Once the elected monarch of Naboo, during the time of the Clone Wars, Padmé Amidala is the revered Senator for Naboo and its associated worlds. Though still very young, Amidala enjoys the respect and support of the many among the Galactic Senate's most influential officials and leaders. Her world's previous senate representative, Palpatine, is now the Galactic Chancellor. Among her friends, Senator Amidala can also count the Jedi, thanks to a close association with both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and of course Anakin Skywalker, with whom she shares a secret love. Though is must be kept a secret to protect both their careers, their clandestine marriage is a source of strength for them both, and a reason to hope for a better future, when the war will be over.

Senator Amidala vocally opposed the war, seeing the conflict as a fundamental failure of the democratic system to which she has pledged herself. Ever a peacemaker, during the conflict she has sought to foster opportunities for negotiation and better communication so that the issues between the Republic and the rebel Confederacy can be resolved without further violence and bloodshed. It is while in the pursuit of these objectives that Amidala's star yacht receives news of Jedi in peril on the planet Ilum.

A sacred site for the Jedi, the temple on Ilum is the source of focusing crystals which the Republic's protectors use in the construction of their signature lightsabers. Having Master Yoda onboard, the Senator makes with all speed for Ilum, where she and the diminutive Jedi Master embark upon rescue operations to locate and free the entombed Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her former apprentice, Barriss Offee. The harsh, frigid atmosphere of Ilum is a perilous place for a battle, with the freezing ice storms and unrelenting wind almost as deadly as the small army of Separatist chameleon droids the would-be rescuers find awaiting them.