Star Warsfans share an uncanny ability with comic book fans, enabling them to never take any death for what it is. Even if a particular character’s demise served as an important plot point, these plucky devotees will continue reading into it long after. The thing is, they might have something this time around.
Star Warsfans often treat death as little more than a feint. Many will refuse to accept that a character has been killed unless they explicitly see a body, and even then, it can be iffy. The unambiguous nature of such things promptscontinued debates on whether Mace Windu will return, among other things. But what about when the death is explicit and particularly brutal? In that case, the debate doesn’t necessarily go away. It instead can shift to other topics. For example, expanding the departed character’s backstory.
That’s where many fans are concerning the controversial character of Snoke. UserAlhbaz98on theStar WarsSpeculation subreddit recently offered a fascinating theory into Snoke’s origin, which could add some new context to his ultimate demise. They think Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, who perished on Mandalore inThe Mandalorianseason 3, will ultimately return as the grotesque Supreme Leader. It would take a lot of explaining, but hey, these areStar Warsfans. That’s kind of their thing.
The theory here partially stems from the failed clones of Gideon seen leading up to his demise inThe Mandalorian. It’s suggested that Gideon was manufactured on Exegol, where Emperor Palpatine carried out hisultimate plan leading up toStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Gideon’s body will theoretically be recovered by Imperial loyalist Elia Kane and returned to Exegol, where he will be revived, with something going wrong with the process and ultimately turning him into the monstrosity known as Snoke (and subsequently being played by Andy Serkis). The theory even alleges that Gideon, as Snoke, will reach out to Baylan Skoll fromAhsokato set the rise of the First Order in motion.
Snoke rather famously fell to Rey’s lightsaber in an unceremonious (but still really cool) way during the climactic throne room scene inthe controversialStar Wars: The Last Jedi. But seeing as how his end was so abrupt after spending most of 2 movies shrouded in mystery, fans have been trying to make sense of the character ever since. This could explain what the character accomplished to make him such an imposing figure in-universe. It also tracks with the Gideon clones seen inThe Mandalorian.
However, leaving things as they are is a good option. The death of Snoke, taken at face value, was a brilliant subversion of the “mysterious big bad” trope that could easily remain as is for maximum impact. Trying to flesh out the character’s backstory now might cheapen that whole development. So here’s hoping ifStar Warshas more plans for Snoke, the folks in charge think long and hard about it.
TheStar Warssaga is available on Disney Plus.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space, including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other mediums like comics, video games, TV shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.
