Quote Originally Posted by Mechalich View Post
Palpatine is having a great time because he's the top Sith. The galaxy's other Sith aren't doing so well. Dooku gets his head chopped off. Darth Maul gets sawed in half. Darth Vader is trapped in a special suit that makes his every moment a living torment. Oh, and Vader, Palpatine, and Maul plot to murder each other more or less constantly through the existence of the Empire, often coming quite close to success, with everyone else who can plausibly claim to be Sith also trying to get in on the action.

For another example, in both Sith stories in SWTOR, the PC is betrayed by the Sith Empire, including by direct superiors and by the Empire as whole both times, and has to mount a personal crusade to acquire enough power and authority to just survive, and both times the collateral damage is immense. Betrayal is constant among the Sith, and makes many of them quite miserable. Vitiate/Valkorion/Tenebrae, gets so sick of betrayal (including by his lover, his son, and his daughter) that he hides out inside the PC's mind during the SWTOR expansions just for some peace.
So, it's a bit hard to tell. Is Palpatine having a grand time because he's top Sith, or because he's one of the only Sith we see who actually lives by their code and isn't tricked, forced, or manipulated into falling? Dooku thinks he's still the good guy. Vader believes he's utterly destroyed everyone he loves. Maul is basically a child soldier. Palpatine is very good at making everyone around him miserable, because that's what makes him happy, but if you're willing (and able) to actually embrace it, the Sith code is a lot of fun. I mean, there's a reason one of the most popular genres in the world is 'power fantasy'!