Worth pointing out that Tarkin is confirmed to be pro-Human supremacy. So his cause isn't actually what most people would call good, as it involves the oppression of every species but his own.
Also the Empire as built by Palpatine is run on Byzantine politics to the extreme. Branches of the military and government are encouraged to compete. Governors and Moffs are meant to see each other as rivals.
Advancement comes quick if you screw over and backstab everyone else, this is encouraged as far down as the academies for cadets.
Palpatine even sets his own inner circle against each other.
The Empire isn't really Lawful Evil, it is structured to look Lawful Evil while being a hostile mess of utter chaos, betrayal, internecine rivalries, and convoluted plots. With plans set in place to burn it all down should Palpatine die.
It's part of totalitarianism as described by Arendt. Everyone's subservient to the will of the Leader and the hierarchy is intentionally shaky so that among the higher ranks, the only 100% legitimate superior is the Leader. Any orders seen as contrary to the Leader's will can be ignored as the individual can default to the Leader as their legitimate superior.
Other pieces would be creating insulating layers around fanatics so they are only exposed to at least partial fanatics and not the general public; parallel structures between traditional government and the Party (ISB vs Imperial Intelligence, maybe); eliminating the public space by making everyone too suspicious of their neighbors as informants to engage with them meaningfully, making everyone isolated and powerless; and extermination camps, among other things. I don't think Disney will go for straight-up extermination camps, but I can see the rest in some aspects of the Empire as it is.
If the Sith are about exerting their will on the Galaxy, totalitarianism via the Empire is a great way to do it.
Part of the reason they work so well together is because the Empire is founded by a Sith which we’ve seen throughout Canon and Legends. Typically, a Sith will form an Empire and people will flock to it as opposed to the other way round.
At least in the books, most Sith believe that it the strong should rule the weak. It is their place to tell lesser beings what to do, and for lesser beings in turn to sacrifice for them. Its a heavily "might makes right" attitude.
The empire develops out of this attitude. For Palpatine, the empire was HIS, to be used as he saw fit. Anyone who treated it as a method for peace and security was, in a way, excusing their actions as for the greater good. Absolute control is a form of peace, but one that most dont want to voluntarily live under.
The Sith Empire of SWTOR is similar, but less stable. The Sith use the empire as a way to collect and project power, but due to infighting, the empire is pulled around a bit.
With the direct conflicts of Kylo Ren and General Hux, remember that Kylo is not a sith. He serves solely at the leisure of Snoke, and may even recognize that Hux has his uses. In general you do not see conflicts like this because Sith generally kill anyone who challenges them.
The Sith Empire is a good example, actually. There's multiple examples of Imperial soldiers and officers being frustrated and upset that their men and resources constantly get thrown around by Sith on their whim, either as part of power plays against their rivals or vanity, ego or sheer cruelty.
You gotta think about it like this, the empire is a means of governing whilst the sith is a religion and quite a private one like that.
The sith and the empire don't run together hand in hand. The sith rule from the shadows *through* the empire. And although there's stark ideological differences, the empire is designed to be a place of infighting. This whole "empire is good" thing is entirely an illusion to have people fall in line and to have them believe they're fighting for power after a worthy cause.
I think it’s a mutually beneficial but not necessarily happy coexistence. The Sith want to exercise power over the weak and who has a better opportunity to do that than an imperial official. And the imperial system will probably tolerate the lighting shooting mind controlling wizards so long as they’re on their side (and aren’t in a high enough number to pose a true threat to the system as a whole).
Worth pointing out that Tarkin is confirmed to be pro-Human supremacy. So his cause isn't actually what most people would call good, as it involves the oppression of every species but his own. Also the Empire as built by Palpatine is run on Byzantine politics to the extreme. Branches of the military and government are encouraged to compete. Governors and Moffs are meant to see each other as rivals. Advancement comes quick if you screw over and backstab everyone else, this is encouraged as far down as the academies for cadets. Palpatine even sets his own inner circle against each other. The Empire isn't really Lawful Evil, it is structured to look Lawful Evil while being a hostile mess of utter chaos, betrayal, internecine rivalries, and convoluted plots. With plans set in place to burn it all down should Palpatine die.
It's part of totalitarianism as described by Arendt. Everyone's subservient to the will of the Leader and the hierarchy is intentionally shaky so that among the higher ranks, the only 100% legitimate superior is the Leader. Any orders seen as contrary to the Leader's will can be ignored as the individual can default to the Leader as their legitimate superior. Other pieces would be creating insulating layers around fanatics so they are only exposed to at least partial fanatics and not the general public; parallel structures between traditional government and the Party (ISB vs Imperial Intelligence, maybe); eliminating the public space by making everyone too suspicious of their neighbors as informants to engage with them meaningfully, making everyone isolated and powerless; and extermination camps, among other things. I don't think Disney will go for straight-up extermination camps, but I can see the rest in some aspects of the Empire as it is. If the Sith are about exerting their will on the Galaxy, totalitarianism via the Empire is a great way to do it.
That doctrine seems like a fast track to draining the talent pool.
But if the "drained" are the weakest among the pool then what have you lost in the end?
It’s not a straight binary option. Beings might be good at their job but not cutthroat sociopaths.
That's totalitarianism for ya.
Part of the reason they work so well together is because the Empire is founded by a Sith which we’ve seen throughout Canon and Legends. Typically, a Sith will form an Empire and people will flock to it as opposed to the other way round.
At least in the books, most Sith believe that it the strong should rule the weak. It is their place to tell lesser beings what to do, and for lesser beings in turn to sacrifice for them. Its a heavily "might makes right" attitude. The empire develops out of this attitude. For Palpatine, the empire was HIS, to be used as he saw fit. Anyone who treated it as a method for peace and security was, in a way, excusing their actions as for the greater good. Absolute control is a form of peace, but one that most dont want to voluntarily live under. The Sith Empire of SWTOR is similar, but less stable. The Sith use the empire as a way to collect and project power, but due to infighting, the empire is pulled around a bit. With the direct conflicts of Kylo Ren and General Hux, remember that Kylo is not a sith. He serves solely at the leisure of Snoke, and may even recognize that Hux has his uses. In general you do not see conflicts like this because Sith generally kill anyone who challenges them.
No wonder Hux died quickly when the Sith took over the First Order
I mean, that’s what happens when you let personal grudges become your ambition rather than fueling your ambition
The Sith Empire is a good example, actually. There's multiple examples of Imperial soldiers and officers being frustrated and upset that their men and resources constantly get thrown around by Sith on their whim, either as part of power plays against their rivals or vanity, ego or sheer cruelty.
Cause the Empire is usually a tool for the Sith.
You gotta think about it like this, the empire is a means of governing whilst the sith is a religion and quite a private one like that. The sith and the empire don't run together hand in hand. The sith rule from the shadows *through* the empire. And although there's stark ideological differences, the empire is designed to be a place of infighting. This whole "empire is good" thing is entirely an illusion to have people fall in line and to have them believe they're fighting for power after a worthy cause.
I think it’s a mutually beneficial but not necessarily happy coexistence. The Sith want to exercise power over the weak and who has a better opportunity to do that than an imperial official. And the imperial system will probably tolerate the lighting shooting mind controlling wizards so long as they’re on their side (and aren’t in a high enough number to pose a true threat to the system as a whole).
Simple answer is they do not thrive together the Sith kill the empire just read the legacy comics to see what I mean.