Darth Vader, desperate to find the Rebels, orders thousands of probe droids sent throughout the galaxy. When an empire has reached a critical mass of military buildup, the next logical step is surveillance. In order for The Emperor's ultimate quest, absolute power, to be attained, he must necessarily control the information of the galaxy and monitor the activities of its citizens.
Though this may be the first use of these droids, and they're used solely for rooting out "enemies of the Empire", it's not a stretch to assume that the data-gathering capabilities of the probe droids may be used on peaceful citizens in the future.
Thanks to the droid, the Empire discovers the Rebel base and attacks, forcing an evacuation. Han Solo and a Rebel leader, Princess Leia, escape aboard his ship the Millennium Falcon. Eluding Vader, he is forced to call in a team of bounty hunters to search for them. This move shows the limitations of the Empire, powerful as it may be. Individuals operating outside of its control, the bounty hunters, are better equipped to do the job the military can't do. They are free to innovate, to experiment, and to operate independently.
Eventually, the Falcon lands on Cloud City. Cloud City is a small gas mining colony, run by Lando Calrissian. A former smuggler, and friend of Solo, he has decided to take up a more "legitimate" entrepreneurial business, undergoing the risks of starting a new firm. By bearing the risk, Lando stands to succeed or fail based on his own effort. This is the sort of free economic activity the Empire seeks to control.
Lando operates outside of prohibitive Imperial supervision and regulation, allowing him to more easily innovate and turn a profit. Furthermore, he has evaded the industry's own regulator, the Mining Guild. Industrial self regulators, like the Mining Guild, seek to limit entry into a market and artificially prop up prices and restrict competition. Competition like the upstart Cloud City.
Lando: "So you see, because we're a small operation, we don't fall under the jurisdiction of the Empire."
Leia: "So, you're part of the Mining Guild then."
Lando: "No, not actually. Our operation is small enough not to be noticed. Which is advantageous for everybody, as our customers are anxious to avoid attracting attention to themselves."
Han: "Aren't you afraid the Empire's gonna find out about this little operation, shut you down?"
Lando: "It's always been a danger, but it looms like a shadow over everything we've built here...I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever."
Lando, desperate to keep the Empire from crushing his business, betrays Han and Leia and surrenders them to Darth Vader. Knowing that he operates outside of Imperial control, the threat of Imperialization "looms like a shadow" over the operation. When the chance came along seemingly guaranteeing independence, he had no choice but to take it.
Though he eventually has a change of heart and joins the Rebellion, Lando's gambit demonstrates the prosperity and freedom that can emerge for all, if the government merely gets out of the way. The Emperor, not content controlling the government and the galaxy with a mighty military force, is intent on economic control as well.
The Empire Strikes Back is often lauded as the best of the Star Wars films. It shows an Empire yearning for complete domination of the galaxy. The beginnings of a surveillance state (justified by the threat of attack, of course) are seen, as is the threat of economic Imperialization over a thriving free enterprise.
(Analysis continued for The Return of the Jedi HERE.)
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