Star Wars Theory Reveals How Palpatine Controlled Supreme Leader Snoke

A recent Star Wars theory has provided a suggestion as to how Emperor Palpatine controlled Supreme Leader Snoke in Disney’s sequel trilogy.

A recent Star Wars theory has outlined how it may have been possible for Emperor Palpatine to control Supreme Leader Snoke throughout the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Supreme Leader Snoke was introduced in the former as the villainous head of the First Order and master to Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. In The Last Jedi, Snoke was killed by Kylo Ren and the latter took control of the First Order.

In the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – it was revealed Snoke was in fact a clone of Emperor Palpatine, doing the evil Sith Lord’s bidding across all three films. Ian McDiarmid’s Palpatine and his control of Snoke were underdeveloped in The Rise of Skywalker, with the film offering little development on how and why Palpatine created Snoke – played by Andy Serkis who recently returned in Andor. However, some tie-ins to The Rise of Skywalker have offered some deeper insight that supports a Star Wars theory around how Palpatine was pulling the strings all along.

Related: Snoke Is Darth Plagueis: How The Sequels Would Change If It Had Been True

Supreme Leader Snoke Believed He Was An Independent Being

The aforementioned insight into Palpatine and Snoke’s situation comes from the book Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary by Pablo Hidalgo. In this book, This hints Snoke believed he was an independent being and had no awareness of Palpatine’s control over him. This retroactively tracks with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with Snoke’s character in those movies being seemingly self-contained in his motivations.

With neither film providing any hint at all Palpatine was in control of Snoke, it makes sense to retroactively establish that Snoke believed he was his own person. This draws Snoke’s origin and backstory into the overall narrative of the sequel trilogy, as organic a solution to the problem of Palpatine’s return as it is possible to find. This insight has led to a new Star Wars theory about exactly how Palpatine exerted such a powerful influence on Supreme Leader Snoke.

Supreme Leader Snoke’s Obsidian Ring Has Ties To The Dark Side

This theory comes from Supreme Leader Snoke’s ring. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Snoke is seen wearing a black ring. This ring is made out of obsidian, a Star Wars material that has links to the dark side of the Force. In Star Wars, Vader’s castle on Mustafar is made of obsidian. Also, Obsidian has been known to power lightsabers through the canon stories of Batuu, the setting of Galaxy’s Edge.

Some obsidian shards were mined from dark side shrines and were found to be infused by the power of the dark side of the Force as a result. This explain why Vader’s fortress on Mustafar was made of the material and why Snoke wears a ring of obsidian; it also fits with some Sith lightsabers, because apparently obsidian generates a red lightsaber blade. Snoke was never seen using the power of the ring, however, raising the possibility it was being used by Palpatine instead.

Related: Star Wars Reveals Palpatine’s Original Plan For Snoke

Did Palpatine Control Supreme Leader Snoke Through His Obsidian Ring?

It is possible the ring was one of Palpatine’s treasures. The Emperor is known to have possessed countless Sith relics, with one collection discovered by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Battlefront II. This artifact could well have been enchanted to allow a Sith Lord to influence the mind of anyone who wore it – giving Palpatine easy, effortless access to Snoke. Star Wars has long paid homage to classic fantasy tropes, and this would make the ring similar to the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Presumably Palpatine (or his agents) gave Snoke the ring early in the clone’s life, allowing Palpatine to control the First Order’s actions from behind the scenes due to the inherent dark side nature of obsidian. In doing so, Palpatine orchestrated the rise of the Final Order before being stopped by Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo when the Star Wars sequel trilogy came to a climax.

More: What Would Palpatine Have Done If He’d Discovered Luke Before Vader Did?