This is my attempt to convince you that the Emperor’s Clones part of the Dark Empire aren’t as bad as you thought. Even that they are good!

Have you ever watched a movie where the bad guy is supposedly undefeatable (as evidenced by the ending to act 1 and especially the ending to act 2) abd then at the end of the movie, they sort of just take him out? This is one of my biggest pet peaves in a movie: when they stop following their own rules.

I think the Prequels sort of do this on the OT with cloning, but perhaps the problem is really much earlier than that. George Lucas opened a door in 1977 with the term “Clone Wars.” Introducing Cloning technology into the fantasy world would have lots of implications unless the technology was uninvented, lost, or somehow made obsolete. A veritable closing of the door. But as long as the door is left open, we would expect to see the technology constantly, right?

Certainly, if the technology was still available… why wouldn’t Palpatine have focused his efforts and power on a way to live forever? Of course he would.

But then again… that door is still open. Why isn’t everybody being cloned? That’s probably where Dark Empire II and III went afoul. They tried to close the door on cloning, or cloning the Emperor at least. And that is where they suck.