Trivia / Star Wars: Queen's Shadow

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• Blooper:
  • The one and only time Gregar Typho's first name is mentioned, it's misspelled "Gregor".
  • When Padmé and Sabé are discussing what the latter's life could have been like if she hadn't become a handmaiden, it's mentioned that she comes from a family of hallikset players... only the instrument is misspelled "halliket".
• Dawson Casting: The novel results in a retroactive example regarding Sofia Coppola in The Phantom Menace. Coppola portrayed handmaiden Saché, who is established in Queen's Shadow to have been the youngest of the handmaidens and was just twelve years old during the invasion of Naboo. Coppola was actually in her late twenties during filming, making her around a decade older than Natalie Portman (Padmé) and over a decade older than Keira Knightley (Sabé), the latter of whom actually was twelve during filming.
• Executive Meddling: A small example that ended up being a positive thing; E.K Johnston stated she wasn't sure how much pagetime she was allowed to give Chancellor Palpatine and so he only appeared sparsely in the initial draft. However, her editor recommended she give him a larger role:
  "I didn't know how much I was allowed to use him, so I really held back in the first draft. One of my editor's notes was 'More Palpatine?' so I put him in all the scenes I had him ghosting through before, which was a delight. He is THE WORST, and therefore writing him is a blast."
• Hypothetical Casting: Author E.K Johnston has done this for a few of the characters:
  • Mariek Panaka's physical appearance is based upon Rachel House.
  • Queen Réillata's appearance is based on Arden Cho.
  • Versé is based upon a Maori tour guide Johnston met in New Zealand.
• Running the Asylum: E.K. Johnston was a dedicated fan of the franchise, particularly of Padmé and the Handmaidens, long before she became one of its authors. Padmé/Sabé has a sizable chunk of fans in the Padmé fanbase, which Johnston nods to with Sabé having a one-sided crush on Padmé and the two being more closer than any other piece in Star Wars has ever gotten to show.
• Teasing Creator: When Catherine Taber was asked during a podcast if she was narrating the audiobook for the novel, she declined to say anything about it. She was officially announced months later as the narrator.
• What Could Have Been:
  • E.K. Johnston toyed with the possibility of revealing Versé to be transgender, but desisted from openly mentioning it in the novel when she realized she couldn't do it justice.
  • In the original pitch for Star Wars: Ahsoka, Ahsoka was supposed to cross paths with Sabé and Tonra, which would have set the foundations for Queen's Shadow.
• Word of Gay: E.K Johnston stated she imagined Tonra as being bisexual, but due to the novel focusing largely on Padmé and Sabé, she didn't get a chance to focus on this.

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