I have many questions about Mon Mothma, one of the only prominent female players in the original movies (other than Leia), and she didn’t even show up until Return of the Jedi. We know so little about her, even though she is a founder of the Rebellion: 1) where has she been for two movies and why hasn’t Leia at least mentioned her? 2) why is she so emotional about the Bothan spies in RotJ? 3) why did Lucas delete several scenes in Revenge of the Sith, which would at least give you more than “oh, there’s the pretty white lady in white robes who talks softly” vibes? and 4) where are the other prominent creators of the Rebellion that are never mentioned?

There was so much opportunity with Mon Mothma that was wasted in favor of showing (badly) Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side. She could have been a trusted confidante to Padme, knowing about her secret marriage and pregnancy, which is why she took an interest in Leia’s career as a politician (although that’s not explored either!). When Padme approaches Anakin about her worries of being on the wrong side in the war, that’s not explained at all, and had Mothma had a larger presence (or at least, the deleted scenes regarding the senators concerned with how the Republic was changing), perhaps that would have made that much more sense. I mean, it’s not like Bail Organa was treated much better than Mothma, although he at least had some scenes. I don’t know, it’s just so frustrating to me that there were plenty of opportunities for Lucas to give us better background information without info-dumping us, but instead he chooses to give us more R2 antics.

Art Credit: 99 Designs, Star Wars