Rabé

"Who is it?''" "''Anakin Skywalker, to see Padmé, Your Highness."

- Queen Amidala and Rabé

Rabé was a female human who served as one of Queen Amidala's handmaidens during the last years of the Galactic Republic. During the Invasion of Naboo, she accompanied the Queen to Tatooine and then Coruscant, along with her colleagues Sabé and Eirtaé.

Invasion of Naboo
Rabé was a human female who served the Royal House of Naboo as a handmaiden during the reign of Queen Padmé Amidala. In the year 32 BBY, the Trade Federation invaded the planet Naboo and successfully captured its capital Theed. Rabé and four other handmaidens were taken prisoner along with the queen; however, prior to their capture, Amidala switched places with Sabé, another of the handmaidens who acted as her decoy.

After the disguised Sabé was brought before the Federation's Viceroy Nute Gunray, Rabé and Amidala were part of a group of prisoners that were sent to be processed in Camp Four. While being escorted to the camp through the streets of Theed by a squad of B1 battle droids, the group was rescued by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, a pair of Jedi ambassadors who had been sent by the Galactic Republic to negotiate with the federation.

Escape from Theed
The freed prisoners and the liberators then made their way to the hangar of the Theed Royal Palace, where the Jedi attempted to persuade the battle droids on guard to let them leave peacefully. When the droids tried to arrest them, Kenobi and Jinn attacked the guards, allowing Rabé and the other handmaidens to hurry aboard the Naboo Royal Starship. Once the Jedi and a group of pilots they had freed were also onboard, the starship took off and managed to slip through the Federation blockade above the planet, although it sustained damage to its hyperdrive in the process.

Once the starship was safely away from the blockade, Rabé and fellow handmaiden Eirtaé stood by the decoy Sabé in the ship's throne room as the supposed queen congratulated the astromech droid R2-D2 for repairing their deflector shield generator during the escape. With the aim of eventually reaching the Republic capital Coruscant, the royal starship was forced to stop first on the desert world of Tatooine to locate a new hyperdrive. Upon landing, Jinn, R2-D2, the still disguised Amidala and the Gungan Jar Jar Binks left the ship to travel to the nearby spaceport of Mos Espa while Rabé and the others remained behind.

To Coruscant
"I'm sorry, Ani, but Padme is not here right now."

- Rabe attempts to send Skywalker away

While those aboard the ship waited for the return of the group in Mos Espa, they received a transmission from Governor Sio Bibble back on Naboo. Sabé viewed the transmission&mdash;which begged the queen to return and give into the Federation's demands&mdash;in the throne room with Rabé and Eirtaé at her side, after which Kenobi warned them the plea was a trap and told them not the reply. After several days, the group returned with the hyperdrive the ship needed and the young slave boy Anakin Skywalker, who Jinn was bringing with him to train as a Jedi. The ship then left Tatooine and successfully reached Coruscant, docking on a landing platform where Valorum and Senator Sheev Palpatine awaited them.

Rabé and the other handmaidens then accompanied Sabé as she disembarked the ship and greeted Valorum, after which they boarded a EasyRide passenger airspeeder with Palpatine and departed. Skywalker later visited the queen's quarters to see Amidala, who he knew only as Padmé the handmaiden, and was greeted by Rabé at the door. As Amidala was preparing to address the Galactic Senate in her royal regalia, Rabé informed Skywalker that Padmé was not present, but was interrupted by Amidala who wanted to know who was visiting. After learning that it was Skywalker, who did not recognise her under her makeup, Amidala informed him that Padmé was on an errand, but wished him luck in his Jedi training.

Before the Senate
Rabé and Eirtaé then joined Amidala and Captain Quarsh Panaka in Palpatine's pod at the Senate Building as the queen addressed the Senate concerning the invasion of Naboo. After the address, Amidala called for a Vote of No Confidence in Valorum, and Rabé was later present in Amidala's quarters when Panaka rushed in with the senator to inform Amidala that Palpatine had been nominated as a candidate for Supreme Chancellor. Amidala congratulated him and then declared she would be returning to Naboo, leaving the room with the two handmaidens and Panaka.

Rabé, Eirtaé, Sabé and the queen then greeted Jinn, Kenobi, Binks and Skywalker on the landing platform where the Royal Naboo Starship was parked and the group boarded together and departed for Naboo. During the journey, Rabé and Sabé stood by Amidala in the throne room as she came up with a plan of action with Panaka, Jinn and Binks. After landing on Naboo, Binks led the queen and her allies to the Gungan Sacred Place where she and her followers were brought before Boss Rugor Nass. Sabé, who was again disguised as queen, began asking for the aid of the Gungan people, but Amidala stepped forward from beside Rabé and revealed her true identity, begging the boss for aid in defeating the Federation and dropping to her knees. Rabé and the other humans present followed suit, after which Nass declared he would work with the queen to defeat the Trade Federation.

The Battle of Naboo
As the Gungan Grand Army prepared to distract the Federation's forces in a large battle, Rabé and the other handmaidens joined a group led by Amidala that used secret passages to infiltrate Theed. Rabé then remained with Panaka and a portion of his security forces to create another distraction in Theed's streets while Amidala infiltrated the Royal Palace with the Jedi, some guards and a group of pilots.

Rabé and Panaka's group then reunited with Amidala in the palace's hangar, where the pilots of Bravo Flight had successfully launched their N-1 starfighters in order to combat the Federation's blockade above the planet. As the group approached the hangar exit, the doors opened to reveal the Sith apprentice Darth Maul, whom Kenobi and Jinn engaged while the rest of the group split off to take the long route to the throne room, where Gurnay would be located. Before they could get far, a trio of Droidekas opened fire on them, forcing them into cover; however, the droids were swiftly destroyed by Skywalker, who had hidden in one of the remaining starfighters.

Capturing the Viceroy
When droids again attacked the group in one of the palace's corridors, Rabé was forced to take cover behind a pillar while firing on them. Amidala and Panaka then split off with a small group of guards and used grappling hooks to asail the side of the palace in order to reach the throne room. Rabé and the others then managed to fight their way to the throne room and upon reaching it discovered that Amidala and the others had been captured by Gunray.

Sabé shouted to the viceroy and claimed to be the true queen, fooling him and causing him to send the majority of his troops after Sabé, Rabé and the others, who retreated. This allowed Amidala and Panaka to defeat the few battle droids left behind and capture Gunray. After Skywalker destroyed the droid control ship Vuutun Palaa above Naboo, the droid army fighting the Gungans were deactivated and so the Trade Federation was defeated across Naboo.

Victory celebrations
Some time after the end of the fighting, Rabé and the other handmaidens stood with Amidala and her allies as they watched Gunray escorted by Panaka and his security forces onto a Republic shuttle to be taken away to answer for his crimes. Palpatine, now Supreme Chancellor of the Senate, then disembarked the shuttle and congratulated Amidala.

Rabé was present in the Funeral Temple for the Funeral of Qui-Gon Jinn, who had perished while fighting Darth Maul. Following the Jedi's cremation, the handmaiden participated in a huge parade through the streets of Theed to celebrate the victory against the Trade Federation. She stood on the steps of the palace with the queen, awaiting the arrival of a march of Gungans led by Nass. The queen the presented Nass with the Globe of Peace as recognition for the Gungan's part in defeating the Federation.

Behind the scenes
Rabé was portrayed by Brazilian actress Cristina da Silva in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. The character, although unnamed in the movie itself, was identified as Rabé in the credits.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
 * The Phantom Menace Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel