#or queen Neeyutnee. there are many options

[jewishcissiekj]

I should make a handmaiden OC...

[shadowsong26x]

Star Wars timeline question

So, been discussing this with my Roommate (I also ended up referencing one of the possible answers in a fic, because I needed to address it due to Padme being a major POV character), and...look, I know that, a lot of the time, timelining anything that happens in this series is difficult verging on impossible (even without getting into the internal timelines of ROTS and ESB let alone CW [how does it FIT]). But a special case of weird comes from the Queens of Naboo.

(This got long, so it’s going behind a cut. Also, NB: all dates are in BBY format because I can’t parse the other canon calendar, with the three numbers and the dots.)

There was canon at some point (though I’m not sure the level of the source) that said the Monarch of Naboo had four-year terms. Which would mean, as of when ROTS came out (meaning, no reference to Clone Wars), the following timeline:

Padme (reigns either 33-25 or 32-24, depending on when we are in the year/if the election is in a separate calendar year like the US elections/etc.; we just know she’s “recently elected” as of TPM (32) and serves two terms.)

Jaimilla (reigns either 25-21 or 24-20; she is Queen in AOTC, 22)

Apailana (reigns from 21 or 20 on; I don’t know how much canon there is on her, other than she is Queen at Padme’s funeral (19)).

So, that all works really well! And it puts Padme in the Senate about two years before AOTC; possibly as long as three.

Except then Clone Wars. And Neeyutnee.

And this doesn’t add up anymore.

The internal timeline of the TV show is also difficult to timeline, but she appears in a fairly early arc (the plague arc, where we go to Iego), and in a fairly late arc (Rako Hardeen).

So, there’s three possible timelines, if we want to fit Neeyutnee in.

Option One: Two-year terms.

Padme (reigns 33-29 or 32-28)

Queen 1 (reigns 29-25) [alternatively, there are two one-term queens in this block]

Jaimilla (reigns 25-21) [alternatively, 23-21, preceded by either three other one-term queens or one one-term queen and one two-term queen]

Neeyutnee (reigns 21-19) [nb: I rejected the even-number option from above due to Neeyutnee being involved in a very early arc, timeline-wise, in CW, and pushing the virus to 20BBY doesn’t really work)

Apailana (reigns 19-?)

This is, in some ways, the neatest--all terms are fully filled, Padme can still be called ‘recently elected’ with the math working out. It does put Padme on Coruscant for six years before AOTC, either that or there’s a break between when she’s Queen and when she’s Senator, which I don’t think the dialogue supports. So, that may cause some issues? I don’t personally think it does, but Roommate thought it did, so I wanted to acknowledge that. These dates are inclusive, so my math might be slightly off. Basically, administration changes in odd-numbered years. It’s the one I used in Precipice, though I’ll freely admit that at least part of that was because I wanted to talk about Padme’s relationships with her successors, and Jaimilla didn’t hit the note I wanted for the person who had to step into her shoes.

Option Two: Three-year terms.

Padme (reigns 34-28)

Jaimilla (reigns 28-22; is about to leave office as of AOTC; alternatively, there was a queen between Padme and Jaimilla, and both Q1 and Jaimilla are one-term queens)

Neeyutnee (reigns 22-19)

Apailana (reigns 19-?)

This one is also fairly neat--as in, all terms are fully served, and it isn’t necessary to stick in a non-canon Queen unless you really want to, like I did. But we run into the same six-year possible issue as the two-year term scenario. More importantly, Padme being on the throne from two years before TPM is pushing it, re: “recently elected,” at least to me. Not just Palps’s line, but other dialogue/body language/whatever fragments. Alternatively, we have three-year terms but on a 33 or 32-start cycle, but that runs into a similar problem as...

Option Three: Four-year terms.

Padme (reigns 33-25 or 32-24)

Jaimilla (reigns 25-21 or 24-20)

Neeyutnee (abbreviated reign; 21 or 20-19; given the vague outline of CW timeframe, I think the odd-year reigns are likelier)

Apailana (reigns 19-?)

Okay. So, granted, this one fits the timeline, solves the possible issue of Padme’s internal timeline, etc. But. But but but OMG.

This should be a story. If Neeyutnee’s reign--the ruler of the Chancellor’s home planet, in a time of galactic war--was cut short somehow, either by assassination or resignation or hell even natural death, that should have been a Thing.

[Side note: I can’t remember if it’s Shadow Warrior or the Rako Hardeen arc, but Dooku at one point is asked “why do this on Naboo” and his answer is “because that’s where it all began” or smth which is a stupid answer. Better answer: “because this is the Chancellor’s home planet do you have any IDEA what a propaganda coup pulling this off would be it’s the next-best thing to Coruscant”]

Like, maybe there was something in the season and a half of CW that didn’t get made that covered the end of Neeyutnee’s reign? (Or maybe not, depending on exactly what happened, but there should still be something.)

I mean, granted, it is possible that they somehow missed that Apailana had a name and were planning her and Neeyutnee to be the same person but I feel like that’s reeeeally easy to correct. Or her name came from a low enough level of canon that they could figured they could ignore it and decided to retcon her name because...reasons? (Also, I don’t think Neeyutnee looks much like Apailana, due allowances for animation style aside, so even if this is an accidental or on purpose retcon of Apailana’s name...)

Basically, either the timeline got borked somehow or there’s a potentially really cool story here that I’ve been deprived of. :(

So, here’s my question. Is there anything specific, canon or legends, on a) Naboo monarch term lengths in general, or b) what fricking happened with Neeyutnee? Wookiepedia is unhelpful and inquiring minds want to know.

(...alternatively I could write it myself but I have so many projects already...)