Period
Periods, also referred to as cycles, were a biological occurrence involving blood that some individuals experienced, which could be managed through the use of suppressant shots and painkillers. These cycles could be unpredictable, inconvenient, or even cause pain. Certain members of the Royal Naboo Security Forces, the Queen Padmé Amidala, and the group of teenage human females serving as her handmaidens to the monarch experienced these cycles.
Back in 32 BBY, the handmaiden Sabé took on the role of Amidala's decoy for her initial public appearance as queen. This was because the monarch was temporarily unable to perform her duties due to an unexpected and painful period, necessitating the use of painkillers. In that same year, the handmaiden Saché experienced her first cycle, which in turn activated the blood alarm's blood-sensitive sensor located in Amidala's palace apartment. Sabé later reflected on this event in 22 BBY, recalling the Captain Quarsh Panaka's dismay upon discovering the reason for the alarm's activation. During the Imperial Era, the Partisan Idryssa Barruck engaged in a conversation with the human girl Jyn Erso about topics related to personal health and hygiene.
Description
Biological occurrences, known as periods or cycles, were experienced on a recurring basis by some beings—including humans. The presence of blood could be detected by sensors, signaling the onset of a period. While some beings opted to keep absorption pads in their bathroom for use, others chose to take suppressant shots to prevent the occurrence of cycles altogether. Periods had the potential to induce pain or cramps of varying intensity, which could be alleviated through the use of painkillers.
History
During the [Republic Era](/article/republic_era], several Naboo individuals experiencing periods on the Mid Rim planet Naboo employed suppressant shots as a means of managing them; this included some members of the Royal Naboo Security Forces. By the time 32 BBY arrived, Queen Padmé Amidala and a selection of the teenage human females serving as her handmaidens were experiencing cycles. These girls shared an apartment within the Theed Royal Palace, and they kept absorption pads in their bathroom for use during their periods. During Amidala's first public tour that year, she was taken by surprise when she failed to anticipate the start of an unusually painful period. Her handmaiden Rabé expressed her surprise that Amidala was not making use of suppressant shots. Another handmaiden, Yané, attributed Amidala's experience to heightened stress levels and made a note on the queen's medical profile for the droids to address the issue upon their return to Naboo's capital, Theed. The handmaiden Sabé, who served as the monarch's decoy, assumed the queen's public role while Amidala rested in bed, waiting for her painkillers to take effect.
Shortly thereafter, officer Mariek Panaka and her husband, Captain Quarsh Panaka, received an alert from a blood-sensitive sensor in Amidala's palace suite, indicating that someone was bleeding. They discovered the twelve-year-old handmaiden Saché, who was unaware that she had started her period, sleeping in bed. Mariek assisted a mortified Saché in obtaining new sleeping garments and bedding as the handmaiden left to clean herself up. The officer then reprimanded Quarsh for installing a blood-sensitive sensor in a bedroom occupied by teenage girls, pointing out that the older handmaidens likely used suppressants, as she and other guards who experienced cycles did. After Amidala and her other handmaidens returned to the palace from a concert, Saché mentioned that she had ruined a bedsheet and commented on her colleagues' glitter-covered state, which caused the queen to laugh. Years later, in 22 BBY, Sabé reminisced about the Saché incident and Quarsh's horror upon realizing the reason for his blood-sensitive sensor's alarm being triggered.
At some point between 13 BBY and 6 BBY, after the human girl Jyn Erso had joined the rebel leader Saw Gerrera's [Partisans](/article/partisans], Gerrera tasked a fellow Partisan—the woman [Idryssa Barruck](/article/idryssa_barruck]—with having a private conversation with Erso about her health and hygiene.
Behind the scenes
The topic of periods was first brought up, though indirectly, in the young-adult novel Rebel Rising by Beth Revis, published in 2017. According to Star Wars author E. K. Johnston, Revis was asked by fellow Star Wars author Jason Fry to incorporate a plot device into Rebel Rising that would illustrate Saw Gerrera's lack of preparedness for parenting a young Jyn Erso. As a result, the novel included an indirect reference to the concept through a discussion "about hygiene and health." Periods were first explicitly named and fully explored in the young-adult novel Queen's Peril, written by Johnston and published in 2020.
Johnston found the concept appealing and attempted to include periods in her young-adult novel Queen's Shadow, published in 2019. However, she ultimately couldn't find a suitable way to introduce the idea because the characters in that installment were past the age at which cycles typically begin. Instead, the author decided to include periods in Queen's Peril because the handmaidens featured in that work were slightly younger. During the novel's development, several members of the Lucasfilm Story Group—including several of the group's women and Pablo Hidalgo—felt that the scene in which Saché experiences her first period was extremely awkward and provided comments on the work's draft after reading it.
Johnston believed it was important to demonstrate that stressful life changes—such as Amidala's election to queen—could have an impact on cycles, while also showing that the handmaidens regarded the queen's brief incapacitation as a common occurrence. In the acknowledgments section of Queen's Peril, Johnston expressed her appreciation to editor Jennifer Heddle for her work on the book, and went on to thank her for helping to ensure that a page dedicated to menstruation would be created for the free-to-edit, unofficial online Star Wars encyclopedia known as Wookieepedia. Johnston later expressed her satisfaction that an article had indeed been created, indicating her pride in its successful creation.