When The Force Awakens came out in late 2015, one of the most intriguing points of speculation was Snoke’s identity. But as the last Star Wars movie in the Skywalker Saga revealed, the enigmatic leader of the First Order was just a pawn in Palpatine’s plan to retake the galaxy.
After Rian Johnson abruptly killed off Snoke in The Last Jedi to subvert expectations, he essentially put to rest all the theories about the character’s past. Some fans thought that he was Palpatine’s old mentor, Darth Plagueis the Wise. Others were of the opinion that he was Sidious himself, who had changed his face through some dark side ritual. Though after Episode VIII, it simply didn’t matter anymore. In fact, it’s safe to say that that was the director’s point all along. And since The Rise of Skywalker had to rush through two movies’ worth of narrative in two hours, J.J. Abrams tackled this issue as early as 5 minutes into the film.
When Kylo flies to Exegol to confront the phantom Emperor, the camera pans out to show a tube containing figures of the former Supreme Leader, revealing that he’s a clone created by Palpatine. He even confirms as much, saying to Kylo, “I made Snoke.” But the question remains: was Snoke a creation of the aforementioned big bad, or did he have a history of his own? Well, The Star Wars Book, a new reference book that comes out on October 20th, finally sets the record straight, revealing the following:
“It’s possible Snoke himself may not know his true nature. Snoke is a strandcast – an artificial genetic construct concocted by the resurrected Darth Sidious to be his proxy in power. Snoke has free will, but his actions and goals are still orchestrated by Sidious,” the book reads.
It’s hardly surprising to learn that Palpatine created a pawn to destroy the New Republic. After all, Sidious knew how to create life through Darth Plagueis. I mean, it’s all but confirmed in the canon of Star Wars that the sinister Emperor created Anakin as well, through the manipulation of the Force and Midi-chlorians.
