: What he said was quite clear. His meaning, however, was not something set in
: stone by the narratve
No, but its concrete foundation was poured by the English language-- there's no way anyone doubted he meant it in a literal "living thing A made living thing B stop living" way before Vader said it was otherwise, and moreover that was the intended meaning. It's kind of like when people take lines from the Bible about laying down with snakes (or whatever the exact wording is) as a sign they should hug a cobra and if they do it won't hurt them-- I'm not trying to inject religious talk, just providing an example.
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