Following the death of Emperor Palpatine at the battle of Endor, the legal ruling authority
of the Empire fell into the hands of Mas Amedda; who held the highest political office prior
to the Emperor’s death.
So how did Mas Amedda rule the crippled Empire after Palpatine’s death?
Well although by legal right he was the new ruler of the Empire, he had almost no authority
over any of its remaining military forces.
Once word got around the galaxy that Palpatine was dead, hundreds of planets broke out into
bloody civil wars, including the Imperial capital world of Coruscant.
Seeing how Mas Amedda couldn’t even keep control the planet he was physically on, many
high ranking Imperial military leaders decided to ignore his authority and went on their
own separate paths; either becoming warlords or forming their own mini empires with each
other.
A few months after Endor, Mas Amedda had fully realized that in reality he held no real power
and as a result he began to panic over what would happen to him if the newly formed New
Republic were to capture him.
Hoping to avoid being tried as a war criminal, Amedda decided to turn himself over to the
New Republic, but even that didn’t go as he had hoped.
As when he arrived to Mon Mothma and Leia with his personal surrender, they refused
to accept him, stating that until he was capable of surrendering the entire Empire over to
them, that he will not be accepted as a prisoner or be given any pardons for his past actions.
He explained to them that he held no power in the Empire, but Mothma and Leia didn’t
care, telling Amedda that he better get back to Coruscant and get control of it and then
surrender it if he ever wished to be a free man after the war’s end.
After failing to save his own skin, Amedda returned to Coruscant and quickly fell into
a deep depression.
Later he was about to commit suicide by jumping off the highest window in the Imperial Palace
before being stopped by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, who held him hostage at blaster point
until he answered some of her questions concerning another Imperial whom she was suspicious of.
After answering the self appointed Grand Admiral’s questions, Amedda desperately tried to convince
her to join his side seeing how she had control of a vast Imperial fleet, but she refused
his offer and left him alone at the Palace after she got all the information she wanted.
After that confrontation, Amedda was taken hostage by a few I.S.B agents on orders by
a high ranking military official who went by the name of Gallius Rax, who controlled
the largest remaining military forces of the Empire at the time, effectively making him
the true leader of the empire.
On orders from Gallius Rax, the I.S.B agents forced Amedda to make propaganda videos as
a means to boost morale among the troops across the galaxy.
When he wasn’t being forced to make propaganda videos, Amedda was kept locked in his Palace
room.
He once tried to escape but was quickly overpowered by the guards standing at his door, who injured
him after knocking him onto the ground.
With no longer being able to kill himself due to being constantly watched by the I.S.B
agents, Amedda started to completely let himself go; from not showering to almost barely giving
himself enough sleep.
Near the end, a small group of rebel children infiltrated the Palace and Amedda’s room,
seeking to initially assassinate him.
But upon seeing his broken state, the children agreed to help him escape.
By the time Amedda was brought to Mon Mothma once again, the remaining Empire had lost
most of its military at the battle of Jakku.
Seeing how much of the Imperial leadership that controlled the empire had either pershished
or fleed, Mothma allowed Amedda to be the one to represent the Empire for its official
surrender to the New Republic.
Upon signing the treaty, Amedda was given his pardons along with other Imperials who
held civilian roles such as he.
Afterwards, he was given temporary rule of a provisional government that controlled Coruscant
during its transition into the New Republic, but such a role again came with little power
and he served mainly as a figurehead.
After that, he likely retired and isolated himself from galactic society which either
saw him as a war criminal or as a coward.