Regarding Snoke - An intro (to something awfully long I'll regret writing probably)

[cosette_giry]

 

When I heard Palpatine laugh in the teaser, I guess you could say I had a bit of an Eureka moment.

(For real, it was a HELL of a Eureka moment. My Star Wars fan fatigue was in full swing for a few months, but I won't detail it too much here (disclaimer for those who don't know me very well: no, I didn't hate The Last Jedi. I liked it fine enough, but whether I love it or not will be determined by the upcoming Episode IX.)

 

And what is that Eureka moment, you’ll ask? Simple.

 

Ben knew about Palpatine all along.

 

But before I get into the crux of that particular point, there are a few things I need to clear up before we get in the crux of the matter, which do not relate to Ben directly, but still had an impact: and by that, I mean that we need to talk about Snoke. Again (and hopefully for the last time).

 

I was one of those people who thought they could have put in a little effort to elaborate Snoke’s backstory: not that I wanted some Darth Plagueis reveal or something of the kind, and not that I was angry about it. But I did think: “Heh, a throwaway line in The Last Jedi about him being one of those shitty rich people we saw on Canto Bight but with a Dark Side twist would have been nice.”

 

But now, what is obvious is:

 

a)      They stayed cagey about Snoke’s backstory for a reason;

b)      Snoke really wasn’t important in the long run – just a tool.

 

We do know thanks to the novelization for TLJ that Snoke pretty much killed his way to the top, because that’s pretty much how Dark Siders operate in the Galaxy Far Far Away. The First Order was probably in dire need of resources and a solid leadership (at least from their perspective, since I can easily imagine a lot of infighting among the old Imperials), and Snoke took the opportunity to take control.

 

How did he know enough about the First Order to become its Supreme Leader, though? And, more importantly, how did he know that Leia and Luke were Darth Vader’s children and that Ben was his heir?

 

Of course, Snoke is a powerful Darksider. But he’s not omnipotent (his demise being a striking example of it, excuse the pun), and it’s shaky at best to explain how he found out about Ben’s true lineage. You could argue Snoke got a specific interest in Luke, for having been there when Vader died, and he eventually found out about everything using the grape vine.

 

(I do wonder whether it’s known in the galaxy that Luke was on Death Star 2.0 and that he participated in Palpatine’s demise and that he was alongside Vader as he died (the Rebellion for instance might not have been informed of it since that stunt could definitely endanger all of them): the “official” story could be that both the Emperor and Darth Vader died when the Death Star was destroyed. It’s probably been said in the additional material, but I’d need confirmation for that one.)

 

But again, mind-reading is not something subtle, especially not for a Force-sensitive person: if Snoke had read Luke’s mind from a distance, Luke would have sensed something was amiss, and that’s not something Snoke can risk without raising alarm. It’s also probably for that reason Palpatine and Vader spent years not knowing of Luke and Leia’s existence, after all…

 

So, long story short, Snoke couldn’t have discovered it by himself… someone would have had to tell him.

 

Who was that someone? Palpatine.

 

If the Prequel Trilogy taught us anything, it’s that Palpatine is the Magnificent Bastard to end all Magnificent Bastards. He’s a Sith, and he’s more than aware of the Rule of Two. Would he have considered the eventuality of him being killed off? OF COURSE he would, and as we all know thanks to Darth Maul, our favorite burned circus peanut Darth Vader, and the Sith we can encounter in both Knights of the Old Republic games, Sith are resilient AS SHIT, and hard to kill.

 

We also knew thanks to additional material such as the Aftermath trilogy and Thrawn books that Palpatine was up to something, but we didn’t know what. I was expecting the canon equivalent of the Yuuzhan Vong but less shitty (and I could still see them popping up, but that’s a topic for another day), but of course, we all know good ol’ Palpy will think about himself first and foremost.

 

There’s too little about the specifics right now, but one thing I am pretty sure of is that Palpatine had a backup plan, and that backup plan included Snoke, and Anakin’s family.

 

What role was Snoke playing in Palpatine’s backup plan? Essentially the same type of role Count Dooku played in the Prequel Trilogy: he existed to serve a purpose and be the smokescreen to Palpatine’s real plan, permitting him to work in the shadows (THAT'S WHY HIS NAME IS SNOKE, GETIT, HURR HURR). And this time, with everyone believing the Emperor was dead, it was probably a piece of cake. 

But there were two wild cards in Palpy's Big Evil Plan For Being the Evil Guy To End All Evil Guys (for real, that's literally what it is): the Solo side of the family, and Rey herself - two elements that seem absolutely inconsequential, but ended up being the catalyst to a chain reaction. 

When you fool around with the Force like Palpy does, the Force will bite you back like a bitch.