response 32 of 50:

May 2 02:19 UTC 2001

Well, the Emperor apparantly doesn't bounce back any too easily.  He's out
of commision for a long time.  Even if Vader knew this was possible (not
obvious that he would), he might consider buying Lucas a couple decades to
mature before the Emperor could have another whack at him a fair deal.

I don't think Vader was a master of the Dark Side of the Force.  I think he
was a slave of the Dark Side of the Force.

Anakin, Kenobi, and Yoda don't have clone bodies.  But it does seem clear that
at least some Jedi are able to maintain some sort of spectral existance after
death.  Mostly it seems to be the more contemplative types who do so.  Kenobi
and Yoda both die voluntarily with their bodies vanishing after death.  Anakin
makes a spectral appearance, but I'm guessing he needed help from Kenobi and
Yoda to do that.  "If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you
can imagine," or something like that says Kenobi before he lets Vader kill
him.  There is no evidence in the movie that his power extends to more than
giving Luke posthumorous advice, but presumably there is more to it.  Yoda
and Kenobi had each been sitting around alone for a few decades doing nothing
while the Empire takes over the universe.  Presumably they weren't really
doing nothing, but were in some way preparing to go into ghost mode and do
some really impressive stuff.  All the other Jedi, good and bad, leave
corpses.  Hard to tell if the Emperor did.  Apparantly not.