We know (as per Empire's End and Crimson Empire) that the clones' genetic structure was tampered with by forces hostile to Palpatine's continued reign. This tampering led to premature aging and other damage to clone bodies, but we can further speculate that it also affected the Emperor's mind (at least his brain functions). Furthermore, Palpatine clearly describes the state beyond death as "madness", so every time he lost a body to inhabit, he must have experienced the spiritual ravages of the dark side fully. This damage done to his essence (soul, if you will), when paired with the physical damage and trauma and the genetic tampering, is almost certain to have affected the Emperor in some sinister ways which could not be overcome, at least not during the rather short period of time in which the Dark Empire trilogy is set.Karza wrote:There's a quote somewhere about each subsequent clone being more insane than the one before, but damned if I can remember where. Maybe in the Dark Empire writer's notes or one of the Essential Guide to Characters?Cykeisme wrote:Didn't the cloning process make him lose a bit of his identity each time, though? He went insane, didn't he?
As for any such actual quote, it might be interesting to see and read; at the very least it would point out that practical immortality of clone bodies and soul transfer has some serious flaws that Palpatine either failed to realize or didn't have enough time (hardly) to correct.
