Star Wars has finally admitted to its biggest blunder from the Sequel Trilogy. While Lucasfilm's Episode VII—IX had some high points, the entire Sequel era has been looked back upon as largely divisive among many Star Wars fans. Despite moments of greatness, like the introduction of Daisy Ridley's Rey, there were also plenty of misses, like the handling of Andy Serkis' big bad Snoke.
After being introduced as the potential looming threat for the entire trilogy in The Force Awakens, the character was eventually tossed to the side unceremoniously in The Last Jedi. He would (kind of) return in The Rise of Skywalker, revealed to be a failed clone of Emperor Palpatine, but that only made matters worse. Snoke's story caused quite the stir-up among a large swath of the Star Wars fandom, with many considering it emblematic of the lackluster Sequel experience.
For years, Lucasfilm and the Star Wars brand have remained relatively tight-lipped about its mishandling of the Snoke storyline. However, with the release of the new LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Pieces of the Past series, the sci-fi brand seems ready to poke fun at the botched Sith story.
In Episode 3 of the new animated epic, a conversation occurs between Bobby Moynihan's Jedi Bob and newcomer to the series Pirate Padmé Amidala that seems to be directly at the expense of the Sequel big bad.
In a spoof of the Sarlacc Pit scene from Return of the Jedi, Jedi Bob complains about being his fate, with his captors (Amidala's pirate crew) casting him and several other heroes into the sandy maw.
However, when Bob brings up the Sarlacc, he is met with protest from his swash-buckling jailer. Amidala's right-hand droid, Pirate C-3PO, remarks, "A Sarlacc? Oh dear me, no. You will be cast into something far worse. The Snoke pit."
Just then, dozens of Snoke clones come crawling out of the bit in the sand below.
When Bob's fellow interdimensional traveller, Yesi, asks, "What are those things?" the series starts spitting fire.
Amidala replies, "We found a bunch of discarded clones of this Snoke guy. We didn't know what to do with them, so we threw them in this pit."
Prodded further on Snoke by a shirtless surfer dude Luke Skywalker, Amidala brushes him off, closing with, "It doesn't even really matter:"
Yesi: "What are those things?"
Amidala: "We found a bunch of discarded clones of this Snoke guy. We didn't know what to do with them, so we threw them in this pit."
Luke Skywalker: "But who's Snoke?"
Amidala: "It doesn't even really matter:"
This is the first time Lucasfilm or Star Wars in general has addressed the Snoke controversy. It seems like even the studio is aware that they fumbled the ball when it came to the Sequel Trilogy character.
Throughout Rebuild the Galaxy's two seasons, the brick-based adventure has poked fun at various elements of the Star Wars universe, incorporating things like the internet meme Darth Jar-Jar and video game Jedi Cal Kestis' proclivity for unnecessary backflips.
However, this Snoke bit feels like an especially pointed piece of star-faring commentary, as it directly admits that the character's handling may have been a mistake.
For much of the Sequel Trilogy's run, it never felt like it had a plan, with Snoke's introduction and immediate disposal being the tip of the spear for fans who did not jive with the new era of Star Wars stories.
No, this joke is not Kathleen Kennedy getting on stage at Star Wars Celebration or any other Lucasfilm fan event and calling out the Snoke story as one of the Sequel Trilogy's biggest blunders, but it does show that the iconic sci-fi brand has some self-awareness and is willing to make jokes at its own expense when appropriate.
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Pieces of the Past tells the out-of-canon story of a mismatched Star Wars galaxy that has been mixed up thanks to a pair of young nerf herders, Sig and Dev Greebling. After taking apart and reassembling the galaxy in the show's first season, this new batch of episodes sees the pair contending with a new threat, Darth Solitus, a Sith Breaker who wants nothing more than to have the entire universe to himself.
Pieces of the Past features a stellar cast, including Gaten Matarazzo, Tony Revolori, Bobby Moynihan, and Ahmed Best. All four parts of the new animated series are streaming now on Disney+.
Will Star Wars Ever Come Back to Snoke?
Even if shows like LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy are actively making fun of the Snoke Sequel Trilogy storyline, that does not mean Star Wars will not revisit the character at some point, attempting to retroactively do him justice in some other form.
The franchise has done this repeatedly, with series like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels incorporating lesser-loved elements of the universe and filling in blanks after the fact.
Considering Snoke's reputation as one of the biggest misses in Episodes VII—IX of the Skywalker Saga, it would not be surprising if the character were to receive similar treatment later on.
In fact, at one point in The Mandalorian's three-season run, it looked as though that was being teased, with the adorable Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) potentially being attached to Palpatine's cloning plan and the eventual emergence of Snoke.
Given where that series has gone since then, and its jump to the big screen with the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu, it looks like that will no longer be the case, but that is no guarantee.
There is always the chance that the MandoVerse could lead to some significant Snoke-related revelation, especially with Clone Wars and Rebels creator Dave Filoni at the helm.
