Of perhaps any other character in Star Wars, Padmé Amidala is known to have the strongest moral conscience, which causes her to quickly forgive Anakin Skywalker's murder of the Tuskens in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones extremely intriguing. Padmé has always expressed what she believes in, especially as someone who has had a strong and influential voice since a young age. As queen of Naboo, Padmé was not only able to raise awareness of important issues, but also take action on them.
Despite this, she appears to have little reluctance to be with Anakin after he confesses that he murdered the Tuskens who captured and killed her mother in Attack of the Clones – even after he insisted that he went after the women and children, in addition to the men. In fact, all Padmé actually says in response to this confession is “Being angry is being human“, which overall shows the utter devastation of Anakin's actions. This theory hypothesizes that his ability to get over Anakin's massacre so quickly may stem from his own childhood.
Padmé grew up in a world divided by race
The Naboo vs. The Gungans
Unfortunately, Padmé is no stranger to a world where people consider themselves “superior” to other species in the world. Star Wars Galaxy. On Naboo, there is a history of racial conflict between the Naboo, people like Padmé, and Gungans, people like Jar Jar Binks. This is highlighted in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menaceespecially when Padmé approaches the Gungans to establish an alliance between her people in the fight against the Trade Federation. Although Padmé was able to overcome this prejudice to create her alliance, her world had difficulty doing so for a long time.
In fact, this division was still present during her reign as queen, to the point where the Trade Federation needed her friendship. It's worth asking, then, why wouldn't Padmé have tried to create peace sooner if she really thought it was wrong. There is no doubt that the Naboo considered themselves “superior” to the Gungans, which is why the two groups had so much trouble. Padmé could have tried to resolve this sooner, but she didn't. There is, of course, another member of Naboo who would have been even more affected by this split.
Palpatine used prejudice as a weapon… Did he learn that from Naboo?
Desensitizing him before his dark side even falls
Palpatine, who was also from Naboo, used prejudice as a weapon when he rose to power to establish his Galactic Empire. He often pitted the galaxy against specific groups that stood in the way of his ultimate goal, perhaps the most notable example being the Jedi. Palpatine's Empire even refused to promote alien species in its categorys, with Grand Admiral Thrawn serving as the only exception. Prejudice was present in the very structure of Palpatine's regime, and it seems likely that this could have been more than the dark influence of the Sith within it.
As a normal part of his environment growing up, Palpatine would have even fewer reservations about using this prejudice as a weapon later on.
The division on Naboo between the Naboo and the Gungans could have instilled in Palpatine a prejudice that shaped his worldview even before the dark side called to him. This would have made it much easier for him to fall back and use prejudices to his advantage; as a normal part of his environment growing up, Palpatine would have even fewer reservations about using this prejudice as a weapon later on. Even if the divide between the Naboo and the Gungans wasn't so extreme, it could still have served as a model for the future emperor.
Padmé may have inherited prejudice from her home world
She could have unknowingly used this against the Tuskens
Although Padmé is still leagues away from Palpatine in terms of evil and complete lack of empathy and morality, it may be that she too has been influenced by the same type of prejudice. She denounces injustice wherever she sees it, but there are still prejudices that blind her and that she has more difficulty recognizing. due to the way she was raised on Naboo. This prejudice, particularly the “superiority” of one race over another, could be a darker reason behind why Padmé failed to show hesitation in forgiving Anakin and supporting him after the Tusken massacre.
Padmé may have seen the Tuskens the same way Naboo saw the Gungans: a less “superior” race than hers. Given the way the Tuskens are treated in Star Wars canon until The Mandalorianunfortunately it would not be surprising if this were the case. Fortunately, the Tuskens received due justice and humanity, but this is something Padmé may have overlooked due to dark lenses she didn't even fully realize she was looking through. Padmé Amidala may have been one of the fairest voices in the galaxy, but even she wasn't perfect.