something i’ve always wondered about the imperial security presented in star wars films and games.

With the Empire in place, Stormtroopers are everywhere. I get that. It’s basically a military garrison that also seems involved in police work. Fair enough. But then whenever a higher-up like Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine is somewhere, there are cadres of Stormtroopers standing by in formation, apparently for security/protective purposes. I’ve never understood this.

The only person that could possibly harm someone like Vader or Palpatine would be a Jedi or similarly Force-powered figure, yes? Yes. But Stormtroopers stand absolutely no chance against Jedi (unless they are coordinating to ambush a single unsuspecting Jedi, as we learned here… though those were the far-more-qualified Clonetroopers). In addition to common sense (Opponent A has superpowers and a sword that can accomplish anything while Opponent B has an ineffective rifle, ineffective body armor, and a complete inability to hit a target — on which person would YOU bet?), I have gleaned the expected result of “Jedi vs. Stormtrooper(s)” as it comprises approximately 98% of the plot of The Force Unleashed I and II games (spoiler alert: nothing can stop a guy with a lightsaber and superpowers, Stormtrooper or otherwise).

Basically, when a guy with a lightsaber comes out of nowhere and starts swinging at Stormtroopers, the guy with a lightsaber is not going to have a smidgen of trouble killing every last person in the room. So why have Stormtroopers protect Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine when the only serious threat to those two (a Jedi) will plow through that line of protection in 15 seconds (10 seconds if their formation is really tight)? Nobody without Force powers would be dumb enough to try and attack Vader/Palpatine and so, the only foe against which the Stormtroopers would prove useful would be the foe who would never present himself.

It’s kind of sad, really.