Saga Why are Grievous's robotics so superior to Vader's?

Ah, but Palpatine had years to then turn around and develop something better, not to mention more comfortable, for Vader, and he didn't. Palpatine took cloning technology to levels not even dreamed of by the Kaminoans; how much simpler would it have been to develop better cybernetics (or grow a whole new body) for Vader? Grievous, however, was meant to be a weapon, and not a permanent fixture of the new Empire that Palpatine had envisioned.

 

I agree. The fact that the most powerful Jedi we see is a two foot tall green elf makes it hard to think that Force strength depends on biomass. (Also, it's never been completely obvious to me whether the Force is strong with someone because they have a high midiclorian count, or whether someone has a high midiclorian count because the Force is strong with them. But that's probably a different discussion.)

I do think Anakin's ability to use the Force was weakened by his injuries on Mustafar, but I think it's looking in the wrong place to focus on the cybernetics. The loss of his limbs was the least of his injuries. Vader's powers weren't weakened because he had prosthetics. His powers were weakened because he was a burnt-up husk of a man clinging to life only with the aid of millions of credits worth of life support equipment. Or to put it another way, the problem wasn't the missing parts. The problem was that the parts he still had were completely %&$^'d up.

 

In hindsight, it might have been slightly better if Anakin in ROTS had received a prototype of the iconic suit; instead of "the" suit. 18 years is a long time for advancements in bio-mechanical hardware. Then the one worn in the OT would have been considered the zenith of the design necessary for his situation. All kinds of extras like Cortosis shoulders and chest plates. (hehehehehe...!)

I agree with Sarge in an earlier post about Vader having issues using the Force with the cybernetic limbs. He never did throw lightening, but it would have been cool if he took his mask off like Predator and shot bolts of energy out his eyes, instead of his fingertips!!!!

 

In our world, 18 years is a long time for technical advances, but there's a strong case for technological stagnation in GFFA. The Republic goes back 25,000 years; aside from an occasional aberration like the Death Star, technology seems to have reached a plateau.

Still, I agree that Palp shouldn't have shoved Vader into a ready to wear cyber suit off the rack. I always thought he had a long and painful hospital convalescence after the lava, and he passed the time in bed by designing his own armor. After all, he is supposed to be a technical genius.

 

This is just more evidence that Palpatine didn't want Vader comfotrtable in a suit that functioned perfectly: Grievous wasn't a Force-user, and Palpatine knew he wouldn't be around long, so had him designed a cybernetic suit that was powerful and efficient. Vader, however, he wanted reduced in power because he was scared of him, and being Force-prescient, not to mention a Sith (Rule of Two, anyone?), must have known that Vader would have eventually tried to overthrow him. Vader in the suit, and one that wasn't all that functional, limited this potential success of this, and kept him tied to the Emperor. Remember, Palpatine had the keys to the medical suite where Vader had to have his suit refitted every six months or so. And a weakened Vader, whether through limiting his connection to the Force by not growing him a new clone body, or by technological and cybernetic inefficiency, still amounted to a controllable Vader.