This qualitative study examines the protracted implementation of South Sudan's 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). It argues that the formal peace architecture has been systematically subverted by entrenched elite bargaining, which prioritises power-sharing dividends over transformative institutional reform. Through in-depth analysis of elite interviews and documentary sources, the research traces how this bargaining reproduces a political economy of conflict, undermines security sector reform, and perpetuates governance deficits. The findings reveal a critical disjuncture between the agreement's ambitious provisions and the realities of a political settlement designed to manage, rather than resolve, core drivers of instability. The article concludes that without addressing these foundational political dynamics, sustainable peace in South Sudan will remain elusive.