Err ... I'm quite in agreement with Texas on this ... if it were not for her son's help, and for her AGREEING to let her son help them out, Padme and the rest of the gang would have been cod-swallop. The least Padme could have done was to have freed Shmi and the cost would have been nothing for her to bear. No one is saying she has to take it upon herself to free all the slaves in the galaxy ... this is not the same thing ... here it is a question of buying the freedom of a woman who has a very special kind of son, who rendered invaluable service and who has now been admitted to the jedi council as a special case. Seeing her die the way she did broke my heart too, especially because it could and should have been avoided. Tex is right man ... R2-D2 was looked after better by Padme than Shmi. Its the least she could have done for Shmi ... and the argument that she would be involved in slave trade if she did is ridiculous !! Stupid red tape bueurocracy of that asinine sort happens in India ... not Corsuscant and Naboo. In any case, what is meant is, that Padme should have payed Watto what he wanted and freed Shmi completely ... NOT keeping her as a slave herself after that ( which would be precious ! ) ... so that slave trade argument does not work.
And furthermore I also agree with him on the point that Padme had a duty to inform the Jedi Council of Anakin's slaughter of the Tuskans and his violent fit of temper afterwards ( " I hate them !!! all of them !!! " ). That would have at least made them aware that all was not well with their prized student. Because all of them, with the exception of Obi Wan, are under the impression that Anakin is fine, and great and dandy, and sooner or later he's going to fulfill the prophecy, destroy the sith, bring balance and it will be hunky dory all over again ... they are quite blissfully unaware of the emotional cracks in his psyche, and how dangerous that is because it is the gateway to Anakin's conversion to the darkside.
And that is a mistake that's gonna cost them dearly, because soon almost all of them will be dead, killed by Anakin ... what's left of them after geonosis that is.
Padme shoulda told them ... and Anakin's fall might have been avoided, because they would have at least KNOWN, that Anakin's not all there mentally and attitude wise, and that as such, he is hightly susceptible and vulnerable to the darkside.
The thing is ... this is actually a fault in the story line ... because character-wise speaking, all the above is exactly what the character of Padme Amidala would have done ... i.e. freed Shimi at whatever price ... informed the council about Anakin etc. Because the way the character of Padme has been built up, she is a person with a very high sense of duty ... as for instance, the hot exchange between Obi Wan and Anakin when they are chasing Count Dooku and Padme falls out of the ship ... when Anakin insists on stopping the ship and going back for her, Obi Wan asks him that if Padme was in Anakin's place, what would she do, and Anakin replies that she would do her duty ... i.e ... for all her love for Anakin, Padme wouldn't have stopped to go back for him, if it was he who had fallen out of the ship ... she would have proceeded with Obi Wan to try and catch and defeat Dooku.
Now such a character, it stands to reason,would definitely inform the Jedi Council about Anakin's Tusken slaughter and his violent temper. Such a character, also, would definitely do her best to obtain freedom for Shmi Skywalker.
That she doesnt, is a fault, a loose end, an inconsistency .... in the story line.
And Gundark ... yes both Mace and Yoda were opposed to accepting Skywalker in the beginning. But by the time period of AOTC, except for Obi Wan, no one else is aware of or realizes the problems that exist with Anakin ... and Mace even disregards Obi Wan's bringing to his notice these problems ... they all think : Well he's exceptional, gifted, great, he's the chosen one, and by prophecy, he will destroy the sith and bring balance.
The emotional cracks and instability and arrogance, temper etc...
they are either unaware of it or they choose to take it very lightly indeed ...
But they really didn't have time for her to address the council...they went from Tatooine right to Geonosis. Maybe she'll tell Obi Wan privately in ep3.
As for freeing Shmi...Watto certainly wasn't taking republic credits you know. So maybe Padme should have gone and bought a fancy gunboat from a dealer on Coruscant, flown it to Tatooine and given it to Watto in exchange for Shmi ? I'm not trying to be smartass about this....but what is your suggestion for specific payment ?
With Padme doing her duty as a Queen and then Senator, would she have been able to qualify the reasons to release one slave, when she had other important work to do in saving possibly millions - surely her right duty would have been for the good of the many and not the one?
She wouldn't have had chance to warn the Council before they shot of to "rescue" Obi-Wan. And then afterwards, well - love is blind!!
A flaw in the story line? What complete and utter bilge! Total nonsense.
You are living in cloud cuckoo land if you think it was in any way reasonable for Padme to have interfered in the slave trade. It could NOT have been done, and it if she had it could have cost her her job as Senator and then who the hell would she have been able to help then?
And as for not telling the Council about Anakin... she is in LOVE with this person!!! What part of that is not being understood here? People cover up the sins of their lovers all the time. ALL the time.
Padem's motives, like the motives of ALL the heroes of the Star Wars universe, are good and honourable and this attemtp to bismirch here is arrant nonsense that defeats the entire objective of how Star Wars, and its carefulyl crafted morality, actually works.
Freeing Shmi from slavery by paying off Watto would not have been interfering with the slave trade in anyway, and it would only have been just ....
Firstly, it was because of her son participating and winning in the pod race, that they were able to get off Tattoine in one piece ... otherwise they would have been stuck there, Darth Maul would have come, and in all probability, they would have been destroyed by him.
The pod race is a death defying experience ... participating in it is to risk one's life. Shmi gave her consent for her son to risk his life, in the pod race, because Padme and Qui Gon and Obi Wan NEEDED those parts for their damaged ship ... in other words, Shmi allowed her son's life to be risked, for the sake of Padme and the other two, and that in turn, in fact SAVED the life of Padme and the other two, from Darth Maul.
The same son, heroically destroyed the droid control ship in the final battle, which deactivated the droid armies in the battle of Naboo, just at the point when they had totally overcome the Gungans.
With both these acts, Shmi and Anakin also saved the people of Naboo from subjugation and conquest ... and probably death, if Darth Sidious had his way.
This is NOT some ordinary ( every other type, run of the mill )slave we are talking about, and this is not some ordinary help or service we are talking about. The very least that Padme and/or the jedi council and / or the republic senate could have done for Shmi, for allowing her son to risk his life to help them, and for Anakin, for risking his life to help them, was to pay Watto to secure the release of Anakin's mother from slavery, and set her up with some means of livelihood, and a living environement better than that mud hut in Tatooine in Mos Eisley.
To say that such an act would cost Padme her job as senator is bilge .... why the heck would she lose her job ... two people, mother and son, have rendered her, the people of Naboo, the Gungans, the jedi and god knows who else invaluable service, life saving service. How the hell would it be wrong, for Padme, in return for such invaluable help, free the mother of Anakin from a life of slavery, and like I said, set her up in a place other than that little hut in that desert planet, with some simple means of livelihood. Not only would it not be wrong, it would be expected of her ... in fact, if she DIDN'T do at least this much, THEN she would be wrong, and THEN she would invite the censure of the people and the senate.
Furthermore, I again repeat to you the exchange between Obi Wan and Anakin, during the battle of Geonosis, when they are chasing Count Dooku, who isescaping from the place on his speeder, ( and Padme accidentally falls out of the ship that is chasing Dooku and Anakin wants to stop and go back for her ), where Obi Wan asks Anakin, that if Padme were in his place what would she do, and Anakin replies she would do her duty. Now check this ... in other words, if Anakin had fallen out of that ship, we, the viewers, are being told, that Padme would NOT have gone back for him, but would have proceeded on with Obi Wan to catch up with Dooku. And here, Anakin hasn't even done anything wrong ( like massacred the Tuskens ) ... he's just fallen out, and maybe, drastically injured himself. And this is the man she " truly, deeply " loves ... yet we are told to understand, she would not go back for him, because that would come in the way of her duty ....
So, when Anakin HAS done something very wrong, how can you tell me, that she would NOT tell the council about it, because of her love for him ... the same love would not have prevented her from doing her duty, even if it meant going back for her man, because he might be drastically hurt ... do you mean to tell me, that such a sense of duty would be clouded by her emotions, in a situation where her man, has done something DRASTICALLY WRONG ?
When you write a fictional story, the actions , or non-actions, of the characters in your story should be consistent with the way you paint their nature. The character of Padme, as has been described, would, if this were a real story, would have definitely paid off Watto, and freed Shmi from a life of slavery, for the help Shmi gave her, for Shmi allowing her son's life to be risked to give that help ... for her son volunteering to risk his life, and for her son ( being specially gifted ), saving the day TWICE, and in doing so, helping not just her, but the whole planet of Naboo and all its people including the Gungans. The Padme with such a stern sense of duty, that she wouldn't stop for one she " truly deeply " loves even though he may be drastically injured, would have informed the council of Anakin's serious transgression ( IT'S A GENOCIDE, A SLAUGHTER OF A WHOLE RACE OF TUSKEN'S AND EVEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN INCLUDED, FOLLOWED BY A VIOLENT FIT OF TEMPER, WITH TALK OF HATE ), inspite of her love for him ... in fact, probably because of her love for him ... because she would realize that this might save her man from perdition in the long run, although the short term effects might be unpleasant for him.
What IS total nonsense and UTTER bilge, is the suggestion that paying off Watto to free Shmi would be illegal and wrong, inspite of the invaluable help to Padme, to the Naboo people, to the republic and the galactic senate, and to the Jedi, and to Obi Wan and Qui Gon, that Shmi rendered, and that the son of Shmi rendered.
These are the actions that Padme would do, according to the way her character has been described. That she doesn't in the fictional story, is an INCONSISTENCY, AND THEREFORE, THE STORY DOES HAVE THIS FLAW IN IT. DEAL WITH IT !! Nobody's perfect, not even George Lucas.