When the enigmatic Supreme Leader Snoke was quickly dispatched in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ fans were left wanting to know more about this character. Who was he? What connection did he have to the Force? How did he shape the remnants of The Empire into the First Order? Well, we do get the rough answer to most of that in an almost blink and you’ll miss it moment in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’
While the explanation worked in an already jam-packed movie, editor Maryann Brandon has shared why they went that route instead of further fleshing out Snoke’s back story.
Warning: There is a significant spoiler for the film below!
So, it becomes quickly apparent that Snoke wasn’t the one pulling the strings and it was Palpatine all along. While there were no hints dropped that this would be the case, it was both a lackluster and an effective way to keep the story moving forward. The scene in question is when Kylo Ren first lands on Exogol and confronts Palpatine to try and take him down. While Kylo tries to put Palpatine in his place by saying that he killed Snoke, the ancient Sith Lord rebukes him sharing that he “made Snoke.”
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The film went on to show us a vat filled with Snoke parts proving that he was just a creation and doing the Emperor‘s bidding the entire time. While Palpatine would further go on to say it was his voice in Ben Solo’s head the whole time as Snoke and even Vader, it was a quick way to show that Snoke was just a puppet all along.
In a recent Huffington Post interview, Brandon would share why this is the direction the filmmakers went:
“I just think that came up as a visual effect that we thought would be really fun for an audience, to create a visual that would tell that whole story. I believe that’s successful. We didn’t have to change a lot of dialogue. You just see one shot […] and you kind of get it. I love stuff like that. We can just have a moment where you just see something in the background, and you go, ‘OK, I totally get that.'”
I still wish they had a throwaway line of dialogue in either “The Force Awakens” or “The Last Jedi” which would show Snoke reporting to someone else. Either that, or emphasizing his knowledge of Palpatine’s way of running the Empire, but unfortunately, that opportunity has passed.
Do you agree with Maryann Brandon that this was an effective way to share Snoke’s backstory without having to dive into it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
