The latest Star Wars tie-in, E.K. Johnston's Queen's Peril, retcons Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace to make the Naboo smarter. The Naboo were introduced as the victims in George Lucas' prequel trilogy, with their world invaded by the Trade Federation. Queen Padmé Amidala's arc in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was essentially the tale of a victim attempting to find agency. She was also a pawn, because Palpatine had engineered affairs to ensure she called a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum, giving him the perfect shot to become the new Chancellor of the Republic. With that done, the future Emperor lost all interest in Padmé; she had served her purpose.
Disney has been using its various tie-ins to improve The Phantom Menace. They've done this by fleshing out Qui-Gon Jinn as a character, revealing him as the only Jedi who really threatened Palpatine's plans; they've defined the Chosen One prophecy at last, and explained how Qui-Gon came to expect the one born of the Force; and they've explored the Republic's battle against slavery. The latest novel, E.K. Johnston's Queen's Shadow, explores the buildup to the Trade Federation invasion and retells the film from the perspective of Padmé and her handmaidens. Johnston's priority is to give Padmé some much-needed agency, to make her more formidable as a character.
In general, Johnston achieves her goal through subtle rewrites. But the most glaring retcon involves a crucial message sent by Sio Bibble, a transmission received by Padmé on Tatooine. Only part of the message was heard in the film: "...cut off all food supplies until you return... the death toll is catastrophic... we must bow to their wishes, Your Highness... Please tell us what to do! If you can hear us, Your Highness, you must contact me." Johnston reveals this message contained a hidden code-phrase from the handmaidens who had been captured on Naboo. When Sio Bibble said "death toll," it told Padmé the handmaidens were still alive and were still doing their bit to oppose the Trade Federation; thus, without the Trade Federation's knowledge, Sio Bibble had actually told Padmé to continue on her mission.
This Star Wars retcon is hardly an organic one, because it essentially turns the scene upside-down; there's no hint of this kind of deception in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Indeed, Obi-Wan Kenobi sensed Padmé's disquiet and rightly cautioned her it was a trap; Johnston rewrites that line as an unwitting expression of Kenobi's ignorance, as he, too, underestimated Padmé and her handmaidens, who were the first to stand in the way of the Trade Federation, ultimately leading to the Clone Wars.
After he has left the room, the handmaidens erupt in fury, asking if he thought they were stupid. Of course, the irony is that both Padmé and Obi-Wan fell for the real trap. They had compromised themselves simply by opening the message, allowing Darth Maul to track them to Tatooine. Padmé may have been smart, but the sad truth is that Palpatine was far more intelligent still.