Question: Hypothetically speaking, if Amidala did sign the treaty, how would that affect later events eventually leading up to the establishment of the Galactic Empire?
Question: Why did the whole concept of "Midichlorians" introduced in this film anger so many Star Wars fans? I'm not a huge Star Wars fan myself, but I've heard nothing but hate for them.
Chosen answer: Because it took a magical, mystical, and mysterious concept and reduced it to a blood-borne chemical.
Question: When Darth Maul is revealed after the door opens in the final battle at Naboo, Qui-Gon says "we'll handle this", to which Padme replies back "we'll take the long way", and leaves with her royal guards. Why couldn't they just stay and help Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and just all fire at Darth Maul, killing him? This also seems to occur in Episode III, just before the droid army on Utapau fire at Obi-Wan, Grevious stops them and says "I'll deal with this Jedi side myself." Even in Episode VI, before Vader goes to fight Obi-Wan one last time, he could've just called in a squad of troopers to come help him, but decides to go do it alone. Why is it that throughout the course of the trilogy, Jedi and Sith always decide to fight their opponents alone, when they could just have an automatic kill with their backup?
Answer: Because Jedi usually want to avoid the risk of their allies/friends being injured in the course of a fight. Darth Maul and Grevious were both skilled fighters who could have easily dodged lightsaber swipes or blaster bolts, and might have taken out a few people before being defeated (or escaping). As for the incident between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan, it was very personal. Vader wanted to destroy his former teacher, who he felt had betrayed him in the past.
Question: I'm confused. Palpatine wanted to use Queen Amidala to get himself voted as chancellor so he could have control over the republic. Why did he send Darth Maul after the Queen's ship when it escaped if he needed the Queen alive?
Question: When Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan arrive on Tatooine they feel a disturbance in the force. Is this due to The Sith Lord or Anakin?
Answer: Most likely it was Anakin's presence, as Darth Maul arrived on Tatooine after Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.
Question: What exactly are midichlorians?
Chosen answer: Midi-chlorians are an intelligent microscopic lifeform present in the bloodstream of all sentient beings within the Star Wars universe. The higher the midi-chlorian count present within a being's bloodstream, the more Force-sensitive they are, making them a likely candidate for Jedi (or Sith) training.
Question: When the two Jedi and Jar Jar are travelling through the planets core, Obi Wan asks Jar Jar why he was banished. Jar Jar says it was because he is clumsy but I can never understand what he says after that. What does he say?
Answer: "Mesa cause-ed mabee one or duey lettal bitty axadentes...yud-say boom da gasser, un crash Der Bosses heyblibber...den banished." Jar Jar was under Boss Nass' employment and was working in Nass' kitchen during a party. He accidentally caused the gas oven to explode, which destroyed the bubble wall (what keeps the water out) of Nass' house, causing it to flood. He tried to save the Boss' Heyblibber (a luxury version of the Bongo) but ended up crashing it which caused the outraged Nass to banish him.
Question: What happened to Anakin Skywalker's father?
Chosen answer: According to his mother, there was no father; Anakin was conceived through the Force itself. Expanded Universe materials suggest that this occurred either as part of or as a consequence of Sith experiments carried out by Darth Plagueis, with the intent of creating the ultimate Sith apprentice.
Question: Who/what exactly is The Phantom Menace?
Chosen answer: The return of the Sith. In this case Phantom is refering to invisibility/unseen.
Question: Does Darth Maul have any unique, personal reasons for hating the Jedi, or does he only hate them because Sidious has raised him to?
Answer: Maul was raised by Sidious since he was a young child. He only knew the Dark Side of the Force and its properties - anger, hatred, fear. He would be the equivalent of someone raised by a devoted Nazi: not knowing anything else, he would hate Jews.
Question: I noticed the number twenty thousand was mentioned twice (Anakin's midi-chlorian count and the amount of money that Qui-gon has while on Tattooine). Is there any trivia/meaning behind it?
Answer: Nope, it's just a coincidence, and not even a particularly good one as Anakin's midi-chlorian count is stated as being "over twenty thousand" rather than the exact number.
Question: I don't understand why Darth Maul talks about having revenge in this movie or why Episode III is called "Revenge of the Sith". I thought the original group of Sith all killed each other. I know that they want to destroy the Jedi, but how is that getting revenge for anything in particular?
Answer: The Sith and Jedi have been at war for millenia. Yes, there's always been infighting among the Sith as well, but the fact remains that their primary enemy has always been the Jedi. The Sith have been forced to hide away, working in the shadows, for a thousand years, because they lacked the power to eliminate the Jedi. Now, finally, they're in a position to do so. What else would you call it but revenge?
Question: I realise this has been brought up many times, but can it be considered a definite continuity error in the whole series that Obiwan Kenobi is trained by Qui Gon Jinn in this film, despite saying in Empire Strikes Back that it was Yoda who trained him? Some have argued that Qui was working under Yoda, but in Empire, Obiwan said to Yoda, "Was I any different when you taught me?" which to me pretty much says that Yoda was his direct teacher. I'm guessing that Lucas changed the background stories a bit, but I would like to know for sure.
Chosen answer: No, it can't. As we see in Attack of the Clones, Yoda is in charge of training the younglings, the Jedi hopefuls, the ones too young to have been selected as a Padawan. Yoda trained Obi-Wan when he was a child, then Qui-Gon selected him as a Padawan as he reached the proper age. They both trained him, taking responsibility for different stages of his education. It is entirely possible, of course, that Lucas did originally intend Yoda to have been Obi-Wan's sole master when he made The Empire Strikes Back and thus your guess that he changed the background stories may well be accurate, however, if this is the case, then he made the alterations in such a fashion that no continuity error exists, because it all fits together.
Also, most Jedi probably had friendships with older Jedi who were not their masters. They could think of any Knight/Master as a teacher, despite not being the official apprentice of that Jedi.
Question: What is the awesome music being played while Qui-Gon Obi-Wan and Darth Maul are fighting? It is played during lightsaber duels in Episodes 2 and 3 as well.
Chosen answer: The song is called "Duel of the Fates". Incidentally, the words being sung are Sanskrit. John Williams chose them purely for the way they sound and their meanings, whatever they are, are completely irrelevant to the song or the events.
Question: I once heard a sound file, on a website, of Darth Maul talking about fear. Was this part of a deleted scene?
Answer: "Fear. Fear attracts the fearful... the strong... the weak... the innocent... the corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally." That was part of the promotional campaign for Episode I - there was a tone poem for the main characters, and that was Darth Maul's. They were just used for television ads, but are on the DVD.
Question: When Darth Sidious tells the Neimoidians that he will make their next move legal (at the beginning of the movie), don't they think that comment is strange, unless they know that he is also Senator Palpatine? They don't seem to wonder how he can make something legal.
Answer: They know that he's a powerful individual with some serious connections. While they obviously don't know his true identity, they clearly feel that he's capable of manipulating the Senate to that extent. While a degree of curiosity as to how would be entirely understandable, a general unwillingness to look too closely into the doings of a Sith Lord is also entirely understandable. They'd undoubtedly be curious, but either none of them are brave enough to ask Sidious, or they've learned from experience not to do so.
Question: Why do Darth Sidious and Nute Gunray care about getting the queen's signature on the treaty? Nute already allowed the Trade Federation to be on the planet illegally, so why doesn't the Federation just continue their occupation whether the treaty gets signed or not?
Answer: They can continue their occupation, but, without compliance from the elected head of state of Naboo, that occupation is illegal, and thus could face opposition from the Senate, leading to potential sanctions, up to and potentially including a military response to remove them. With Amidala's signature on the treaty, bringing Naboo into the Trade Federation properly, their occupation of the planet becomes entirely legal, allowing them to continue unhindered by Senate sanctions.
Question: What are the "accidents" that Jar-Jar caused and got banished for?
Question: Obi-wan tells the Gungans that they are connected with the Naboo people, and that what happens to one will affect the other. How are the Gungans useful to the Naboo people?
Answer: Put simply, the two exist side-by-side on Naboo. Inevitably, choices made by one group will have an effect, major or minor, on the other, and if the two do not work together, this will invariably lead to friction between the races. While the details of what each group can bring to the arrangement remain unclear, what is undeniable is that the two races, and thus the planet itself, will be enhanced if the Naboo and the Gungans pool their efforts and collaborate.
Question: I've heard that you can see Prince Xizor on Coruscant somewhere in the movie. What scene is he in?
Answer: From Star Wars wiki: Xizor makes many cameo appearances during the podrace scene in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as the micro-machine toy figurine of Xizor was used as a stand-in for members of the podrace crowd.[2] However, as this cameo is used only as background fill-ins, it may not be considered an actual appearance of the character proper. And under "appearances" he is listed as possible\debated for the film. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Prince_Xizor.
Answer: In the long run, nothing would have changed. A war would still break out between the Republic and CIS, leading to Palpatine gaining power and subsequently becoming Emperor. The specifics may change, but the long-term outcome would not. It would, however, cause Amidala to not meet Anakin, and subsequently he would not become Darth Vader in an attempt to save her.