According to the junior novelization of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, the Tusken Raiders took Shmi deliberately in order to goad the colonists into pursuing them, so they could launch a series of deadly traps. It was only when they had accomplished that fearful goal that they began torturing Shmi.
The Reasons Behind the Tusken Raiders' Abduction of Shmi
Lucas changed gears slightly in Attack of the Clones, not only by using them as a convenient threat to kill Shmi but to demonstrate the prejudice that the planet's humans have and how that contributed to Anakin's rapid loss of perspective.
The second fan theory makes the most sense, however: the nabbing and murder of Shmi Skywalker-Lars was a cruel coming-of-age ritual for that specific tribe of Tusken Raider younglings. One user figured the ritual was essentially a test of how well the Tuskens could make an outsider suffer before they inevitably died.
The Tusken Raiders tortured, mutilated and starved Shmi Skywalker while she was their captive. She was also denied medical treatment and consequently died from her wounds. Her death affected Anakin Skywalker, who giving into his anger, slaughtered an entire village of Tuskens including women, children and animals.
Relationships were strictly forbidden in the Jedi Order, and all of them had to forgo their own parents. So with Anakin being a Padawan up to Attack of the Clones, there was never a chance for him to sneak off and go find Shmi, at least without Obi-Wan knowing.
What Did the Sand People Do to Anakin's Mother? - Star Wars Explained
Would Qui-Gon have freed Shmi?
Although he couldn't free Shmi, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones reveals that she was sold to Cliegg Lars sometime after The Phantom Menace and freed. What the film didn't reveal, however, was that Qui-Gon Jinn contributed to Shmi's freedom.
Though Pi-Lippa had planned to free Shmi, she'd died before she could, and Shmi instead became the property of one of Pi-Lippa's relatives, who did not want to free her. Shmi and Anakin arrive on Tatooine to serve Gardulla the Hutt.
According to the junior novelization of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, the Tusken Raiders took Shmi deliberately in order to goad the colonists into pursuing them, so they could launch a series of deadly traps.
Shmi was buried at the farm with a gravestone marking her grave. After her husband Cliegg Lars died, he was buried next to her. Both of their headstones were later presumed to have been removed by her stepson, Owen Lars and stepdaughter Beru Lars supposedly to protect Shmi's grandson Luke from being discovered.
The deleted scene in Revenge of the Sith suggests that Palpatine had been monitoring Anakin's potential and orchestrated the tragedy of Shmi's death as part of his plan.
Shmi was not just kidnapped by the Tuskens. She was tortured on a daily basis over a period of several weeks. The novelization of Attack of the Clones goes into some detail, telling us she was beaten with Gaffi sticks, to the point that almost every bone on her body was broken.
Jocasta worked in the Jedi Archives for decades, and Sidious believes that her precious knowledge will prove useful. A security robot in the Archives identifies Darth Vader as Anakin Skywalker within earshot of Jocasta, and she is shocked.
What happened to Shmi Skywalker when she was kidnapped?
Captured and tortured by Tusken Raiders, Shmi Skywalker Lars died in the arms of her son, who returned to her as a Jedi apprentice. After infiltrating the camp, he found the tent where Shmi was being held. There, Anakin encountered a bound and emaciated Shmi, who was near death.
The sandstorm nearly separated Anakin from his mother permanently, which would have been an intense traumatic experience for a child of his age. No doubt Anakin carried the memory of the sandstorm with him wherever he went.
In the final years of the Republic, Shmi Skywalker was a slave on Tatooine. Originally the property of Gardulla the Hutt, she and her son Anakin belonged to the Toydarian junk merchant Watto. Shmi taught Anakin to be kind to others, though she worried about his love of the fast, dangerous sport of podracing.
Did Palpatine somehow pay off the Sand People to kidnap and consequently kill Anakin's mother to facilitate the beginning of Anakin's transformation to the Dark Side? No. The Tusken Raiders are a common and known danger on Tatooine. Shmi lived on a moisture farm that's out in the desert and highly isolated.
In The Phantom Menace, when Qui-Gon Jinn meets tiny Anakin Skywalker and his mother, he goes on about how the Force is like, crazy strong with Anakin or whatever, and then asks his mother about Anakin's dad. Shmi Skywalker is pretty clear in her answer: There isn't a father. She was impregnated by the Force.
Though it sounds like he thinks Anakin is dead, he could also be viewing it as Obi-Wan does, where he believes Anakin died when Darth Vader was created. There's a hint that Owen knows Anakin was Darth Vader by the time of A New Hope.
The 2009 novel A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker written by Ryder Windham depicts Luke's early life. In the novel, Luke overhears his Aunt Beru mention Shmi, which leads to Beru explaining that Shmi is his grandmother, and that she's buried somewhere on Tatooine.
When Qui-Gon Jinn, Count Dooku, or countless Jedi during Order 66 perished, their bodies simply fell because they didn't consciously become one with the Force as Obi-Wan, Yoda, or Palpatine did. As Anakin died, he was guided into the Force by Obi-Wan.
Shmi Skywalker was 50 years old when she died. 241,393 years old in today's time! Shmi Skywalker was Born in 72 BBY and died in the year 22 BBY. Shmi loved her son more than she loved herself.
After Anakin leaves his mother and trains with the Jedi Order, he doesn't see her again for an entire decade, with their next and final meeting being in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
Thus, while Qui-Gon was less powerful than the likes of Yoda and Mace Windu, Palpatine feared him more. In the simplest terms, he was a wild card, and with the Sidious executing an intricate decades-long plan to seize power and destroy the Jedi, a wild card was something he just couldn't afford.
