After yesterday’s Owen Lars review, you had to know what was coming up today.  Beru Whitesun is here.  During the time of AOTC, she and Owen were not yet married.  In the film, she had a small part, with no dialogue.  She was simply present for all the Lars family interactions with Anakin and Padmé, while taking it all in.  She does manage to bring a pitcher full of blue milk to the table for their guests.  There was apparently a scene planned where Padmé and Beru have some interaction, but footage appears to have never surfaced.  Judging by Padmé‘s outfit in the shot below, it probably takes place in the morning following Anakin’s massacre at the Tusken camp.  And let there be no mistake.  He didn’t just kill the men, but the women and the children, too.  Perhaps Beru and Padmé could have been commiserating about their mopey partners.

This is intriguing.

In researching the Lars family for these reviews, I learned something about the Shmi funeral scene in AOTC.  There were 3 tombstones at the site.  One was for the newly buried Shmi.  The second one was shared by Gredda and Lef Lars, Cliegg’s parents.  The third, smaller stone was that of his younger brother, Edern, who died at the age of 14.  Those gravestones are, of course, gone by the time of A New Hope.  As with everything else, there is an in-universe explanation beyond it having being filmed 25 years before and Lucas not having thought about the graveyard at that time.  Apparently Owen (EU/Legends) removed the tombstones himself.  Along with frequently telling Luke to “forget it,” this was part of Owen’s grand strategy to keep Luke from asking too many nosy questions about his past.

In From a Certain Point of View, there was a short story told from Beru’s perspective (post death) about how she and Owen were unable to have a baby together.  Their relationship was strained, and Beru almost broke it off to start a new life in Anchorhead and open a blue-milk cheese shop.  She and Owen were excited to have the opportunity to raise their nephew, Luke. 

Like BD46 Owen Lars, BD45 Beru Lars is a nice looking addition to the line, but is lacking a bit in the “action figure” department.  The sculpt is nice, with some excellent detailing in the textures and coloring of her clothing.  She was given a soft goods long skirt, which allows the hip and knee joints to enjoy their full range of motion.  Also like Owen, she lacks ankles.  Again, this nullifies the tooling expense put into the knees and hips, although she is able to sit better than Owen due to the restrictive nature of his hard plastic lower tunic.  The face is okay, although it doesn’t look much like the actress.  Forgivable, I suppose, for a minor character, but it’s something that probably could be done better today.  Beru comes with a pitcher of blue milk, which she can hold firmly in her hand. 

It would certainly be nice if there was an updated homestead “adventure” set where the Lars family could sit and enjoy a meal of moisture and whatnots.  It would also have been conceivable years ago that we might get both Owen and Beru in their Revenge of the Sith outfits.  For now, I think most collectors are happy enough with this figure as the PT version of Beru, and would much rather see a modern update to the OT version, along with Owen.  Overall, it’s nicely complimentary to the Owen figure, we just need Cliegg now.  Beru, like Owen, could have achieved the baseline 7/10 with articulated ankles, but she still gets a respectable 6, and is worthy of adding to your collection.

Build-A-Droid 

Beru Whitesun contains the body for HK-47.  This murderous and snarky droid terrorized meatbags during the Old Republic Era.  Source:  Knights of the Old Republic.