Star Wars fans are still baffled as to why the sequel trilogy introduced a supposedly formidable foe only to eliminate them with shocking ease.
Years have passed since the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, yet fans remain perplexed over the demise of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). KuttyKool took to the r/StarWars subreddit to question the point of an adversarial figure who was so readily vanquished. They wrote, “Why was there so much build-up for Supreme Leader Snoke, including clues that he had been present in earlier canon only for him to be killed of so anticlimactically?”
It’s a question many fans have tried to make sense of since the film’s release in 2017. However, a Redditor called Attrahct pointed out that it wasn’t the first time Star Wars used a third-party villain to enhance the arc of another. They compared Snoke’s relationship with Kylo Ren to Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, yet another hologram foe swiftly annihilated in Return of the Jedi.
Of course, talk of Palpatine sparked a discussion about another confusing aspect of the sequel trilogy: Palpatine’s mysterious resurrection.
One fan suggested that the hype around Snoke was a prelude to a revelation that he was a later incarnation of the mighty Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis.
However, Bradley Allen disagreed with the assertion that there was any meaningful build-up of Snoke, pointing to the fact that he had very little screen time. They suggested that any perceived hype was a projection on the viewer’s part.
It makes sense that fans would be curious about the origin of a powerful character like Snoke. Where was he from, and how did he amass enough influence to seduce Kylo Ren to the Dark Side? Star Wars fans must rely on their imaginations to fill in the many blanks about Snoke. His brief but poignant storyline seems connected to disappointment that such a promising character was never fully realized or unexplored before his abrupt exit.
Star Wars: Episode VIII -The Last Jedi is streaming on Disney Plus.