After the epic revelations in
Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, many fans are still reeling. But for all that
Star Wars 7 revealed, the film posed more unanswered questions and mysteries for
Star Wars 8 to solve. One of the most enigmatic characters is Supreme Leader Snoke, the big bad pulling the strings of The First Order. Who is he? What does he want? And
how did he seduce Kylo Ren to the Dark Side?
Kylo Ren's master isn't what he seems...
Though we'll have to wait a while to find all this out, the
Star Wars Episode 7creative team has been busily dropping hints, and even the movie's score contains vital secrets...
Is Snoke Actually Darth Plagueis?
Ok, let's backtrack for a moment.
There's a theory going around that Supreme Leader Snoke may actually be this immensely powerful Sith Lord. Darth Plagueis was known as "The Wise" because he was very close to learning the secret of immortality. He could stop people from dying but unfortunately could not prevent his own death at the hand of his apprentice, Darth Sidious a.k.a. Palpatine a.k.a. the Emperor.
You know, this guy.
Darth Plagueis was first mentioned in the films by Palpatine, when he explains to young Anakin how Plagueis could prevent people from dying.
"Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."
Obviously, this little tidbit of information was crucial to turning Anakin to the Dark Side, as he wanted to prevent Padme's death. And of course, the Jedi Order would never allow Anakin to learn how to master life and death.
"Can I learn how to master this power?"
This Sith Lord was one of the most powerful in all of
Star Wars history, and despite his apparent death, his involvement in the story might not be over yet...
Soundtrack Drops Hints
So, back to
The Force Awakens. Some very attentive fans have noticed a striking similarity in Snoke's theme by John Williams, and the piece of music that plays as Palpatine tells Anakin about Darth Plagueis. In fact, they're basically the same piece of music (hat tip to
comicbookmovies for pointing this out).
Don't believe us? Well, check it out for yourself! Here's Snoke's theme from
The Force Awakens' soundtrack.
And here's the piece of music which plays as Palpatine describes Darth Plagueis's teachings...
Convinced? The themes are very very similar, and the
Star Wars creative team is well known for dropping hints and establishing parallels that point towards future plot twists. On the flip side, the melody of the two pieces is far from identical, and using low choral voices to communicate menace is pretty much part and parcel for any good composer.
Musical parallels aside, with Plagueis's powers it's entirely possible that he could have survived Palpatine's supposedly fatal attack. But there's one crucial fact which, to me anyway, suggests that Snoke ISN'T Plagueis...
Snoke & Kylo Ren AREN'T Sith!
Before
Star Wars 7 was released, J.J. Abrams and the cast dropped plenty of hints in interviews. One of the earliest pieces with
Entertainment Weekly focused on Kylo Ren, and how he isn't a Sith apprentice.
Kylo Ren's not a Sith
As for Snoke, his origins are much more mysterious, but thanks to
this interview with EW we do know that he's thousands of years old, he's suffered some damage, and his plan has been in motion for a very long time. All of this does actually line up with Darth Plagueis's story, apart from this statement from Andy Serkis...
"He’s a new character in this universe. [Snoke] is very much a newly-introduced character."
Hmm. This could be a red herring, but it certainly seems as though J.J. Abrams and the
Star Wars 8 team are trying to establish a new twist on the mythology, without being bogged down by too much history. With the Expanded Universe now declared non-canon, re-introducing Darth Plagueis would take some hefty exposition, as the majority of the audience probably has no clue who he is.
Sorry Plagueis. Looks like you're trapped in the EU
Until
Star Wars Episode 8 is released, we're just going to have to make our minds up for ourselves. There are definite parallels between Snoke and Plagueis, but at the same time there's some strong evidence that Snoke is a totally new character. So what do you think is true? Let us know in the comments, or write your own post!
There is a huge difference between Avatar and Episode 7.
