It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air. But when love visits the galaxy far, far away, it results in many more tragic tales than it does happy endings. While Star Wars has always mixed genres and infused every type of storytelling into the saga, whenever romance is added into the mix things get messy.
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Take them as warnings, or mourn them as tragedies, but these are some of the instances that romance a long time ago didn’t end very well.
Anakin and Padme
Perhaps the most obvious example is Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker’s relationship. The pair never should have been – the Jedi Order forbade romantic relationships, after all, and they met when he was 8 and she was a teenaged queen, so it was always a little weird. While he clearly loved her at least as much as he hated sand, Anakin would eventually betray her like he betrayed the Jedi and the galaxy, even giving her, while pregnant with his twins, a Force choke. It was not his best moment (though yes, he was already Darth Vader so you could argue it wasn’t so muchย Anakin doing it). She died of a broken heart after giving birth, unable to carry on without her love. He went full into being a Sith Lord and killed a ton of people for a few decades.
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Satine and Obi-Wan
Aย Star Wars relationship that ended with a Force choke and a death? Yeah, it’s a theme. Once upon a time, Obi-Wan Kenobi was in love. He was in love with a leader in the Mandalorian society, and he was willing to give up his role as a Jedi for her – but she could not or would not make that choice for him, fearing he’d regret it (and her). Satine wound up being a pawn in drawing Kenobi out regardless, used against the Jedi by Darth Maul. Maul would eventually hold her telekinetically and kill her with a stab of a lightsaber, and she’d die in Obi-Wan’s arms.
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Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree
Thane and Ciena, stars of the bookย Lost Stars, grew up together in the days of the Empire’s might, determined to join the ranks of Imperial Pilots. The two fell in love, but when Thane witnessed the cruelty of the Empire first hand while stationed on the first Death Star, he turned away from it, eventually joining the Rebellion. Ciena, meanwhile, was a loyalist who believed whole-heartedly that the Empire was the only chance for peace in the galaxy. They would come together and be torn apart by their allegiance several times during the war, and while this one didn’t endย asย tragically – they both lived to tell the tale, it did end with Ciena in New Republic custody.
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Leia Organa and Han Solo
After the Battle of Endor – while still on that fourth moon surrounded by the native Ewoks, Leia and Han Solo were married in a small, private ceremony. Soon after, while the remnants of the Empire were still being battled by the nascent New Republic, Leia became pregnant with their first (and presumably only) child, Ben.
Unfortunately, at some point Leia and Han became estranged; he was constantly drawn to his first loves of flying and smuggling, and she was a career politician, trying to make the galaxy a better place. When Ben betrayed the New Republic and adopted the identity of Kylo Ren, Han went off seemingly for good. The couple were reunited just in time for the ultimate tragedy; Han went to try to bring Ben back into the light, and instead their son killed him.
We don’t yet know how Leia, a General in the Resistance that was dealt several heavy blows in the events ofย Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will respond to this latest tragedy, but we’ll find out inย Star Wars: The Last Jedi this winter.
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