Very mild spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees the return of Supreme Leader Snoke, although don't expect to learn too much of his backstory. When Star Wars was successfully revived with The Force Awakens, one of the biggest questions raised by the fandom was "what happened?" As in, how did the galaxy get turned back into a war zone after the Empire was seemingly defeated in 1983's Return of the Jedi? In the new setting of The Force Awakens, the Galactic Empire was replaced by the similar First Order, and the figure in charge, the Emperor Palpatine role, was now held by a new character, Supreme Leader Snoke.
But who is this Snoke, and how did he turn the remnants of the Empire into the unstoppable war machine that is The First Order? In Episode VII, he was only ever seen as a hologram, but it's clear that Han Solo and General Leia know who he is, and they know he's responsible for corrupting their son, Ben, and turning him into Kylo Ren. Beyond that, however, little was known about the enigmatic figure, including his actual appearance. Perhaps there was a little bit of Wizard of Oz "man behind the curtain" action at play?
Snoke Is Just Snoke (This Page)
Snoke is Just Snoke
As revealed in the advertising for The Last Jedi, Snoke's appearance in The Force Awakens was not a ruse, a smokescreen, or some other trick; he's not hiding a secret identity or otherwise hiding his true form... So much for your "Snoke is Lobot" theory!
Related: Star Wars: Is Snoke From The Unknown Regions?
Snoke appears in the flesh in The Last Jedi, and his appearance is exactly the same as his hologram, though the CGI is thankfully much more convincing this time around, and his glistening golden robe is a bold fashion choice which pays off with effortless style and audacious gravitas.
Without spoiling anything from the movie, Snoke's backstory, as well as that of the First Order, remains a mystery in The Last Jedi. While there is plenty of background information doled out in exposition and even flashbacks (a first for the series), the lingering secret of Snoke's ascension is a troubling quibble which should have been addressed by now. The Last Jedi takes pride in subverting audience expectations at nearly every turn, but the way it fails to deliver on any semblance of backstory for Snoke and The First Order is strange. It's not exactly a misstep, but it's certainly worth noting as an essential checkbox which remains noticeably unchecked.
The Many Unanswered Questions About Snoke
By the time the credits roll on The Last Jedi, the galaxy far, far away is bigger than ever, and many (but not all!) mysteries are resolved, with new questions rising to take their place. However, the secret behind Snoke and The First Order remains. Who is he? When did he discover his connection to The Force? How did he he got so disfigured? Does he have Jedi training? How did he became strong enough in The Force to turn Ben Solo to the Dark Side? How does he know Luke? Like Han and Leia in Episode VII, Luke articulates his awareness of Snoke and his devious ways, but all-important context remains frustratingly elusive.
There are so many questions pertaining to Snoke and his place as the ultimate harbinger of evil in the galaxy, but none of them are truly answered in Episode VIII. He's as mysterious as Darth Vader was in A New Hope; a powerful villain with an unknown origin, an unknown motivation, and tentatively unexplored connections to the heroes of the franchise. For now, it seems as though the rise of Snoke and his seemingly unchallenged galactic conquest will have to wait until 2019's Episode IX... Or will it?
We Need To Know About Snoke and The First Order
Maybe it's for the best that The Last Jedi doesn't get dragged down with the details of Snoke's background, but it's something that can't remain unknown forever. His past can't just be swept under the rug, and they shouldn't relegate this untold story to the realm of comics, novels, or video games. When he was developing his original trilogy, George Lucas felt it wasn't necessary to explain the origins of the Galactic Empire because that story began "in medias res," with the reasoning behind the conflict being unimportant. It was understood that the Empire were bad guys, and the Rebels were the good guys. Nothing more was needed. Eventually, he created the prequel trilogy, which filled in the backstory and detailed the rise of Emperor Palpatine and his formation of the Empire, thereby closing the loop.
Related: What Happens Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens?
While there were 32 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, the episode numbers, VI and VII, are adjacent. Despite the decades of silence, the quasi-reboot nature of the sequel trilogy means that much of that 30 year gap, including Snoke's story, are a total enigma. Disney and Lucasfilm are cautious about this era, blocking stories set after the Battle of Jakku, but Episode IX needs to provide context and at least offer some explanation for Snoke and The First Order, lest the entire conflict of the new trilogy be a massive plot hole.
Even if they decide to dedicate an entire corner of the canon to fleshing out Snoke's background and his leadership of the First Oder, it's important for the numbered, "saga" films to have a consistent story which doesn't depend on supplementary tales to make sense. If Snoke is given no origin, if The First Order simply exists because there needs to be a bad guy for the heroes to fight, then the entire story falls apart. It's up to Episode IX to not only wrap up the trilogy, but also to bring it full circle and establish an actual reason for this particular war.
Perhaps there are more important things in Star Wars than getting hung up on the backstory of a mysterious villain; after all, the last time someone thought too hard about that sort of origin story, the end result was the much-maligned prequel trilogy, and nobody wants to have to go through that again. Regardless, in order for the sequel trilogy to stand on its own merits and fit into the larger jigsaw puzzle of the Star Wars saga, Snoke's origin needs to be clarified in Episode IX. The reveal cannot occur in a video game or a novel. It can be further elaborated upon in Expanded Universe works, but it's essential for each of the saga films to connect to their adjacent entries.
Say what you will about the prequels, but there is a clear line from Episode III to Episode IV. Right now, there is no such connection from Episode VI to Episode VII. One thing Episode IX absolutely needs to do is to draw a line which currently does not exist - a line that connects Return of the Jedi, to The Force Awakens. If the final chapter in this current trilogy, as a mainline, numbered entry (not a spin-off) can make the connection and provide that all-important context, then the entirety of the Star Wars saga will make more sense and become a more complete story.
Next: Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Ending Explained
