sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:And I can say with absolute certainty that the Empire controlled many times that
For far less a time, as can be derived by solid canon materials.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like 120 worlds would be a heck of a lot easier to maintain than the multitude that the Empire controlled. Even if it was for only about 25 years, pretty much the only reason it "fell" (if you just count the movies) was because of the Skywalkers, who were already "chosen" to bring order to the galaxy, so the strength of the Empire really wouldn't matter since that was destined to happen (Yes, I realize Luke wasn't "the chosen one", but he's obviously pretty darn significant to the Emperor's defeat.) Now if you take the Empire by itself, and that means no Luke Skywalker to blow up the first Death Star, become a jedi, and turn Vader back from the dark side, I'd say it probably never would've been overthrown.
Also, you can't just disregard every little thing that isn't in the movies, because there ARE some books and things that are considered canon, and the Empire was never officially disbanded in the movies, even if it was implied (All they did was blow up the Death Star II [along with the Emperor and Vader, but there's always somebody who can take over], and that didn't stop them the first time!)