One of the big mysteries of the Star Wars sequel trilogy was the identity of the sinister Supreme Leader Snoke, introduced in The Force Awakens as the shadowy leader behind the First Order. As the trilogy went on we learned more about him, but there are things that still remain unknown – especially about his backstory.
Here’s what we do know about his backstory: Snoke was a clone, a strand-cast of Emperor Palpatine created by the Sith Loyalists on Exegol. Palpatine was obsessed with living forever, learning a secret to immortality that could come through cloned host bodies. He began testing and experimentation long before his defeat at the Battle of Endor, and Snoke was one of the first strand-casts created, being made over a decade before the start of the Galactic Civil War. Though he was not a suitable host body for Palpatine, he was nonetheless considered to be a worthy puppet for the Emperor’s plans.
At some point down the road, after the apparent death of Palpatine, Snoke became connected with the remnants of the Empire and unbeknownst to him, was used by Palpatine from the shadows of Exegol to form the First Order. But it was during this time that, somehow, Snoke became connected with Ben Solo. We don’t know what this looked like, or how it happened, but we know that after Ben destroyed Luke’s temple, he went to visit Snoke – who had long been twisting Ben’s heart toward darkness, as a way of getting at Luke Skywalker.
Snoke was very aware of Luke’s power, and at one point while training Ben (aka Kylo Ren) Snoke spoke favorably about Skywalker, much to Solo’s disgust. “He has earned my respect,” Snoke said, “and my fear. … He is not weak. He is misguided. If I had your uncle by my side instead of you, the galaxy would have been mine a long time ago.” Snoke’s fear of Luke’s power kept him in the shadows, doing whatever he could to sideline the powerful Jedi Master. The extent of their relationship, however, has never been disclosed.
It is clear in the sequel trilogy that Luke, as well as Han and Leia, are well aware of Snoke, and aware that it was Snoke who seduced Ben. “Snoke had already turned his heart”, Luke tells Rey. He is a known figure to the heroes, which is noteworthy.
Especially interesting is the fact that Star Wars has hinted at a run-in between Luke and Snoke at some point prior to Ben’s fall to darkness. In The Rise of Kylo Ren comic, written by Charles Soule, the younger Solo flees to Snoke after that fateful night at Luke’s Jedi Academy. When he arrives, he surveys Snoke’s facial scars and says, “Snoke… look what Master Luke did to you.” Snoke dismisses it and moves on, and that’s the last we hear of it. But it’s very curious that Star Wars has hinted that the scars Snoke bears, and his deformities, actually came from Luke.
That seems to be countered a bit by the fact that other versions of Snoke are seen in the cloning vats on Exegol in the opening of The Rise of Skywalker, and they too bear the same scars. It seems that the film is suggesting that’s part of the cloning process, while other material is suggesting that’s due to a conflict with Luke.
All of which is to say we’re still overdue for a story explaining what the whole thing with Snoke was all about. It’s been ten years since The Force Awakens, and though we have some answers, we still don’t have a ton of them about what Snoke’s role with the Skywalker family really is. He’s afraid of Luke, and Luke is aware of him. There are hints that the two of them had a conflict in the past, and in the end, the two of them are the two masters for the galaxy’s most promising young Force user, Ben Solo. I hope that Star Wars tells a more definitive story sometime soon about Snoke.
Star Wars Thoughts 