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Let's say that a Sith Lord achieves all of his goals and becomes the ruler of the galaxy (similarly to, for instance, what Palpatine managed to).

Also let's assume that the Sith has killed all the remaining Jedi and has repressed any form of rebellion. It has achieved a state where he has total political control through fear.

On a rather more personal note, he is a being with formidable powers. He basically cannot be defeated in combat since there are no other trained Force users, and his extraordinary abilities cannot generally be matched in a 1-on-1 combat.

On this point, what kind of driving purpose could this Sith have in his life? War is over, fighting and killing seems unnecessary, unless it would do it for fun, which doesn't seem to characterize the Sith though.

What kind of pleasure could he take out of life?

What would he do with the accumulated power? What move "evil" purposes could he start cooking?

Bogdan Alexandru
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    Ruling the galaxy isn't enough? – Valorum May 20 '15 at 11:55
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    Something something dark side... – Daft May 20 '15 at 12:43
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    "Let's say that Julius Caesar achieves all his goals and becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire. What kind of pleasure could he take out of life?" - Well, it's good to be the king. – Superbest May 21 '15 at 01:11
  • In the SWTOR/KoTOR games and novels, Emperor Vitiate has acquired enough power to consume all life in the galaxy (if he gets the chance). His plan is somewhat unclear but it appears there are bigger and better things elsewhere in the universe, and that there are other beings who have advanced far beyond the Republic & Empire civilizations outside. So, I assume any Sith would keep looking for more and more, not limiting themselves to ruling just one galaxy. – Matthew Read May 21 '15 at 15:52
  • @Richard - definitely NO. In "Tarkin", Palpatine explicitly states the opposite to Vader (that ruling the galaxy is just a sideshow) – DVK-on-Ahch-To Sep 02 '15 at 18:50

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As with most of my answers on here, I'm going to lean fairly heavily on Legends, as the philosophy of the Sith isn't built out very well in the new canon.

According to the Sith Code, the ultimate goal of the Sith isn't power or domination, but freedom.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion
Through Passion I gain strength
Through Strength I gain Power
Through Power I gain Victory
Through Victory my Chains are Broken
The Force shall Free me

The Sith are all about using power and victory over opponents and obstacles as a vector to personal freedom. The core of the Sith ideology is that any limit imposed on you that inhibits your ability to do what you wish is a shackle, and the only way to break those shackles is the accumulation of power and the domination of anyone who gets in your way. There is no after for a Sith.

Ruling the galaxy isn't actually the goal--nor is defeating the Jedi; both are simply a means to the ultimate end which is, as the Sith code so succinctly states, Freedom.

So let's look at some specific examples like Sidious or Vitiate, who accomplish most or all of their Galactic Domination scheme. They both get close enough to the point you're talking about to be relevant behavior studies. Both Emperors are the unabashed masters of their domain (for a time,) and are functionally unchallenged (for several years, at least). Once that happens, they both turn to conquering the ultimate chain: Death.

Death is seen by the Sith as the final failing of the Weak (expressed as such various times in SWTOR dialogue, KOTOR/II, Darth Bane, Darth Plagueis, etc). To die is to be ultimately powerless, to have your will so thoroughly overridden that you can never hope to express it again.

Logically, then, most Sith Lords atop massive power structures with nearly unlimited power at their fingertips start looking into ways to prolong their life indefinitely; ways to avoid that final failing and ultimate expression of weakness.

So a few quick summary points:

  • Galactic domination isn't the goal, it's a means to an end

  • The Sith Code posits that freedom from any restriction is the ultimate goal

  • A Sith with nearly unlimited power really only faces death as a restriction on his action

  • So most Sith who 'Win,' as it were, spend their time trying to become immortal.

Thorn
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  • What if the Sith Lord actually achieved immortality? What purpose would they have in life after that? – John Odom May 20 '15 at 15:06
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    Interestingly, both Yoda and Obi-Wan achieve this final freedom over death, to some extent. Does this mean that ultimately, the light side is more powerful than the dark? See https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/79178/is-the-dark-side-of-the-force-more-powerful – crunch May 20 '15 at 15:09
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    @John Odom: then they start trying to prevent the inevitable end of the universe. And they will have to constantly recheck whether their goal is really achieved, for the rest of their life… – Holger May 20 '15 at 15:39
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    @Holger This makes me not want to be a Sith anymore...lol. Sounds like they will never meet their goals :P – John Odom May 20 '15 at 15:56
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    @John Odom: you did want to be a Sith before? – Holger May 20 '15 at 15:59
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    It's ironic that most major Sith wanted immortality, but the only known immortality in Star Wars is to become one with the Force and the MO of the Sith is to wound the Force. –  May 20 '15 at 16:18
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    It should be noted that "freedom" here, as a term, is used to express the notion of, "able to perform any action without negative repercussions." At least, that is my reading. This is not the only definition of freedom. ;) I don't object to the use of the word here, though, as that is probably exactly how a Sith would think of freedom. – jpmc26 May 20 '15 at 16:49
  • Ultimate personal freedom is, perhaps, a better phrasing, but slightly less effective in terms of narrative flow. – Thorn May 20 '15 at 17:04
  • I'm curious why they can't become one with the dark side of the force if the light/dark is intrinsic to it and it's by nature no more hostile to one side or the other. – Murphy May 20 '15 at 17:13
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    So what you're saying is...Willie Wonka is a Sith Lord! – Zibbobz May 20 '15 at 17:52
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    @Murphy The Dark Side of the Force is just the misuse of the Force. It's why the Chosen One sets "Balance" to the Force by destroying the Sith, rather than letting there be an equal amount of Sith and Jedi. –  May 20 '15 at 19:46
  • @Axelrod Reading the wiki wounding the force doesn't seem to be restricted to sith, some of those doing so being jedi and the Chosen one doesn't seem to successfully destroy all sith since there are later stories involving them. he appears to merely first removes the total dominance of the jedi and then removes the total dominance of the sith without totally/permanently destroying either group. – Murphy May 20 '15 at 22:12
  • "Anakin's offspring redeem him and allow him to fulfill the prophecy where he brings balance to the Force by doing away with the Sith and getting rid of evil in the universe." - George Lucas –  May 20 '15 at 22:44
  • @crunch - Being an incorporeal ghost (probably only visible to force sensitive people but I'm not sure about that) does not sound like ultimate freedom to me. It is more like ultimate restriction: you can't touch things and people, you can't eat or drink, you can't use technology etc. – mg30rg May 21 '15 at 14:44
  • It's not really clear why first conquering the galaxy, then secondly researching how to conquer death would be a better plan for immortality than just skipping the first step and immediately beginning work on step 2 in private (which is what Darth Plagueis seems to have done, and made some seeming progress). But maybe gaining power over the galaxy is somehow necessary to control the Force and strengthen the Dark Side while weakening the Light--it was mentioned the latter was happening for Jedi everywhere in Attack of the Clones. – Hypnosifl Jul 11 '15 at 23:55
  • @JohnOdom well, after conquering death they will have one more restriction: the will of the Force. Actually they are still restricted by their primal desires. However, according to the Jedi, the Force is all powerful. Hence, adding to the point made by crunch, because freedom from the will of the Force is impossible to achieve, the ultimate freedom one can achieve is achieved by submitting and being one with the Force, that is, freedom from everything including one's own desires. In this sense, one is not "restricted" by the will of the Force because they are one with the Force. – Muhammad Nizami Sep 15 '23 at 02:13
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Thorn made some valid points. I would like to add that along with attempting to achieve immortality through either making their body last forever, or through spirit possession or whatever, they also sought a more symbolic immortality through the training of their apprentices. It is their apprentice that carries on their will in case their efforts at actual immortality fail, hence Palpatine's search for the perfect apprentice in Luke.

Gary Harris
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The actual goal of most siths is to be so consumed by the dark side, that it possesses their whole being to be metamorphosed into an evil slug. Jaba the Hutt is an example of a successful sith lord.

Dingues
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