This Star War Theory Wants Fan to Believe SPOILER Is Still Alive

The big twists and turns of Star Wars: The Last Jedi have fans debating and discussing like crazy right now, a process which also inspires a lot of new fan theories about the saga’s unanswered questions. Well, one fan theory on Reddit is going to pretty deep to connect all three trilogies in the saga into one main overarching story: A battle between good and evil between the Skywalkers and Emperor Palpatine.

That’s right, Reddit user John Harrison Eastwood wants fans to believe that Emperor Palpatine is not only still alive, but was actually hiding in the guise of Supreme Leader Snoke, and apparently may still be alive even now!

Some of the language on the flow chart is hard to make out, and some of the connections being made in the picture memes are as well, but the general thrust is that the storytelling in the Star Wars movie Episodes (and even the Expanded Universe stories) consistently come back to The Skywalkers trying to battle a great evil in the universe – and that if the Prequel Trilogy and Original Trilogy had one overarching villain, then the Sequel Trilogy could be working under that same villain’s influence.

…This is not a new notion to be introduced into Star Wars lore. Ever since the Sequel Trilogy began, there’s been rumor that Palpatine could be Snoke; could be Snoke’s master; could be hiding in the shadows waiting to manipulate the Resistance / First Order war as a pathway for the Sith’s return. Theories have jumped so far over the shark as to suggest that Snoke is actually Tarkin, powered by the dark side tutelage of Palpatine. Literally any possible way for the iconic OT villains to return has been floated by fans.

Still, it’s not an impossible notion. Episode IX will probably have its own share of surprises, and as this chart points out, J.J. Abrams has already said it will unite all three trilogies with an epic finale. Finding out Palpatine is still somehow a threat in the universe would be a rich way to bring the entire saga full circle, but the idea that he was Snoke is probably not going to pan out. The Supreme Leader looked supremely dead, last we saw…

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now in theaters; Star Wars: Episode IX arrives on December 20, 2019.