Watto wouldn't free her. He would only give up one slave.

He's saying the Jedi Council should have paid for her or freed her another way.

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/84968/why-didnt-anyone-free-shmi-skywalker

Apparently, it was covered in the novelization. Whether that's canon or not? Don't know, don't care.

This is covered in the Episode II Novelisation. Shortly after Anakin left with the Jedi, Shmi met Cliegg Lars and fell in love with him, ultimately securing her freedom and marrying him. Although there's no specifics about timescale, the implication is that she was freed within a few months of Anakin leaving:

Quote

She had done the right thing concerning her son, Shmi told herself with every step. They had been slaves, with no prospects of finding their freedom other than the offer of the Jedi. How could she have kept Anakin here on Tatooine, when Jedi Knights were promising him all of his dreams?

Of course, at that time, Shmi had not known that she would meet Cliegg Lars that fateful day in Mos Espa, and that the moisture farmer would fall in love with her, buy her from Watto, and free her, and only then, once she was a free woman, ask her to marry him. Would she have let Anakin go if she had known the changes that would come into her life so soon after his departure?

As to why she didn't seek passage off of Tattooine to join him, the answer is that she doesn't want her presence to interfere with the amazing destiny that Qui-Gon told her about:

Quote

It was his special way, and that was why the Jedi who had come to Tatooine had recognized the unique nature of the boy and had freed him from Watto and taken him into their care and instruction. “I had to let him go,” Shmi said quietly. “I could not keep him with me, if that meant living the life of a slave.”

“I know,” Owen assured her.

“I could not have kept him with me even if we were not slaves,” she went on, and she looked at Owen, as if her own words had surprised her. “Annie has so much to give to the galaxy. His gifts could not be contained by Tatooine. He belongs out there, flying across the stars, saving planets. He was born to be a Jedi, born to give so much more to so many more.”

Quote from: Have A Holly Jolly Turkey on December 12, 2015, 06:12:20 PM

They didn't have anything to buy her with. Republic credits are no good on Tattooine. She was freed by the Lars family pretty soon after Episode I.

So go and enforce the law. Slavery was outlawed. Send troops to Tatooine from the Clone Wars.

The point is they did nothing, forbade Anakin from doing anything, and then expected everything to just turn out fine.

I never really got into the books but I think the issue is that the Republic had trouble enforcing laws in the outer rim due to the Hutt cartels and other various gangs.

Quote from: Have A Holly Jolly Turkey on December 12, 2015, 06:26:01 PM

Quote from: challengerX on December 12, 2015, 06:21:32 PM

Quote from: Have A Holly Jolly Turkey on December 12, 2015, 06:12:20 PM

They didn't have anything to buy her with. Republic credits are no good on Tattooine. She was freed by the Lars family pretty soon after Episode I.

So go and enforce the law. Slavery was outlawed. Send troops to Tatooine from the Clone Wars.

The point is they did nothing, forbade Anakin from doing anything, and then expected everything to just turn out fine.

I never really got into the books but I think the issue is that the Republic had trouble enforcing laws in the outer rim due to the Hutt cartels and other various gangs.

I've never read any of the books.

My point is they brought this on themselves. They could have freed his mother and brought her to Coruscant or something. They could have given Watto a ship for her.

Oh like fly back and give him some shit to trade?

Yeah, that's kind of fucked up I guess.

His mom was bought by Owen Lars, who freed and married her. She got kidnapped by tusken raiders and was tortured.

There ya go.

Quote from: Jolly Rocket on December 12, 2015, 06:37:28 PM

His mom was bought by Owen Lars, who freed and married her. She got kidnapped by tusken raiders and was tortured.

There ya go.

She got left on a shithole planet to live a shitty life. The Council could've traded with Watto and took his mother to Coruscant.

Pretty sure they offered and she refused to leave

Quote from: Jolly Rocket on December 12, 2015, 07:18:57 PM

Quote from: challengerX on December 12, 2015, 06:52:16 PM

Quote from: Jolly Rocket on December 12, 2015, 06:37:28 PM

His mom was bought by Owen Lars, who freed and married her. She got kidnapped by tusken raiders and was tortured.

There ya go.

She got left on a shithole planet to live a shitty life. The Council could've traded with Watto and took his mother to Coruscant.

Pretty sure they offered and she refused to leave

That never happened.

wait here's what I was thinking of

Anakin: But what about mom? Is she free too? You're coming too, aren't you mom?
Qui-Gon Jinn: I tried to free your mother Anni, but Watto wouldn't have it.
Shmi Skywalker: Son, my place is here, my future is here. It is time for you to let go.

But somebody mentioned the novelisation, and that actually covers it. Firstly, Watto wouldn't allow both to be free when Qui Gon tried to make it happen, republic credits didn't matter to him. Secondly, Shmi actually was freed by Owen Lars only a few months after Anakin left. A few months.

And thirdly, The Republic cannot police the entire galaxy. There is a reason mercenaries like the Outer Rim, they can do whatever they want really. Tatooine is in hutt space, the outer rim, outside of Republic space.

As for the Jedi, same answer as the Republic. They cannot police the entire galaxy and free every slave.

Quote from: Leymon's term on December 12, 2015, 07:46:33 PM

Because Star Wars sucks and George Lucas is awful

You suck

thanks fam

The prequels are complete trash, don't bother making sense of them.

And they could have freed all the slaves.

The Republic and Jedi Order had bigger things to worry about than trying to liberate the entire outer rim. That's as futile as the war on drugs right now.