Preface: This short essay is a theory concerning the identity of Supreme Leader Snoke and contains a extreme amount of spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. You have been warned. 

                         Star Wars: A Snoke Theory. 

(for the final time, spoilers are contained within, read at your own peril.) 

"I thought not ... Its not a story Disney would tell you" (Posted by Malik Banks in Just Jedi Memes)

Put on your tin foil hats and lock those s-foils in attack positions because this is going to be some serious speculation Ladies and Gentlmen. The above meme, although hilarious, does highlight one of the most glaring oddities of Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Snokes death. I know personally I was confused and a bit annoyed that such an obviously powerful force user had met his end in such a insipid manner. But then an idea struck me, one that has only grown more powerful after seeing The Last Jedi a second them. Thus, the above meme is only answerable with another question, and that is: have you ever heard of the Sith Emperor Vitiate? (if you have you may want to skip to the two final subheadings. DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU NEED THE BACKGROUND ... cheeky prick)

Historical context concerning Emperor Vitiate: 

The Sith pureblood (the original Sith species from Legends continuity) that would become one of the galaxies all time most powerful force users was born as Tenebrae on the Sith imperial world of Medriaas in 5113 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin, Episode 4). Tenebrae was said to be born with eyes of pure black and to have never cried, even as a baby. By the time Tenebrae was around the age of six he began to display signs of extreme force power, this made his stepfather suspicious as his wife (Tenebrae's biological mother) and himself were not force sensitive. Tenebrae's stepfather confronted his mother in front of him about her affair to which she admitted. Blinded with rage Tenebrae's stepfather attack his mother, and thats when he knew ... he'd fucked up. Fuelled by his stepfathers hatred Tenebrae reached out with the force, at the tender age of six, and snapped his stepfather's neck (settle down killer). Continuing his sociopathy Tenebrae then tortured his mother for months for betraying their family, feeding off her pain and fear to sustain himself.

Continuing his rise Tenebrae subjugated his village and continued on to do the same to his neighbouring towns and villages. Tenebrae even held public executions in which he would use the force to kill villagers over days, empowering himself through their continued pain and suffering. Hearing rumours of this new power the current ruler of Medriaas, the Sith Lord Dramath (Tenebrae's biological father), decided to investigate. By this time Tenebrae was ten years old. Upon meeting Dramath Tenebrae informed his father of their connection, but before Dramath could respond Tenebrae stripped Dramath of his connection to the Force. Driven mad by his total humiliation Dramath suffered for months before his son finally decided to kill him. With the ruler of Medriaas dead Tenebrae set about conquering the remainder of the planet, which he did within three years.

With Medriaas under his control Tenebrae set forth to legitimise his rule. At the age of 13 Tenebrae travelled to the Sith Empire's capital world Ziost (a world he would later consume all force energy from) to meet with then Dark Lord of the Sith (the emperor of the ancient sith) Marka Ragnos. Marka sensed the power of the young boy and granted Tenebrae the right to rule Medriaas. Marka then also elevated Tenebrae to the rank of Sith Lord and dubbed the boy: Lord Vitiate.

In the year 5000 BBY Marka Ragnos, Dark Lord of the Sith, died. To fill the vacuum of power rose two Sith lords: Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh. After a carefully executed propaganda move Naga Sadow was able to convince the then isolated Sith Empire that newly arrived Republic explores were in fact spies. Using the publics fear of invasion Sadow raised himself to the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Meanwhile Vitiate watched from Medriaas which he had renamed Nathema, preferring to spend his days studying the secrets of the force. Sadow quickly consolidated his power then capitalised on the imperial peoples fear and loyalty to the Sith to begin The Great Hyperspace War.   

Vitiate did not take part in The Great Hyperspace War, preferring to watch from his palace on Nethma and consequently earned himself a reputation as a reclusive scholar. But when the Sith met their defeat in the skies above the holy tomb world of Korriban (also known as Moraband in cannon, because Disney thought it needed an update...) Vitiate put his plans to seize power into motion. This deserves a special mention because unlike his predecessors and successors Vitiate was not only going to gain political power, but so much more. In the year 4999 BBY Vitiate broadcast speeches across the empire, stating the Jedi would destroy any Sith they could find and not just the force using order: the species also. Stoking the Empire's fears Vitiate drove them into panic and just when the people reached fever pitch he offered an escape. A ritual, which he promised would unleash the full power of the dark side on the enemies of the Sith.

As Vitiate summoned the remaining Sith Lords of the Empire he set his historians and scientists to the re-discovery of an old Sith colony: Drommund Kaas. Only one day before the arrival of Vitiates guests the location was found and thus Vitiate was ready to begin. As each Sith Lord arrived to Vitiates palace he quickly dominated their minds, forcing them under his control until the entire remaining eight thousand Sith Lords of the original Sith Empire were totally under Vitiates command . With his pawns in place Vitiate began his promised ritual and for ten days Nathema hung, silent, in Sith sorcery (A extremely advanced and ancient form of force manipulation, it is exclusively a dark side power and can achieve more abstract affects then rudimentary force abilities). On the tenth day all life on Nathema was obliterated, save for Vitiate. Vitiate consumed every iota of force energy from the planet and his fellow Sith Lords making himself unimaginably powerful and immortal in the process. From the ashes of his world Vitiate rose to become the first titled Emperor of the Sith. 

The level of Emperor Vitiate's power: 

This newly gained power made Vitiate so powerful that he was no longer a 'force-user' but a 'force entity'. The difference between a force user and a force entity in terms of power is massive. It is the difference between a young child and their parent. For example Vitiate was able to supplant portions of his consciousness into multiple bodies. One of these bodies was known as the Voice of the Emperor which would attend to the ruling of the Reconstituted Sith Empire in 4980 BBY. Vitiate's continued used of Sith Sorcery was so potent that he inflicted perpetual lightning storms on Drommund Kaas as a by product of using so much dark side energy. Another example are the Emperor's Children, a series of force sensitive children (of numerous species) who were trained to be imbedded with Vitiates power and will so he could turn them into the ultimate sleeper agents. Using his total dominate of their minds Vitiate would make these children forget their connection to the Sith and in some cases that they ever possessed the force. So perfect was the ruse Vitiate's 'First Son' was imbedded into the Jedi Council of the time.  

(Source: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire Act 3: Burn the Future. The processes through which a child receives Vitiate)

Vitiate was a extremely proficient user of the force technique Transfer Essence too. Thanks to this ability should his physical body be destroy, damaged or no longer the perfect host Vitiate can transfer the entirety of his consciousness and immense power into his chosen new form. Vitiate was in fact so confident in his mastery of Transfer Essence that when trapped in battle for control of his host body with another force entity on the planet Voss, he commanded his personal enforcer (the Emperor's Wrath) to kill his host. This ability though is empowered by Vitiate's 'force entity' level of power allowing him to transfer his essence across the vacuum of space: as soon when he transports himself from Yavin 4 to Ziost and then to Zakuul. Further to his credit Vitiate is the second ancient Sith Lord mentioned in cannon or legends to have mastered this power. 

   

(Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious attempts to transfer his essence into Anakin Solo. Source: Empire's End 2: Electric Boogaloo  Rage of the Emperor). 

Vitiate was also extremely powerful in all conventional areas of the Force. Such as Telekinesis, in which he was so powerful he was able to casually toss Revan a serving Jedi Master and former Lord of the Sith around his throne room in 3954 BBY. Vitiate can also wrap himself in telekinetic shields for defence. The only thing in which Vitiate does not excel is lightsaber combat. In comparison to other ancient Sith such as Tulak Hord he is the weaker. That being said however this is only because of Vitiate's immense strength in the force, Vitiate has been witnessed using a single hand to block lightsaber strikes from multiple opponents: meaning he has little use for his sabre.

Vitiate's real power though was total and complete mastery over Sith Sorcery. Even when his main host body was destroyed Vitiate was able to exist within the force to rest. Through the continued galactic conflict after his demise Vitiate was able to rise again: feeding from the death and suffering of an entire galaxy at war. Vitiate then conducted the same ritual he had on his home world of Nathema on the now Imperial fortress world of Ziost. Through a second ritual Vitiate not only gained even more power but claimed to have: "Transcended the link between flesh and identity". 

What happened to Emperor Vitiate: 

Vitiate during his nearly 1300 year long existence as a force entity housed himself in many different hosts, all of which were consumed by his consciousness so he could wear their skin. In one of these hosts he decided to experience love, this form was known as the Immortal Emperor of Zakuul, Valkorion. 

(Vitiates final host body Valkorion. Source: Sacrifice, Star Wars the Old Republic. My Vitiate ... what pretty eyes you have) 

Vitiate felt what measure of love he could but even after siring three children of incredible force power he still viewed himself as a God and couldn't or wouldn't invest in such relationships completely. This attitude of course did not go over well with his children, even if he was immortal and so they set about turning on him: succeeding when they destroyed his host body in 3637 BBY. This was in fact all planed by Vitiate as he was searching for a new host body (for what purpose is not explained). The vacuum of power left by his sudden demise then acted as a testing ground for Vitiate, who watched and waited. Finally when a new Emperor of Zakuul was ascending their throne he struck: attempting to consume their consciousness and fill their body with his own. This back fires however, as with the help of his three children, the force echo of his father Dramath (from Dramath's holocron) and the woman he had professed to love Vitiate is trapped within the mind of the body he tried to steal and thought to be destroyed.    

What does Vitiate have to do with Snoke or Star Wars: the Last Jedi?

Even though thousands of years separate the two times periods there is a potently visible connection. The first thing we have to consider is outside the amazing world of Star Wars and in our own pale blue dot. When Disney acquired Lucasfilm (and others) in 2012 they set about destroying the majority of the expanded universe of Star Wars. This concerns anything that is not the original trilogy (episode 4, 5 and 6) and the prequel trilogy (episodes 1, 2 and 3) but Vitiate as a character exists in both the video game Star Wars: the Old Republic and its various satellite books/comics. At the time of acquisition Star Wars: the Old Republic had only been released for a year and was still earning money, meaning it got to stay. This means that Vitiate exists in the now slimmed down Star Wars cannon, though not as chiselled on the tablets of cannon as Star Wars: Rebels Vitiate is most certainly present. With that stated we can return to a galaxy far far away.

There is more then enough evidence of the immortality of Vitiate and even his transcendence past the need for a physical form but we have none as to the permanence of his prison. The mind in which he is caged is powerful, but it is not ageless. Thus it can be logically concluded that when his jailor dies of what ever cause Vitiate will once again be free to hide and regenerate. Even considering that his jailor might become one with the force, or a force ghost that would only take Vitiate to exactly where he needs to go. Vitiate has even said himself that he: "Holds the patience of stone" and has shown he is able to bide his time until the perfect moment. 

Assuming Vitiate does escape his mental prison and is free to replenish his powers within the force, why would he not have acted sooner? why would he let Palpatine conquer the galaxy? or the slew of other Sith Lords who rose to claim the mantle of Dark Lord? the answer is simple: he doesn't care. Vitiate has been quoted by senior writer for Star Wars: the Old Republic Hall Hood as having one core flaw and that is, "fear". Vitiate is obsessed with his continued existence, it is all that matters to him. The stupid levels of power he achieved were to stop the only thing that could ever harm him: time. So after almost being totally destroyed (ironically in a way he destroyed others) in 3630BBY it stands to reason he would have lost some confidence. If anything he would be having a crisis of self, Vitiate had thought himself a God and he was almost brought down by mortals: the next time he would have to be prepared. 

So Vitiate sets to work, he returns to his world of Nathema within the now unknown regions of space and forges for himself a solitary existence. The genius of his location is that after his ritual Nathema has no force presence, but not just none an almost negative sting to force users. It is described in the book Star Wars: the Old Republic Revan as, "the chill of the void". With such an overwhelming aura permeating from Nathema and the fact that even during Vitiate's reign as Sith Emperor it was a secret barely known to any, Vitiate could expect to hide on Nathema for as long as he pleased. The reason for waiting is once again, to find the perfect moment to strike at the galaxy.

Because Vitiate has only one singular goal, one which he has had even after he consumed two worlds and that is to consume the galaxy. Vitiate forged his new Sith Empire and lead it to conquer half the known galaxy in 3681 BBY for the sole purpose of killing enough people simultaneously as to trigger a galactic wide ritual. The end goal of which was to become the only living being in a lifeless galaxy and to be God of what ever galaxy took shape next. This plan would require of course immense preparation and precise execution which further adds to Vitiate's time on Nathema.

Of course Vitiate is not unaware of galactic events and is even amused (I assume) when Darth Plagueis studies the last scraps of his ancient works. With the rise of Darth Sidious and the Galactic Empire things become a bit more red hot for Vitiate; force oddities such as Nathema were of particular interest to Emperor Palpatine, and it is likely that if Palpatine had found evidence of Nathema's existence he would have investigated. But Vitiate would not go undetected for his entire preparation. In the book, Empire's End Palpatine created a series of secret observatories which remotely collected data from the unknown regions, Nathema's location. Gallius Rax recalls what Palpatine wished to find in the unknown regions: "The Emperor was convinced something waited for him out there - some origin of the force, some dark presence formed of malevolent substance". With that small exert alone it becomes evident Palpatine was sensing something, but what ever he sensed Palpatine was the only one who did. This means what ever force Palpatine sensed was attempting to hide itself or blocked from the view of weaker force users. Such effects would be consistent with Nathema's aura or Vitiate attempting to hide his presence. 

To continue it would become evident to Vitiate at the exact moment of Palpatine and Vader's demise that it was almost time for the first stage of his plan. Waiting until after the battle of Jakku Vitiate would take for himself his first host body in thousands of years, the twisted corpse of an ancient humanoid. This is the meat and potatoes people, the real deal, the cat's pyjamas because ... Vitiate/Valkorion is Snoke. 

The Hypothesis:

Vitiate as Snoke of course follows the established path he takes, building the first order, corrupting Ben Solo and all the other events which take place before Star Wars: the Force Awakens. This is where Vitiate finally gets to have some good old sociopathic fun, like he did when he was a boy! Vitiate knows that killing Han Solo will fracture Kylo Ren, he also knows that Rey is rising as an equal to Kylo and will be devastated by Han's death. This of course all plays out - actually as foreseen - and were on to the Last Jedi. This is where you're going to need to remember Vitiate's plan has nothing to do with ruling, or building its consumption: he will become a God, its all that matters. Thusly the events of the Last Jedi play out and we arrive at the meeting of Rey to Snoke (Vitiate). Vitiate knows Kylo hates him, he knows more so that Kylo was always going to attempt to kill him and its exactly what he needs. Vitiate goes on his rant, how Kylo can never betray him, how he sees the lightsaber igniting and then bang. Vitiate feels it, and it takes all his composure not to smile: as his immeasurable power seeps slowly back into the force Vitiate watches as he body falls apart. Now Rey and Kylo are fighting the Supreme Leader's guards and at this moment Vitiate feels the slightest hint of trepidation. Rey is the perfect Jedi, but Vitiate has turned and killed many so called 'perfect' Jedi and it worries him. But as Kylo reaches out his hand and Vitiate senses Rey's heart closing to Kylo he knows he's done it.

With a sense of purpose Vitiate immediately leaves, he speeds across the galaxy this time to the Ahch-To (Luke Skywalker's island planet). Vitiate waits in orbit, to close while the force ghost of Luke's master is consoling him and he will be sprung (Vitiate neither knows nor cares who is Luke's master). After Yoda has faded Vitiate slithers down into the waters around Luke's island, he further crawls into the dark side nexus in which Rey thought she'd find out who her parents are. The dark side power of the place will conceal Vitiate perfectly, and so as he has learned over the generations he has spanned Vitiate waits once again. This time Vitiate senses Skywalker projecting with the force and Vitiate helps. He gives Luke a sliver of his force power, never all at once, but peppers his own extreme abilities in to allow Luke's a small boost. The purpose of this is to tilt Kylo even further off kilter. Vitiate is the reason Luke is able to ruse Kylo, Vitiate empowers Luke enough so as to allow his song and dance to go on for just long enough to totally humiliate Kylo. We can only imagine the insidious glee rushing though Vitiate as he feels Luke pass on after serving his purpose. With Kylo so totally undone he will become even darker then before and with Rey empowered by her new success and purpose she will grow even brighter. In this way Vitiate ensures that the next conflict, the final war he so desperately needs to consume the galaxy, will be bloodier, harder and most importantly will have two iconic leaders on both sides that will rally others to their death. The First Order will be enraged by its fallen brothers and the Resistance has even stated, via Poe Dameron that it will: "light a fire to burn the First Order down". Little will either side know that the real enemy, the enemy they thought only a single face is about to reach its end game. 

The Prediction:

The final and third instalment of the latest trilogy will begin on an immeasurable conflict, the galaxy is at total and complete war. This act 1, which goes on for as long as it goes on but strives to show the audience just how bloody this conflict is. Rey and Kylo of course are on various battlefields doing their force user thing, swinging that sabre etc etc. Act 2 begins with the accidental discovery of Nathema by both Rey and Kylo, via some damage to their hyper drives or some sort of accidental battle. Vitiate, still hiding on Nathema, is now immediately busted. So confident in his plan and so focused on preparing the extreme Sith Sorcery required by his galactic ritual he had not been hiding his presence. Thus both Rey and Kylo sense him and realise him to be Snoke, at least Kylo does. Kylo and Rey both retreat from their space skirmish and seek out council on this matter and bang we get the return of Luke Skywalker. Luke rocks up to the both of them and informs them that as a force ghost he has been able to explore deep, dank mysteries long forgotten and one of them was the incredible tale of the rise and fall of Vitiate. Luke however has realised now with his enhanced force given knowledge that Vitiate isn't dead or locked away, and was in fact Snoke all along: a fact he passes on.  Finally I predict that the final battle will be between Vitiate/Snoke against either Luke, Rey and Kylo or Luke and the entire Skywalker blood line as force ghosts.

Good golly miss molly! This was a long one, so if you stuck with me the whole way through thank you so much and let me know what you think. In all honesty I'm not confident this is even remotely an option for the third film but I would really love it to be, because it would be totally amazing.

With Regards, 

Simatricus.

                             

follow me @simantricus if you desire to learn a pathway to abilities some consider to be ... unnatural.