u/TheTragedy0fPlagueis

All we’ve got atm is the post on RedwallWiki by the founder of the site who has hitherto been an incorruptibly reliable source of news and information

https://www.edelweiss.plus/#keywordSearch&q=brian+jacques&page=1 (First result, bottom line (Thanks to r/JudeHopps for finding the link))

*Snoke was, at some stage, designed to be Plagueis*

It’s all fun and discussion, I'm not saying "I'm right and you're wrong", I'm not trying to start a fight over the semantics of the sequels. I was reminded of this theory and wanted to share my thoughts to invite discussion about a universe we all love

**Please note this theory extends hypothetically into TRoS**

Evidence

1. There was a convention panel mess up where a question about Plagueis is asked and Daisy Ridley says "is that Sno-" and is cut off followed by JJ clearly biting his lip and a poor misdirection by another cast member.
2. In pre release promo info JJ Abrams said Snoke was the most powerful force user yet put to screen, that he predates the Clone Wars, that he was ancient and has been watching things for quite some time.
3. Plagueis was known for his love of finery and fancy things, the gold cloak, slippers and jewelry back that up along with the giant throne.
4. When he appears on screen in TFA, the music is a slower, deeper version of Palpatine’s Teachings (the scene where Plagueis as a concept is first introduced in RotS)
5. Hux TWICE describes the Supreme Leader as “wise”, he really lands on the word 'wise', drawing it out and the music rises behind the word.
6. He's less bothered about 'Luke' and more 'the son of Anakin Skywalker', Anakin's power and legacy is his focus
7. He’s wearing a black kyber crystal ring inscribed with the symbols of the Dwartii, ancient philosophers (wise people), seen as figures Palpatine’s office, which he stole from Plagueis

Why this makes sense:

1. "The power to cheat death is a thing only one has achieved" , not Palpatine but Plagueis.
2. While Emperor, Sideous spent huge resources tracking a massive source of Dark Side power in the unknown regions, it scared him. Some 'wellspring' of the dark side. This was Plaguies in hiding on Exegol, building the foundation of what would become the First Order.
3. The Muun thing was thrown out so I'm going with it
4. When he died, imperial fleets vanished to coordinates in the Unknown Regions and 'somehow returned' with Snoke at their head
5. Our parents thought Vader was the bad guy but then saw he wasn’t, we thought Maul/Dooku/Grievous as bad guys but they were small fry to the Emperor. A poetic rhyme to this would be to see that the Emperor was unknowingly carrying out Plagueis’ grand plan while Plagueis watched from the Unknown Regions.
6. Strongly implied he manipulated the Force and created Anakin.
7. Plagueis the WISE would have known his apprentice would try to kill him and that in turn Sideous would be killed by the next. So he created the next apprentice and faked his death to wait in the background for the entire saga.
8. He knew Sideous would kill the Jedi, He knew the Republic would fall, He knew Vader would kill Sideous He knew Vader would be defeated to bring balance He just had to sit back and wait for this to play out, leaving him as the last remaining Dark Lord to reset the system and take control of the galaxy
9. He was always the bigger fish, he was always the Phantom Menace.

The Grand Plan

Plagueis’ great scheme was to reveal all but one secret to Palpatine. He'd pass on mastery of the force, the plan to destroy the Republic, the Clone Army, the Separatists, the Rule of Two, but not the power to cheat death. He knew of the Chosen One prophecy but arrogantly felt he could use his power over the force to 'create' the Chosen One as bait for his apprentice. He knew Palpatine would try to kill him and allowed this to happen, returning to his now injured and scarred body and retreating to the Sith homeworld(?) of Exegol to watch things play out.

Palpatine, believing he was Dark Lord of the Sith was able to carry out the Grand Plan while his master watched from the abyss. All would succeed, and when Palaptine was at the height of his power, the 'Chosen One' would strike him down as planned and Plagueis could now come in and pick up the pieces without any resistance and rule the galaxy.

No Jedi, no Republic, no Sith. Everything removed from the board allowing him to be single ruler. Having been in hiding for nearly a century he was able to use Sith cultists to build a fleet and mass the power to return at the head of the First Order. The return of the darkest power to ever live is what truly scared Luke into hiding, the Sith that created Vader, that outwitted Palpatine, the one who had been behind everything all along - this would cause Luke to question everything, including his own birth, and realize this was not his fight.

His ultimate undoing was his hubris at the Chosen One prophecy, which referred to Leia, who gave birth to Kylo and counseled Rey, bringing Light and Dark together. Those two people walked both light and dark with blood of Palpatine and Skywalker and used the combined power of Sith and Jedi combined to finally destroy him.

I feel this would have served to create a cohesive 9-film epic, rather than a 6-film saga with a 3-part epilogue

(SNOKE is an acronym for “Sith no one knew existed” - ok that’s bs but it’s a fun matchup)

Darth Plagueis was always the bigger fish, he was the phantom menace, the revenge of the Sith was his plan, he returned as the Force awakened, he faced the last Jedi and was directly responsible for the fall of the Sith which led to the rise of the Skywalker legend.

Retconning him to a clone and scrapping the true Dark Lord is the true tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise

Thankyou for reading my TED talk (and yes, I know the username checks out)

(Stay tuned as I have another about the Maul show linking with Ashoka and Thrawn to tie up the current TV-era)