This has quite possibly been discussed before..

I was watching Episode II last night, and something clicked to me. There was always a question of "If the Stormtroopers are clones of Badass™ Jango Fett.. why do they suck so badly in the Original Trilogy?"

Well.. by that time, they're like.. 60 years old.

I just figured that since the original source for the DNA is gone that the clones become less like the original DNA.

Or...I heard somewhere in the Star Wars lore that the Emporer had found a faster way to create the clones...the result is more stormtroopers...albeit they couldn't shoot fish in a barrel. Plus they hit there head all the time on doorways...it has to effect them somehow...heheh.

Hmm.. well, that's the open door. Which may or may not be addressed in Episode III. Since the clones grow at double speed, and they are already 20 in Episode 2, if the same clone army is in fact the Stormtroopers, then they would be right at 60 years old. Of course, They could've had more clones made or any other number of possibilities, though Lucas has stated that the Stormtroopers were always intended to be clones. Now are they the same ones bred in Ep 2 or a new set.. who knows?

It was just soemthing that crossed my mind when the Camino alien mentioned the double growth rate.

Edit: Come to think of it.. if the clones are 10 years old in Episode 2, give 3-5 for Episode 3 (15), then +30 until episode 4.. 45.. so they could be more like 90 years old.. ouch..

Damn plot holes..

Loss of quality when you go down a generation or two.

Star Wars Episode 7: Grumpy Old Stormtroopers

At some point, Palpatine must have opened the rank to non-Clones. Isn't Biggs going to the Imperial Academy at the start of A New Hope?

Hopefully when Lucas releases A New Hope on DVD after you hear Han and Luke knock out the stormtroopers on the Falcon (in the Death Star) you'll hear Han saying "Twins? Damn, that's weird!"

roger roger

I'll contend that Imperial Stormtroopers do NOT suck. Here's why:

01) Ben's line: "These blast marks are too percise for sandpeople. They must be the work of stormtroopers!" Now, we've seen sandpeople sniping vehicles moving at 500+ miles a hour from 300 yards away during the podrace. A difficult shot, and stormtroopers are better than these guys.

02) Stormtroopers rush an enemy with a fortified position through a narrow doorway and take 2 or 3 losses. They completly route the crewmen of the blockade runner and get off with very few casulties.

03) On the Death Star, Vader wanted them to escape. Leia even mentions it later - so it's clearly a token effort and the Stormtroopers are hindered by upper managment.

04) A stormtrooper on endor jumps out from behind cover, pulls off a snap shot on a target a hundred yards away. That's a hell of a shot by modern day standards.

and even with all those examples, they still can't hit the broad side of a barn.

lack of training... without jango they're only given enough information to do the job, not to finish it. i can't imagine the turnover rate for clones.

I think it's more of the problem seen in Multiplicity.

You know how when you make a copy of a copy, it's not as sharp as... well... the original.

Well, except leia in the arm and a dozen or so crewmen on the Tantive IV.

They shot R2 few times too didn't they?

Not everyone in the impirial army is a clone. Only the troops they throw at people who are very expendable. Everyone on the deck of a Star Destroyer is a regular life form. Clones can't think for themselfs very well, they're stupid and weak minded. That's how they're designed. Most TIE Pilots probably are clones too I'd think, just enginered to be pilots instead.

Uhhhhh... don't you think it would just make more sense for Palpatine to go out, get a new guy to clone, and MAKE SOME NEW ONES??!