After more than 25 years, Star Wars has just revealed why the Trade Federation was such a big threat in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Much of the plot of The Phantom Menace happened because the Trade Federation had set up a blockade, trying to force Queen Padmé Amidala to sign a treaty that would be unfavorable to the people of Naboo.

While audiences knew that the blockade around Naboo was orchestrated by Palpatine and the Sith, to the characters in-universe, it looked more like the Trade Federation was trying to force their own agenda onto the people of Naboo. Not only did the Trade Federation under the command of Nute Gunray look like the bad guys, but their manipulation by the Sith was mostly kept under wraps.

However, new information about the layout of planets in the Star Wars galaxy is portraying Queen Padmé Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s escape from the planet in a different light.

I Never Realized Just How Far Away Naboo & Tatooine Are

But It’s Actually Pretty Far

This week, Star Wars released an updated galactic map, featuring more than 500 planets from a galaxy far, far away. This allows fans to see the relationship between certain planets, as well as the proximity of one planet to another. There were a lot of surprises on the new map, but none more shocking to me than how far Naboo and Tatooine are from one another.

We already knew that Naboo was a Mid Rim planet, whereas Tatooine was located in the Outer Rim. It, however, was ᴀssumed that the planets were still relatively close together. Other well-known Star Wars planets between Naboo and Tatooine include Adelphi, Christophsis, and Geonosis.

The journey from Naboo to Tatooine was definitely longer than what was depicted near the beginning of The Phantom Menace. The trip from Tatooine to Coruscant was depicted as an overnight trip through hyperspace, indicating that the distance from Naboo to Tatooine would’ve only been a few hours.

The Escape To Tatooine Shows Just How Mᴀssive The Trade Federation Was

And Dangerous

Near the beginning of The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi help Queen Padmé Amidala escape from Naboo in order for her to make an appeal to the Galactic Senate on Coruscant. However, during their escape, their ship is damaged, forcing them to seek a planet to land and make repairs.

While looking for a planet, Obi-Wan Kenobi points out that the closest planet not under the control of the Trade Federation was Tatooine. This new Star Wars galaxy map shows just how many planets were between Naboo and Tatooine.

During the time period when The Phantom Menace takes place, Tatooine and other Outer Rim planets were considered part of Hutt Space and were controlled by the Hutt clan. Because Tatooine was not part of the Republic and did not follow their laws, this allowed more abhorrent things to be legal, such as slavery.

So, while the Trade Federation was large and clearly dangerous, Hutt Space wasn’t much of an improvement.

It’s No Surprise The Republic Couldn’t Control The Trade Federation

And It Made Them The Perfect Sith Pawn

It’s clear, because of how far Naboo and Tatooine are from one another, that the Trade Federation was far more widespread and influential than we previously believed. The Republic didn’t have a centralized military despite being made up of thousands of worlds, but the Trade Federation had a fully operational droid army.

It’s worth noting that other nearby planets like D’Qar weren’t well known or inhabited, meaning they likely weren’t on Obi-Wan Kenobi’s radar as somewhere to go. However, these places still existed and likely weren’t under the control of the Trade Federation, but weren’t a desirable enough destination for the Jedi and the Queen of Naboo.

The map of the galaxy really revealed that while the Sith were pulling the strings behind the scenes of the Trade Federation, the Trade Federation was so far-reaching and influential throughout the rest of the galaxy that it made it harder to find planets not under their control.

It’s small details like these that enrich the Star Wars storytelling and make things more complex, even a quarter of a century later. Either way, I’ll certainly watch The Phantom Menace differently now.