New Star Wars Book Helps Set the Record Straight on Snoke's Origins

Immediately after audiences met Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, countless theories emerged about the figure's origins, but it wasn't until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that we learned answers about his background, though there were some details left ambiguous about the figure's true history, which the all-new The Star Wars Book helps clarify. The book, which hits shelves on October 20th, details that Snoke is an artificial construct that was created by Palpatine for the sole purpose of orchestrating his own return, as opposed to having ever been an individual who was then possibly taken over by Palpatine.

"It's possible Snoke himself may not know his true nature. Snoke is a strandcast -- an artificial genetic construct concocted by the resurrected Darth Sidious to be his proxy in power," the book reads, per Twitter user OldManBlinks. "Snoke has free will, but his actions and goals are still orchestrated by Sidious."

In The Rise of Skywalker, audiences saw vats on Exegol containing Snoke bodies, seemingly confirming that there was some cloning technology at play, yet the full details about the figure's history were left up to audiences to deduce. These details in the new book confirm that there was never a Snoke before Sidious created him, and that the notion of "free will" likely means Palpatine wasn't guiding Snoke's day-to-day actions and merely imbued him with overall objectives.

Oh hello Snoke... pic.twitter.com/i0Q3HdCPlS

— Old Man Blinks (@OldManBlinks) October 9, 2020

The book also notes the artificial nature of Snoke doesn't negate what some considered to be a "plot hole" with The Rise of Skywalker, which is the idea that, when it comes to the Sith, there is always a master and an apprentice. Throughout the sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren was always the apprentice and Palpatine was the master.

The book points out, "Through Snoke, Sidious sidesteps the tradition of a dark-side apprentice slaying his master to ascend, which happens when Kylo Ren betrays Snoke and slices him in two."

When Disney purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012, this allowed the exciting opportunity for new media to be crafted in the world of Star Wars, including supplemental books adding more insight into the major events seen in films. While some fans enjoyed being able to enrich themselves in the sprawling lore of the galaxy far, far away, others have become understandably frustrated that, to learn the complete story behind the narratives, they feel obligated to purchase tie-in titles. Regardless of how fans feel about these additional details, it does mark exciting opportunities to learn the background of details only hinted at on the big screen.

The Star Wars Book hits shelves on October 20th.

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