I Can't Believe This Is Still Going On...

This is what frustrates me about sites like Yahoo.  They have people who don't have clue-one about a subject, and let them run with a story.  Here's a perfect example:

Yahoo writer Donna Dickens recently published a story concerning whether or not "Stormtroopers" were still clones.  She wrote that "purists" cried foul when John Boyega appeared in the trailer because Stormtroopers were clones, and this was ruining everything.  First of all, I don't know any "purists" that would think that a Stormtrooper was a clone.  All of the purists I know hail the original trilogy as gospel, not the prequels, but I digress.  She also wrote that Lucasfilm recently, and quietly, revealed that Stormtroopers actually are not clones, through a book that was published called A New Dawn.  She seemed to be patting herself on the back at making this discovery.

This is why I have an issue with non-fans writing about Star Wars, and I hate to break it to Ms. Dickens, but this "controversy" has been settled for years.  Allow me to explain.  A couple of years ago, I had the great pleasure to attend the New York City ComiCon.  It was absolutely amazing!  I had never been to one before, and after walking the floor for the first day, I decided to take in some panels.  One of the panels that I was looking forward to was the introduction of a new Star Wars television show called Star Wars: Rebels.  While sitting through the different speakers, they explained the process of going from Clonetroopers over to Stormtroopers.  It was actually quite fascinating.

I don't remember the speaker's name, but he said that the clones had one flaw in them, they aged at a far greater rate than regular people.  The Empire needed to replenish their dwindling number of Clonetroopers with replacements, and it was much too expensive to make more.  They started recruiting regular people.  Once they began doing this, the Empire noticed something interesting.  The "Stormtroopers" were much more loyal and obedient than the "Clonetroopers."  They discovered that the clones wanted to be more of an individual, not just a copy of someone else.  The Stormtroopers were people that felt like they didn't fit in anyplace, and were longing for acceptance and purpose.  So as the clones died off, the rise of the Stormtroopers began.

Pretty interesting, huh?  And this was revealed two whole years before Ms. Dickens revelation.  Lucasfilm also wasn't "quiet" about revealing it to people.  They told this to a packed auditorium.  Some of which were reporters! GASP!

Oh, and Ms. Dickens?  The fact that they are called Stormtroopers and not Clonetroopers should've been clue number two.