In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Padmé Amidala’s friendship with Senator Mina Bonteri transcended the lines of war, and together, the two nearly brokered a peace agreement between the Republic and the Separatists. In the Season 3 episode, “Heroes on Both Sides,” Padmé traveled with Ahsoka to secretly negotiate a peace settlement with Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri. Together, Padmé and Mina were able to draft a resolution, but Mina was assassinated before peace talks could truly begin. While Count Dooku blamed the Republic, the Republic’s sources claimed that Dooku was the one who had her killed. Either way, the chance for peace was lost. At the same time, Bonteri’s death might have been the result of a deeper connection to Count Dooku.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
At the beginning of “Heroes on Both Sides,” Padmé explained to Ahsoka that the Separatists were once part of the Republic, and while she did not agree with their decision to join the Separatist cause, Padmé still considered them friends. Padmé seemed to be under the impression that these senators, and Mina in particular, officially joined the movement around the time that the war began. Padmé was aware that Mina had always admired Count Dooku, but the two might have worked together more closely in the past than she realized.
E. K. Johnston’s novel, Star Wars: The Queen’s Shadow, revealed that Mina might have been more entangled with Count Dooku than her actions in The Clone Wars implied. The novel follows Padmé’s early terms in the Republic Senate and shows the beginnings of the alliances that defined her career. Mina Bonteri was one of the first senators to speak with Padmé. Their initial conversation revealed the separation of their sympathies. Mina stated that “no one has any faith in the Republic,” and while she posed this as a general statement, it meant that she already counted herself among those who had lost faith in the Republic. In contrast, Padmé still believed in the government.
Mina then became a mentor figure for Padmé and taught her about the importance of alliances within the Senate. This strong advice ultimately led Padmé to not work with Mina as closely as she wanted to. Padmé sought to separate herself from Palpatine, but Mina did not appear to oppose him in the Senate. Because of this, Padmé instead allied herself with senators like Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Onaconda Farr.
As it turns out, Mina was far more opposed to the Republic than Padmé initially knew. Although Padmé quickly bonded with Mina, there were two moments when she walked in on the tail end of Mina’s conversations with a mysterious figure who she addressed as “my lord.” While Padmé did not know who he was, the figure likely could’ve been Count Dooku, and he appeared to be influencing, if not outright controlling, Mina’s actions in the Senate. If so, this means that Mina was allied with the Separatists long before the war actually began. It also means that she was taking an even greater risk by working with Padmé on the peace talks, and her actions constituted a greater betrayal of Count Dooku.
If Mina was working closely with Dooku before the war began, she may have had more knowledge of the true mechanisms behind the Clone Wars’ origin. Thus, Mina Bonteri might have been killed so she couldn’t reveal more about the mechanisms behind the war and the Sith at its center. While she may not have been aware of Darth Sidious or Palpatine’s role in the Separatists, her knowledge of how the conflict began may have revealed information that could’ve led to the discovery of the Sith. Mina was still a supporter of Dooku even when proposing peace, but her possible connection to him before the war may have led to her assassination.
About The Author
