How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Quote #1
QUI-GON: Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs.
OBI-WAN: But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future.
QUI-GON: But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, young Padawan.
OBI-WAN: Yes, Master.
It's the first scene of the movie, and we can already recognize the coming of age theme. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is the mentor character in A New Hope, is himself the student. He is still learning what it means to be a Jedi knight and trying to determine how to properly use his powers. Everybody's got to start somewhere.
Quote #2
AMIDALA: We must continue to rely on negotiations.
BIBBLE: Negotiation? We've lost all communications. And where are the Chancellor's ambassadors?
PANAKA: This is a dangerous situation, Your Highness. Our security volunteers will be no match against a battle-hardened Federation army.
AMIDALA: I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.
Despite being queen, Padmé Amidala is still learning. Growing up in a peaceful society, she believes negotiation is the way to settle disputes, but the Trade Federation's invasion disrupts this notion. With the textbook answer no longer applicable, Padmé must learn and grow to meet the challenge.
Quote #3
PANAKA: Wait! Wait. Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you.
QUI-GON: No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain. The spaceport is not going to be pleasant.
PANAKA: The queen wishes it. She's curious about the planet.
QUI-GON: [Sighs] This is not a good idea. Stay close to me.
The queen is, of course, Padmé, so it is her own desire to learn about the planet and its customs that drives her to go with Qui-Gon. This desire to learn along with the knowledge she acquires will help in her coming of age.
Quote #4
ANAKIN: What about Mom? Is she free too?
QUI-GON: I tried to free your mother, Ani, but Watto wouldn't have it.
ANAKIN: You're coming with us, aren't you, Mom?
SHMI: Son, my place is here. My future is here. It is time for you to let go.
ANAKIN: I don't want things to change.
All of the coming of age characters experience loss. It's the weak part of growing up. But Anakin struggles most with it. His coming of age journey begins in The Phantom Menace and continues through the next two films, and his fear of loss and change drive him toward his fate.
Quote #5
PADMÉ: I will not defer. I've come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now. I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee. If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum's leadership.
[Calls to vote now.]PALPATINE: Now they will elect a new chancellor, a strong chancellor, one who will not let our tragedy continue.
Padmé is growing wiser and more worldly, but she hasn't grown enough to see through Palpatine's trickery. Using Padmé's naïveté to his advantage, Palpatine convinces her to remove the one roadblock to his becoming head of state, Chancellor Valorum. Seriously, that last line could have only been more obviously bad guy if it came with a mustache twirl
Quote #6
PADMÉ: The Trade Federation has destroyed all that we have worked so hard to build. If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever. I ask you to help us. [Genuflects.] No, I beg you to help us. We are your humble servants. Our fate is in your hands.
Padmé does come of age, growing into a more effective leader throughout the film. Here, she brokers peace with the Gungans and comes into her queenly role, strategizing the counterassault to take back her planet.
Quote #7
YODA: Confer on you the level of Jedi Knight the council does. But agree with your taking this boy as your Padawan learner I do not.
OBI-WAN: Qui-Gon believed in him.
YODA: [Sighs.] The chosen one the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training.
OBI-WAN: Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin.
Obi-Wan also comes of age and becomes a Jedi knight. Having grown in this film, he takes on the role of the teacher, one he will assume for the remainder of the series. By the time he takes Luke as a student, he's obviously had more practice.