Happy Galentine's Day! While it is not a super official holiday, I still think it's an important one. And while many treasured Galentine's traditions include a girls night out (or in), here on Star Wars Geek Girl we think it's best celebrated by talking about a few important examples of female friendships in Star Wars.
Ahsoka's Female Friends
Across The Clone Wars, we see Ahsoka develop a lot of friends around the galaxy and learn from them. While she spends a lot of time with older mentors both male and female, some of the most valuable lessons are the one she learns from female friends closer to her own age.The most notable of these is of course her relationship with Barriss Offee, though that... doesn't end very well. But Barriss is far from Ahsoka's only friend.
We see her develop a friendship with Riyo Chuchi, and the pair learn to balance doing the right thing while getting around the rules. She also becomes friends with Kalifa while trapped and being hunted by Trandoshans, from home Ahsoka learns the importance of persistence, never giving up hope, and gets to develop her skills as an inspirational leader.
But my favorite of Ahsoka's female friendships are the ones she develops with the Martez sisters, Trace and Rafa. Ahsoka helps the two of them out, but from them she learns so much about the galaxy outside of the path of a Jedi. Trace and Rafa are instrumental to Ahsoka's early journey after leaving the Temple, and are a great example of how female friendships can teach us so much about ourselves and the world around us.
Padmé's Female Friends
Fortunately, The Clone Wars is full of female friendships, and not just limited to Ahsoka's. Padmé Amidala is a character who's female friendships are baked into her core- starting all the way back with her group of handmaidens in The Phantom Menace (which are wonderful friendships explored in E.K. Johnston's trilogy of books). Padmé and her friends are great examples of how female friendships can be used as a strength.
Padmé is friends with Satine Kryze, and the two are a powerhouse of a political force, and their minds put together can accomplism some incredible things, especially considering how much Palpatine has rigged the entire galaxy. The friendship of Padmé's that I find the most interesting, however, is her friendship with Mina Bonteri. The pair are on opposite sides of the war, but still care deeply for each other and risk everything to meet. But it's not just that they continue to be friends- they still want to ally and work together. Padmé and Mina actually work together to try and bring the war to a peaceful end- an unfortunately doomed task, again due to Palpatine's control over both sides of the war, but one that I personally think would have been successful if it weren't for him.
Ultimately, when it comes to everyone from fellow politicians to her own handmaidens (like Teckla, who gives Padmé the exact inspiration she needs for an important speech), Padmé shows us time and time again that women are stronger together, and two strong women putting their heads together can be an unstoppable force for good.
Hera and Omega
My personal favorite pair of female friends in Star Wars is the friendship we see develop between Hera and Omega in The Bad Batch. Not only because seeing a young Hera was an absolute highlight of season 1 of the show for me, but because Hera and Omega are an important example of how even as young girls, we can find understanding and comfort within each other.
When we see Hera and Omega at this point, they are both young girls who are trapped within an oppressive galaxy, who want to do good but have parental figures that try to protect them. Omega doesn't get to meet too many other kids in the show, and Hera is one of the earliest friends she has her own age. The two girls not only look out for each other, but are finally able to find someone who understands them in each other. It's really sweet to watch their interactions as they truly see themselves in another person for the first time.
But the two girls don't just relate to each other- they support each other in their dreams. Both of them want to help the galaxy in their own ways, a goal in which they both encourage each other. Hera also dreams of becoming a pilot and having adventures of her own across the galaxy, just like Omega does with her brothers, and Omega is eager to support her. Of course we know eventually that Hera achieves this dream, and while we don't know what Omega's future holds yet, I hope to see the two of them reunite someday as adults in a free galaxy.
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