Eirtaé

"Anakin Skywalker? Is that really you?"
"Yes, it's really me! But I don't think it's really you, Senator."

―Eirtaé and Anakin Skywalker^[4]

Eirtaé was a female Human who served as one of the handmaidens of Padmé Amidala when she was Queen of Naboo.

Biography[]

Early career[]

Handmaiden training — Eirtaé evades stun blasts during Captain Panaka's handmaiden training.

Eirtaé was brought up as a wealthy girl in a remote river valley of Naboo.^[5]

She was the only applicant for the Queen's handmaidens who had blond hair and blue eyes in contrast to Amidala's brown hair and brown eyes.^[3] She was sometimes known as the "Blond Handmaiden."^[source?]

Eirtaé had also taken the same examinations as Amidala to run for the position of Queen, but lost the election to Amidala.^[source?] At first Eirtaé tended to be bossy with the other handmaidens and was resentful toward Amidala, having lost the election to her but they soon became friends.^[source?]

Eirtaé and the other handmaidens were trained in self-defense and marksmanship by Amidala's head of security, Captain Panaka.^[6] She particularly excelled in dealing with protocol^[5] and spotting treachery. However, she was less skilled in martial arts than the other handmaidens.^[2]

In 32 BBY, Eirtaé was one of the three handmaidens who accompanied Amidala to Coruscant when the Trade Federation blockaded Naboo. At the Battle of Naboo, she helped to end the Invasion on Naboo, and was present at the funeral of Qui-Gon Jinn and the celebration following the next day.^[3]

Later career[]

Skywalker: "In fact, I'm pretty sure it's… Amidala's decoys—Sabé—and Eritaé. [sic]"

Eirtaé: "Actually, I'm Eritaé! [sic]"

Sabé: "And I'm Sabé!"

―Anakin Skywalker, unable to distinguish between Sabé and Eirtaé^[4]

During the Clone Wars, the Jedi High Council discovered that the Confederacy of Independent Systems had paid several outlaws on Coruscant to kidnap Amidala before a crucial speech in the Senate. In an effort to draw out the kidnappers, the Jedi hid Amidala in a safe location and allowed Sabé and Eirtaé to be captured instead. The Council then sent Anakin Skywalker—now a Jedi Knight and, secretly, Amidala's husband—to rescue the Senator; Skywalker was not aware of the exchange that had occurred. Skywalker successfully tracked down the kidnappers and subdued them. He released Amidala's decoys, but did not like that he was not told the truth about the Jedi Council's plans.^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

Eirtae1 — Eirtaé with Padmé Amidala and Captain Panaka during the Second Battle of Theed

Eirtaé was portrayed by Friday "Liz" Wilson in The Phantom Menace.^[3]

In the children's book Queen in Disguise, Eirtaé's hair was erroneously colored brown,^[6] while in the comic story In Triplicate, her name was misspelled as "Eritaé."^[4]

Eirtaé was cut from the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts,^[7] prior to its closure on December 15, 2011.^[8] Eirtaé and four other Queen Amidala's handmaidens — Rabé, Sabé, Saché and Yané — were intended to be introduced in the game with the 2005 "New Game Enhancements." They would have been featured in a quest named "Helping the Handmaidens," included in the Naboo part of the so-called "Legacy Quest," the longest questline in the game.^[7]