Star Wars Comic Writer Confirms He Teased the Snoke and Palpatine Connection Months Ago

The final episode in the Skywalker Saga shed a lot of light on the mysteries of the Star Wars galaxy, but many fans are still left curious about the sudden resurgence of Emperor Palpatine and what it meant for the enigmatic villain Supreme Leader Snoke. But apparently there were signs of their connection before in the Extended Universe of stories. While many fans assumed that Snoke and the Emperor had a more direct connection, the answer was seemingly right under our noses before the premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In the Marvel comic Age of Resistance: Supreme Leader Snoke, the leader of the First Order takes Kylo Ren to Dagobah to show him where Luke Skywalker trained. Speaking of the Jedi, Snoke tells the former Ben Solo that Luke “has earned my respect and my fear.” He then tells Kylo Ren, “If I had your uncle by my side instead of you, the galaxy would have been mine a long time ago.”

Even the comic book writer Tom Taylor pointed it out to fans after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered, indicating that the signs were there all along.

As people who have seen Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker are likely aware, Snoke was revealed to be a creation of Emperor Palpatine and his cult of followers. In one of the opening scenes of the film, Kylo Ren tracks down the Sith Lord, who tells him in no uncertain terms that he made Snoke. We then get a visual of a vat of body parts that include several clone heads and torsos of Snoke floating around, indicating that he was simply a genetic creation of Palpatine’s.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker editor Maryann Brandon recently spoke with Huff Post about the decision to include this aspect of Snoke’s backstory in the film.

“I just think that came up as a visual effect that we thought would be really fun for an audience, to create a visual that would tell that whole story,” Brandon explained. “I believe that’s successful. We didn’t have to change a lot of dialogue. You just see one shot […] and you kind of get it. I love stuff like that. We can just have a moment where you just see something in the background and you go, ‘OK, I totally get that.’”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now playing in theaters.