The Rise of Skywalker is going to have to address the connection between Supreme Leader Snoke and Emperor Palpatine. Ever since the iconic cackle of Palpatine was revealed in the first trailer for the upcoming movie, Star Wars fans have been wondering how the two villains will be connected. A new theory believes Snoke was Palpatine's puppet the whole time. We've seen theories connecting them together, but not in this manner, and it actually makes a lot of sense.

At this point, it's safe to say that a large amount of The Rise of Skywalker theories connect Snoke and Palpatine together, going as far back as the latter's Operation Cinder. However, the theories before have Palpatine watching from a distance and not knowing the true power of Snoke, even after he supposedly put him in charge. Now, the latest theory finds Palpatine's original plan to be a bit more sinister, claiming Snoke was just a pawn the entire time to do his bidding. This would mean Snoke was nothing but a puppet, therefore making his backstory not all that important in the grand scheme of things.

This isn't to say Snoke wasn't powerful. Palpatine more than likely wanted him because of his power, especially over his ability to play with young Jedi minds. Since this theory has come up, the Age of the Rebellion Luke Skywalker comic shows Palpatine potentially putting thoughts and feelings in Luke's head via the Force, which would also make him a puppet in The Last Jedi. If anything, we're about to learn just how powerful Palpatine has been this whole time.

The Last Jedi novelization sheds a bit more light on Snoke as he mysteriously comes to power. Nobody saw him coming when he started to lead the First Order, not even Gallius Rax, Sloane, Ormes Apolin, or Brendol Hux. This certainly adds fuel to the theories of Snoke being put in power by Palpatine at some point. Now that Snoke is gone, it might be time for the Emperor to pull someone else's strings, which has been another Rise of Skywalker theory floating around. Kylo Ren may be the one to be the latest of the Emperor's puppet collection.

J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm are doing a pretty good job of keeping the plot of The Rise of Skywalker under wraps. But, the return of Emperor Palpatine has some pretty big implications and Star Wars fans are trying to figure out just how exactly Snoke was able to come to power and then get tossed aside in such an easy fashion. If he was just a puppet, this will certainly be a pretty easy out for Abrams and crew to make his backstory not as important as some fans have wanted it to be over the years. The latest Rise of Skywalker theory originated from Reddit.