Emperor Palpatine is the most powerful of the Sith, but a lie is at the heart of his Empire. The dark side promises power to those who will embrace it, but that power is a lie; it is as much a prison as anything else, trapping those who would choose it. Given that’s the case, it is hardly a surprise so many of the Sith are skilled at deceit.

Palpatine was the ultimate politician, able to manipulate others with ease. He learned long ago that the best lies have an element of truth in them, as was seen in his skillful twisting and breaking of Anakin Skywalker. But his most outrageous lie has gone largely unnoticed for 47 years.

The Empire Was Never Truly “Galactic”

The Galaxy Is A Lot Bigger Than We Thought

Palpatine founded the Empire in the aftermath of Order 66, claiming he had established the first Galactic Empire. This is the name given to the Empire throughout the original trilogy, even in the text of Star Wars‘ opening crawl in 1977. But is it actually true? Is the Empire truly “Galactic” in scope, or has Palpatine been lying for decades?

The Star Wars galaxy is huge, far larger than the territory the Empire controls. The Empire claims the Core, Rim, and even most of the Outer Rim, but there are vast parts of the galaxy that it attempted to explore but never conquered. This includes the “Unknown Regions” (whose name says everything, and a section known as Wild Space on the outskirts of the galaxy. It’s clear, then, that Palpatine’s Empire never controlled the entire galaxy.

The Unknown Regions are particularly interesting, because that is where other – smaller – empires still resided. Grand Admiral Thrawn’s race the Chiss rule an Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions, and they are threatened by the Grys Hegemony, their sworn enemies. The Unknown regions and Wild Space were both very hard to explore, and thus the lack of their presence in the Galactic Empire makes sense, yet still invalidates the name.

The “Galactic Empire” Plays To Palpatine’s Pride

The Empire Is Made Scarier Because Of Its Name

It makes sense that the Empire would have this “Galactic” distinction in its name, though, as Emperor Palpatine was a very proud individual. He would want his new Empire to be the biggest and best organization ever, because he believed it was. Even if he didn’t control the entire galaxy, he knew just how powerful his Empire was, and wanted to keep enforcing that. The name communicates power, and discourages rebel activity. What are they going to do, fight an Empire that’s “Galactic”? It turns out one of the oldest lies in Star Wars was deliberate.