“Long Live The Empire”: Why Star Wars’ New Imperial Slogan Is A Rebellion Against Palpatine

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire reinforced one Imperial Star Wars slogan meant to undermine Palpatine’s power. Tales of the Empire, the newest installment among Star Wars’ movies and TV shows, was shockingly announced in place of the expected Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi season 2 and released on Star Wars Day, May 4th, 2024. Following the stories of Morgan Elsbeth, a Nightsister of Dathomir, and Barriss Offee, a fallen Jedi from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the show focused on dark side Force-users rather than Jedi.

However, Morgan’s story saw the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and with that cameo came an Imperial slogan that made clear where Thrawn’s loyalties truly were. “Long Live the Empire,” first said by Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, suggests a commitment not to the Emperor but rather to the idea of the Empire and its future, separate from Palpatine. This, no doubt, would have been exactly the type of sentiment Palpatine feared, as it suggests a rebellion against Palpatine himself.

Grand Admiral Thrawn Understands The Flaws In Palpatine’s Empire

In Tales of the Empire, Thrawn’s delivery of “Long live the Empire” came right on the heels of his critique of the Imperial system and how it was being run—essentially, a critique of Palpatine’s way of ruling. Thrawn was well aware of the flaws with Emperor Palpatine’s approach, and in some ways, he predicted the Empire’s exact future. Specifically, Thrawn explained to Morgan Elsbeth, “Many in the Empire will trade lives for profit. Over time, this will create a weak and disillusioned military. The Empire will slowly crumble.”

This is particularly interesting, as it highlights how brilliant Thrawn was despite being just as insidious and evil as Palpatine. Unlike Palpatine, Thrawn wanted longevity for the Empire even beyond his own status within it, and he understood how crucial support from the people would be in making the Empire sustainable. In contrast, Palpatine was interested in himself and his power above all else. Plans like Operation: Cinder, in which Palpatine required other high-ranking Imperials to be eliminated in the event of his death, prove that the Empire wasn’t built to last because it was never meant to outlast him.

“Long Live The Empire” Is A Call To Restructure The Empire

Thrawn was interested in improvements that could be made to the Empire, which meant overhauling (and likely overthrowing) Palpatine’s Imperial structure. Thrawn laid out what he would have done fairly explicitly in Tales of the Empire, telling Morgan Elsbeth, “While many of my colleagues think on a grand scale, they often overlook where problems begin, and they always start small.” This is certainly reflective of how Palpatine approached his own Empire.

Everything Palpatine intended to do in his Empire was about having total control. In fact, as Palpatine used Force lightning on Mace Windu in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, he yelled, “Unlimited power!” While Thrawn no doubt shared the same objective generally, how he wanted to go about it was quite different. Palpatine was in favor of mass executions, beginning with Order 66, and ruled by ruthless, widespread oppression, not considering the ways smaller fractures could create much larger issues.

It’s clear that Thrawn would have been much more meticulous and thoughtful had he been the one ruling the Empire. Surely, Thrawn also would have sought complete control. However, his would have been a more granular approach, not sweeping attempts at absolute control that would have overlooked more minor concerns and threats. Unfortunately for Palpatine, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire’s use of “Long live the Empire” shows not only that many Imperials were opposed to him, but also why he lost.

ALL STAR WARS MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON DISNEY+