with a boy named Palo back when she served in the Legislative Youth Program at age twelve. Padmé is fourteen years old in the novel, so perhaps a flashback can explain why they choose to end their relationship before parting ways? It's even stated that Palo created a poster for Padmé to publicize her coronation. This may be the perfect time to explore that relationship...
- Mon Mothma - We see Padmé and Mon Mothma being great friends in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And Mothma joins the Senate the same year The Phantom Menace takes place according to Queen's Shadow, so this should be the perfect moment to introduce Mothma into Padmé's life.
- Onaconda Farr - Another Star Wars: The Clone Wars character who has a connection to Padmé Amidala: Onaconda Farr, or best known as "Uncle Ono" by Padmé. In "Bombad Jedi", it's mentioned that Padmé met Farr when she was a young girl given Farr's friendship with Ruwee Naberrie's, Padmé's fater. Maybe the novel depicts to us their first encounter...
- Nute Gunray - His screentime with Padmé during The Phantom Menace indicate that they already know each other. Perhaps we can see here that they first met while Gunray was possibly visiting Naboo while deciding which Outer Rim planet the Trade Federation would blockade. A prelude with the events that led to the Naboo Crisis, to be precise.
- Rune Haako - He is always seen as Nute Gunray's second-in-command. If we get to see Gunray, maybe we will also get to spot Haako...only if Gunray shows up, of course.
- Senator Palpatine - By the time of The Phantom Menace, Padmé is depicted as already knowing Palpatine. Given that this is set before the prequels, it's highly likely that we will see how they first met, and possibly how Palpatine started to manipulate the young Amidala into doing what he wanted to proceed with the Sith's Grand Plan.
- Jar Jar Binks - Granted, Padmé doesn't meet Jar Jar until the events of The Phantom Menace, but that doesn't mean that Jar Jar can't appear in the story. Maybe some kind of short cameo where he appears doing some clumsy thing, or even being shown the moment he was exiled from Otoh Gunga, considering that the Gungan-Naboo dispute will be mentioned in the novel.
- Partly confirmed, partly jossed. Jobal and Ruwee (Padmé's parents), Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, Palpatine and Jar Jar Binks all appear. Sola (Padmé's sister) appears in a hologram. Onaconda Farr, Mon Mothma and Palo Jemabie don't appear, nor are they mentioned significantly.
Darth Plagueis will make an appearance.
Back in the Star Wars Legends continuity, under his public persona of Hego Damask II, Darth Plagueis contributed to the Invasion of Naboo and was killed by Palpatine following Maul's "death". In the new continuity, we still don't know if Plagueis died before or after The Phantom Menace, so maybe his role in the events at Naboo could be recanonized or at least his public identity. It should be noted also that in Episode I, there's a mysterious black-hooded guy present on Naboo's Senate pod. This guy doesn't appear later for the rest of the prequels. Perhaps this guy is Plagueis and the reason of his disapperance was his death at Palpatine's hands?- Perhaps Plagueis will not be appearing, as the novel's focus is on Padmé but maybe we can expect a mention of him?
- Jossed. The novel furthermore clarifies that Palpatine is the reigning Sith Lord and Maul is already his apprentice. Thus, we can assume that canonically Plagueis didn't survive so long like in the Legends novel Darth Plagueis, which many fans hoped to see recanonized.
- Perhaps Plagueis will not be appearing, as the novel's focus is on Padmé but maybe we can expect a mention of him?
...Or maybe Snoke gets an appearance.
Some fans still desire know why Snoke was retconned from his own persona to an artificial alien in The Rise of Skywalker. If the Novelization of The Force Awakens is anything to go by, Snoke was apparently created at the very least before Revenge of the Sith. And in The Phantom Menace, as previously mentioned, there's a mysterious black-hooded guy is present on Naboo's Senate pod who doesn't appear in the next two installments. Like mentioned above, maybe this guy is Plagueis, but perhaps it can be an early appearance of Snoke? Maybe Palpatine created him by this point and took him to the Senate to learn some leadership skills?An in-universe explanation for Padmé's immense wardrobe will be given.
Padmé Amidala is always remembered for that immense wardrobe she displayed when she was the Queen. Maybe an in-universe reason for her wardrobe's size is because she didn't have too many clothes before she was crowned queen? Or a Naboo fashion stylist or tailor wanted to create clothes specifically for her?Padmé will start as a bratty and immature queen
Though we see in The Phantom Menace that Padmé is a mature and wise queen, willing to do whatever she needs to guarantee the safety of her homeworld, maybe she wasn't always that way. This trooper's theory is that she will start being a little bratty and selfish when she becomes queen and at some point some tragedy happens, leading Padmé to rethink her behaviour and start acting selflessly, becoming the beloved queen of Naboo we all know and adore.- Jossed. Padmé is depicted as compassionate, selfless and Wise Beyond Their Years right from the start, though she does occasionally defy or undermine Captain Panaka to sneak out and do normal teenager things.
- One could have expected this not to be the case given that we already knew Padmé was elected specifically for being Wise Beyond Her Years. Remember, it's not a hereditary position. And we already knew that she had served in the Apprentice Legislature and later as the supervisor of the capital city of Theed before becoming Queen.
