Padmé Naberrie's amulet

Padmé Naberrie's amulet
The "handmaiden" Padmé Naberrie lends her amulet to "the Queen", Sabé.
Basics
Type	Amulet
In Universe
Wearers	Padmé Naberrie Sabé
Purposes	Worn as a necklace Legends · Symbolize love and protection
Materials	Legends · Stone Legends · Transparisteel
Created	Legends · By Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie, at least two years before Padmé Naberrie became Queen Amidala
Owned	Padmé Naberrie New Canon · Sabé
Out of Universe
Created For	Legends · The Queen's Amulet

Padmé (concerned)

Dear friend, take this amulet. I know you are as well schooled in the warrior arts as I am, but disguised as the Queen you are in the most dangerous position of all. Wear this amulet as a symbol of my gratitude for your bravery.

[Padmé holds the amulet out to Sabé]

Sabé

I can't take your amulet, my Queen. To protect you and serve Naboo is my honor.

[Padmé fastens the amulet around Sabé's neck]

Padmé

When Naboo is safe I will wear it once again.

— Padmé Naberrie and Sabé

Padmé Naberrie's amulet, a treasured item worn as a necklace, changed hands from Padmé Naberrie to Sabé when they began the decoy maneuver for the invasion of Naboo. In Legends, Padmé's parents, Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie, crafted the amulet and gave it to Padmé years before she became Queen of Naboo. In New Canon, Padmé told Sabé to keep the necklace after the Battle of Naboo.

Out-of-universe, the amulet was created for the 1999 young readers book The Queen's Amulet, which was a tie-in to Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. It was written by Julianne Balmain, illustrated by Matilda Harrison, and packaged with a plastic replica of the necklace. The amulet wasn't part of The Phantom Menace film, but it showed up again in Star Wars Episode I Journal: Queen Amidala by Jude Watson. The New Canon Queen's Shadow by E. K. Johnston has a necklace with the same story role.

The real world

Gee + Chung Design, the company responsible for the book design of The Queen's Amulet, says on its website that the set "comes complete with an illustrated book and functional keepsake locket housed in a reusable jewelry box [...] The locket is easily removed from the package to be worn by the user. The jewelry box provides ample storage upon removal of the cardboard liner." The back of the box proclaims it includes "a replica of the Queen's very own amulet". Inside the packaging, it adds, "Use this cord to wear your amulet, and save this box to hold your amulet and other keepsakes." The keepsake replica locket is made of plastic.

In-universe story

Legends

Take it. It's all I have to give.

— Padmé Naberrie, to Sabé

Padmé Naberrie's amulet

Padmé Naberrie had an amulet that was "only transparisteel and stone", but she always wore it and it meant everything to her. It was made by her parents, Ruwee (her father) and Jobal Naberrie (her mother). Ruwee found the smooth stone on their family's land, Jobal crafted the clasp, and the amulet was worn on a cord. It was a gift to Padmé when she left to take on the Governorship of Theed; she was the ruler of Theed for two years before she was elected Queen of Naboo. She later wrote in her journal about Anakin Skywalker giving her a japor snippet carved into a pendant, and how he told her, "It will bring your good fortune." Her entry drew this comparison: "How funny. Those are almost exactly the words my father used when he handed me my amulet."

During her time as Queen, Padmé visited a meadow outside of Theed and unknowingly lost her amulet in a grove of towering trees. The next day, she startled awake after a bad dream that included her amulet falling to the ground. She reached for her throat but only felt the necklace cord instead of the expected amulet. As she tried to remember when she'd last felt its weight, Sabé entered the Queen's room and asked what was wrong. Padmé decided they would both get dressed and find the amulet before others woke up. Sabé dressed in a deep blue hooded cloak and either a layered dress or a light blue tunic and dark blue skirt; Padmé wore a black cloak (and for some reason Queen Amidala's throne room gown, which is not outdoor wear).

When they exited Theed for the countryside, it was dawn and the tall grasses still had dew. Padmé and Sabé searched through the leaves in the grove and the latter spotted the sparkle of the amulet's polished metal. Grateful, Padmé held it and said, "I can always count on you, Sabé." They hurried back to the palace to try to keep the counselors there from realizing their Queen was out without a full entourage.

Back in Theed Royal Palace, troops guarded every door. Queen Amidala rushed to the throne room and learned the planet was surrounded by battleships (Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo). Watching through the palace windows, Amidala saw the first troops land. She touched her amulet and quietly spoke to Sabé. Telling no one, they went to the Queen's private chambers to change their attire. Sabé dressed in Queen Amidala's black travel gown to serve as the Queen's decoy, while Padmé put on flame-colored robes to pretend she was one of her own handmaidens.

Padmé wrote, "The amulet means everything to me. All the love and protection my parents gave to me is concentrated into that smooth stone." With that in mind, she took off her amulet and told Sabé to wear it. Sabé would be in the most dangerous position while disguised as the Queen, and Padmé also wanted to express her gratitude for her dear friend's bravery. Sabé initially refused to accept the amulet, saying it was her honor to serve Naboo and protect Padmé, but Padmé fastened the necklace around Sabé's neck anyway and said she would wear it again when Naboo was safe. (Whether or not she ever did is not part of these stories.)

New Canon

[Padmé] felt at her neck for the locket, forgetting for a moment that she no longer wore it. She had given it to Sabé as a token, two girls on a planet watching the sky above them fill with starships that blocked them in. It had been a childish gesture, though no less genuine for its innocence, and one of the last such gestures she had ever made. The Trade Federation had seen to that. Sabé had tried to give the necklace back to her after the Battle of Naboo, as Padmé had directed, but by then, Padmé had changed her mind and told Sabé it was hers to keep, the thanks of a planet that would never fully appreciate what she had done.

— Padmé Amidala Naberrie's internal narrative, several years after the event she's remembering

The same concept—that Padmé wore a treasured necklace and gave it to Sabé when the Trade Federation invaded Naboo—reoccurs in the novel Queen's Shadow by E. K. Johnston, with an item specifically called a "locket" (rather than the word "amulet"). Padmé has become Senator Amidala, and she and Sabé will soon revisit the decoy maneuver, with Sabé stepping into the Senator's persona instead of the Queen's. Padmé thinks about all of her handmaidens and their loyalty and feels for her neck, forgetting for a moment that she no longer wears that locket. She remembers the Trade Federation blockade and how she gave the locket to Sabé with the direction to return it later, but when Sabé attempted to do so after the Battle of Naboo, Padmé told her to keep it as her own. Padmé now has a "different token" that "stood for luck and remembrance" (referring to the japor snippet from Anakin Skywalker).

In the novel's post-Revenge of the Sith, Sabé has just walked in Padmé Amidala Naberrie's funeral procession with the other surviving handmaidens. She vows afterward to discover the true reason behind Padmé's death and tells Tonra they'll both have to leave behind anything that gives away their identities, including that they're from Naboo. She's wearing the necklace Padmé gave her and decides she must leave it behind and hide it. However, she promises herself that she'll return for it someday.

"We'll need entirely new identities," she said. "Even if we go back to Coruscant. Sabé, Tsabin, Tonra—they'll all have to go. We have to be people we've never been before. And we have to scrub off anything that indicates we're from Naboo."

Her hand went to her necklace. She could leave that behind, if she had to. For Naboo, and for her friend. There were plenty of places to hide something that small, and keep it safe until she could return for it.

— Sabé's internal narrative