Is J.J. Abrams exploring the connection between Supreme Leader Snoke and Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars 9? Snoke is one of the more mysterious characters from the new trilogy and fans were shocked to see him die in Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, which was the first time the villain was shown in the flesh, instead of the giant imposing hologram featured in The Force Awakens. Recent rumors suggest that Abrams isn't entirely finished with Snoke and that he will be revealing a deep rooted connection to the prequel trilogy.

Sheev Palpatine, aka, Sidious, kept bronzium statues of the Four Sages of Dwartii (which originally belonged to Darth Plagueis, though it's not clear if that fact is still official canon) in his office during his time as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, which can be seen in Revenge of the Sith. Upon becoming Galactic Emperor in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, Palpatine moved to new quarters, taking the Sistros statue with him, becoming Emperor Palpatine. It's believed that he took the Dwartii statues with him because he was proud of his "political accomplishments." A Star Wars 9 set rumor claims that there's a new throne room for Snoke, where he is surrounded by his Attendants and Palpatine's Dwartii statues.

In The Last Jedi, Snoke's ring is made from obsidian that was found underneath Darth Vader's castle, according to the Visual Dictionary from the movie, which has led one to believe that Snoke was possibly there before Vader. There are also symbols on Snoke's ring representing The Four Sages of Dwartii. The sages featured on Snoke's ring are Braata, Faya, Sistros, and Yanjon. The Dwartii were a group of controversial philosophers and lawgivers from the early days of the Galactic Republic, and influenced its earliest laws. It's possible that the Dwartii could be further explored in Star Wars 9, leading to flashbacks.

So, how does Snoke obtain the ring and the statues? That's what J.J. Abrams could explore in Star Wars 9. The Dwartii statues and Snoke's ring are all official parts of the Star Wars canon, which could be explored again through flashback, which would tie the new trilogy back to the prequels. However, that is not clear at this time. Abrams and Lucasfilm are keeping their lips sealed when it comes to any specifics about the highly anticipated final chapter of the new trilogy. And spending a bunch of time dwelling on some scenery statues and a ring no one really cares about sounds like a lame way to go about this when there is so much other meaty stuff to focus on in the foreground (and no, we're not talking about the meaty fingers in the foreground of the youtube video you might be watching someone read this from, those pie fumblers are about as interesting as a couple of statues and a ring on the finger of a dead dude who looks like a dried up frog). Star Wars 9 will end the Skywalker saga, so does it really have time to devote to a bunch of statues you probably never noticed until we just pointed them out?

In addition to the Snoke and Palpatine connection, Star Wars 9 may also go into giving us more information about Snoke's Attendants, who seem to have magically disappeared. We know that they were helpful bringing the First Order to power, navigating what was left of the Empire through the Unknown Regions with their alien navigation skills. With that being said, there's a lot to explore between the fall of the Empire and the start of the First Order, which contains connections between Snoke and Palpatine. For now, we'll just have to wait and see where J.J. Abrams decided to take the story. But all of that sounds like background noise better suited for a book or a TV show. This latest rumor was brought back from the future by Mike Zeroh's YouTube channel, the keeper of all future Star Wars content.