- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."
- The conclusion to the Skywalker saga gives us an answer about Supreme Leader Snoke, who was unexpectedly killed in 2017's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."
- It turns out he's a clone, created and controlled by Emperor Palpatine.
- This seems to go against the character's explanation in "The Force Awakens" novelization.
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If you were upset about Snoke's arc in the last "Star Wars" movie, "The Rise of Skywalker" finally gives us a definitive answer about the Supreme Leader's identity.
Unfortunately, the reveal makes his character feel even more pointless.
The introduction and subsequent death of the mysterious leader in the latest trilogy, without any background story, led to many theories for the character. He had to be some really big, important Sith lord or Jedi master reincarnated in the galaxy, right?
Nope.
It only takes a few minutes into "The Rise of Skywalker" to reveal that Snoke was nothing more than a clone created and puppeteered by Emperor Palpatine from afar. That's it.
There wasn't just one Snoke clone made, either. Palpatine had a few clones of Snoke sitting in a giant tube. When confronted by Kylo Ren, Palpatine tells him he not only made Snoke, but that he has also been Vader's voice and every other voice he has heard in his head. Snoke was nothing more than an Oz-like figure with Palpatine hiding behind a curtain.
No other mention is made of Snoke. It feels strange for a character who was a prominent mysterious figure in "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi."
Why the reveal is a big letdown and seems to contradict what we knew about Snoke beforehand
From his introduction in 2015's "The Force Awakens," it seemed like Snoke was always supposed to have some larger purpose and be more than just a clone.
According to "The Force Awakens" novelization, Snoke was described as "humanoid but not human." He was alive to watch the Galactic Empire come to power before falling to the Jedi. He pursued Kylo Ren because he believed he had the right balance of light and darkness in the Force.
Those last two statements could easily describe Palpatine as well, but the main descriptor of Snoke as something other than human stands out. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary" noted that the alien group known as the Attendants served him.
In "The Art of Star Wars The Force Awakens," even the artists perceived Snoke as his own sentient character.
"It's almost like Snoke was quite handsome when he was younger," said senior sculptor Ivan Manzella in the book. "In my mind, the more powerful he's become, the more the dark side consumes him."
Manzella also mentioned that Snoke was almost female at one point.
Why we didn't learn more about Snoke in 'The Last Jedi'
"The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson told the Los Angeles Times his origins weren't important to his story, though he thought they may be interesting to explore in "The Rise of Skywalker" or elsewhere.
"I wrote this script before "The Force Awakens" came out, so when I wrote it, the 'Who is Snoke?' mania hadn't arisen with the fans yet," said Johnson. "Even if it had, my perspective is it's similar to how the Emperor was handled. The first three movies you know nothing about the Emperor because you don't have to, because that's not the story."
Johnson made one of the boldest moves in a "Star Wars" movie when he decided to kill off Snoke without us knowing anything about the enigmatic figure. At the end of the day, he was right. Snoke's identity didn't really matter to the larger story at hand.
Hints in 'The Last Jedi' about Snoke's identity
Johnson's film may have inadvertently given some inspiration for the reveal that the man behind Snoke was Palpatine. "The Wizard of Oz" was a big inspiration for Snoke's throne room, according to "The Art of Star Wars The Last Jedi."
"We approached the throne room by thinking about Snoke's character. He's physically weak, so he uses theatricality. And that's where 'The Wizard of Oz' element came in," said Johnson. "To some extent, he's consciously creating a purposefully dramatic space, as opposed to the Emperor's throne room, which was utilitarian."
That concept went right down to the red curtains. "The Rise of Skywalker" pulled back that curtain to reveal Palpatine was the weak and frail Snoke.
Snoke's throne room itself is based off of legendary "Star Wars" artist Ralph McQuarrie's concept painting of the Emperor's throne for "The Return of the Jedi." Snoke is literally sitting on a throne that was inspired by one meant for Palpatine.
For what it's worth, Palpatine's return was planned since 'The Force Awakens'
"The Rise of Skywalker" director J.J. Abrams told Uproxx he and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan discussed Palpatine's return when working on "The Force Awakens."
"When you look at this as nine chapters of a story, perhaps the weirder thing would be if Palpatine didn't return," said Abrams. "You just look at what he talks about, who he is, how important he is, what the story is — strangely, his absence entirely from the third trilogy would be conspicuous. It would be very weird. That's not to say there was a bible and we knew what happens at every step. But when Larry Kasdan and I worked on 'The Force Awakens,' we didn't do it in a vacuum."
You can go back and watch "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi" and it sort of works. Snoke's obsession with finding Rey is a result of Palpatine knowing her true identity. As well, it makes sense that Snoke would be so obsessed with having another Skywalker under his control if he was Palpatine. Emperor Palpatine was always drawn to the Skywalker family because Anakin was willed to life by the Force.
Still, it's clear this wasn't the original plan for Snoke. We may as well have seen Palpatine pulling the strings from the start even if it was as a hologram. Snoke deserved more than a throwaway explanation as a clone in "The Rise of Skywalker"
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