ultimate goal is pretty much what he said. remember lucifer originally tried to flank the throne and thus became the father of half-truths. they cannot actually comprehend the whole truth ever since then (to give is better than to receive). oh, they have a lot of understanding of how power works, how blood covenant works, etc, but they do not have the ability to think beyond their win, which now for the second (major) time they are watching slip from their grasp (the resurrection being the first). they think like criminals. you know why crime doesn't pay? because it is always short-sighted, selfish, somehow. you're trying to give them credit for being able to have an ultimate goal. ever since the resurrection they've been fighting a lost cause but their mythology prevents them from realizing this. the closest they ever came to winning was then. and they lost. what we gain out of fighting them is pretty awesome, though, which is an intimate understanding of grace, not force.