Warning: There are spoilers ahead if you haven't seen "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
There's still a lot we don't know about after seeing the new "Star Wars" movie. One of the biggest mysteries surrounds the new villain, Supreme Leader Snoke.
Since the moment I saw the character on screen, I've only had one thought about who Snoke could be: Darth Plagueis, the Sith Lord mentioned back in "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith."
It was my gut feeling when I saw him on screen last Tuesday evening at a screening, and it's something my brother, a big "Star Wars" fan, and I have been discussing ever since.
But Plagueis died a long time ago, right? I'll explain.
Let's lay out the evidence.
Who is Darth Plagueis?
Plagueis was a Sith Lord and the master to Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. The important thing to know about him is that Plagueis was studying immortality and supposedly figured out how to conquer death.
Do you see where I'm going here?
In "Revenge of the Sith," Palpatine recounts the story of Plagueis to a young, troubled Anakin Skywalker.
From the clip:
Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side,he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.
Forget the stuff about the midi-chlorians and focus on the latter part of that sentence.
Palpatine says Plagueis was the only one who ever learned to conquer death. The problem: He was killed by his apprentice, Darth Sidious/Palpatine.
But what if he wasn't killed?
Maybe Plagueis was so well-versed in immortality that he either (1) figured out a way to fake his death or (2) figured out a way to bring himself back to life.
It's becoming a pretty popular Reddit theory.
Here's how one fan thinks it could have happened:
You create an illusion, or do die and self-resurrect, or are just gravely injured and able to heal using the Force. Now, as an injured/resurrected Sith Lord, you know you can't return and face your old apprentice one-on-one because he'll kick the crap out of you. However, you can watch from the shadows as he eliminates the Jedi Order, builds up the Empire, draws out the Son of Skywalker, and self-destructs, leaving you the perfect opportunity to swoop in, corral the Empire's remnants, and take control of the galaxy without needing to do any real legwork. Then, knowing Luke is the most powerful (and still living) Force user out there, you find a weak point you can exploit to take control of that power--what better than a disenchanted, emo youth of the same bloodline? Turn that youth to the Dark Side, bring down the new Jedi Order from within, and move your pieces into checkmate position.
Seems completely plausible and would tie nicely into the prequels. A thread like that would actually give them some on-going relevance.
What we know about Snoke
Not much!
Unlike his hologram in the film, he's not a giant. Snoke is over 7 feet tall and extremely thin. Many have taken that to mean he may be a member of the Muun, the same species as Plagueis.
Snoke has an awful head scar.
According to book, "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Snoke was originally supposed to be female. That's one piece of information which throws a wrench into my thoughts. Let's leave that thought aside for now because it sounds like it was in an earlier draft and was changed.
Is Snoke Plagueis?
This is what I've been grappling with.
It would help explain that nasty scar on his head if Palpatine tried to/did kill him and he came back from the grave.
The reason I first thought Snoke was Plagueis was because I knew I had seen a similar face before the moment Snoke came on screen.
While I don't have any images of Snoke, here are a few images of Plagueis from toys and books. Tell me they don't look like Snoke:
Here's what comes up when you Google image search Plagueis:
Here's the cover of 2012's best-selling book on the Sith Lord. The cover, showing Palpatine kneeling before Plagueis, is reminiscent of scenes of Kylo Ren before Snoke in "The Force Awakens":
I'm aware the book is outside of "Star Wars" canon, but we know "The Force Awakens" is taking inspiration from the expanded universe in the new films. Just look at Kylo Ren's character.
How many tall, thin, creepy men can you have lurking around in the "Star Wars" universe?
Another Reddit user pointed out that the theme music for Snoke eerily matches a lot of the music used when Palpatine discusses Plagueis.
Here's Snoke's theme from "The Force Awakens":
And here's the music from the Plagueis scene in "Episode III":
But my brother then pointed out that that tune is a pretty general theme used for any Sith.
The best example of that, which I can't find a clip of, is from "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones," when Count Dooku meets up with Emperor Palpatine near the end of the film. Here's a compilation of the Emperor's theme music which has some undertones of the Snoke theme.
Let's say he's not Plagueis
Who could he be? Are we to believe he's just some random new addition to the film? It seems that General Leia Organa may have had some knowledge about who he was. Was Snoke a former ally who turned to the dark side?
The only other plausible theory I've seen is that he could be Emperor Palpatine, who figured out how to cheat death himself. I'm just not buying that one. It sounds pretty silly, but Palpatine does tell Anakin in "Episode III" that Plagueis taught his apprentice — Palpatine — everything he knew. Did he also teach Palpatine about saving others from death? Maybe. But Palpatine had his time. Right?
But he has to be Plagueis ... right?
Here's the one thing my brother keeps saying to me: "Star Wars" is supposed to be a poem. He's right. Lucas has said the movies are supposed to rhyme. "You see the echo of where it all is gonna go," Lucas says in a compilation video. "It's like poetry, sort of. They rhyme."
While I know Lucas is no longer involved in the new films, from what we've seen so far, it looks like Disney is trying to honor the past films — even the prequel series — by having connections to the earlier works. It's one reason why Episode VII feels so familiar.
Things have always been mentioned in earlier "Star Wars" films which don't make sense until later. The Plagueis comment, while it mostly explains where Anakin came from and hints at Palpatine's true identity, could have more meaning.
It makes more sense to bring a character full circle — someone who has been pulling the strings with the Skywalker lineage since Anakin — then to tack on a new character.
When Disney purchased Lucasfilm, they did get treatment scripts for the next three films, meaning that they would know who Lucas may have had in mind for the film's next Sith Lord. Maybe that was the return of Plagueis.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: A 'Star Wars' star snuck into showings of 'The Force Awakens,' and fans flipped out