How powerful is Snoke ?

I voted 'no idea" because we have nothing from the movie to base the power level on. I'm hoping we learn more about him and the knights of ren in ep8.

 

He's "Snoke Level Powerful ."

 

What might be interesting to see is Snoke's power with the Force versus his knowledge of the Force. We've already seen one character, Maz, who doesn't appear to be very powerful... but has incredible knowledge. Snoke might just be that... the wise old dark side sage who needs other people to do his bidding.

Its tough to imagine that Snoke is very powerful when he has constantly been described as vulnerable, frail, damaged, etc.

 

Also described as very powerful. Plus I think he's ancient. Luke went to find the first Jedi temple, right? To pout? Doubtful. He could've gone to any remote planet, one that had was strong in the darkside to hide his presence, like Yoda on Dagobah.

Which is why I don't think he is hiding. He knows what/who caused Ben to fall and I think he is looking for infirmation on Snoke, how to find him and defeat him. And if this is at the millennia old First Jedi Temple then Snoke must be ancient.

 

Exactly my thought after my first viewing of TFA, would be fun to realise Snoke is a little guy with no Force powers at all.

 

Snoke is the anti-luke


Kylo ren and Rey follow similar but different paths at the end of ep 7, one towards the light and the other towards the dark.
Both teachers are not ALL light or ALL dark.
Snoke shows awareness of the light side in kylo and even cherishes that he came from the lineage he did.
Luke shows an awareness that just because someone falls to the dark side it does not mean they are lost.

So, as I was thinking about the symmetry I started to wonder if this was actually symmetry in the force itself.
Luke had survived the catastrophes of the purge and the loss of the sith, but that process changed him into something different than just another jedi.
Snoke survived the catastrophes of the loss of the sith lineage and is changed into a different iteration of the sith.

As I noticed the parallels I also noticed that if balance WAS the objective of introducing Snoke, then it is very likely that his significance to the sith may also be like luke.

So what does a sith-luke or an anti-luke look like?
For one he knows you can't just eradicate the light.
Secondly he knows the history of the sith in a reflective way, recognising it can't be the same again.
Thirdly he has powers that can draw from all sides.

I believe snoke is somehow the anti-luke, in that he did what true evil must do (kill itself) while Luke did what the light must do (not kill)
I thusly see the story mmoving towards kylo's death to become a true sith, and that snoke is TRYING to get the Jedi to KILL him to reignite the darkness.
So it is my belief that Snokes powers are limited to strategy just like Luke's until both sides return to balance.


Neither side is powerful in a stalemate.
Kylo and Rey are the only ones with power that can be USED right now.
Its a horse race to STOP the dark sides true return, but the dark will struggle in the end because it must seek the shadows for power.


Snoke is NOT as powerful as the emperor just as luke is not as powerful as vader, because neither can plunge into its use. Rey is the new anakin, kylo the new vader... and the point of that is made by their light sabers, and they must fight out the war within vaders head, was he good or was he bad.

Snoke if unleashed however I imagine will be extremely malevolent and dark, and luke will... haha be a wizard of light

Imagine red lightning and a blue force, lighting up respective sides of the screen.
Thats how powerful snoke is.
Or he is the reverse yoda and will retreat after the final battle against luke, just like yoda versus palpatine, so has no SUSTAINABLE power versus greater ambition but has all knowledge.

 

Had trouble finding the source of this, but I think in the novelization of TFA, Snoke admires Kylo because he has the ability to leverage the light side.

That all said, I want him to be more powerful than Palpatine, but his actions suggest he's very worried about Luke. He is obsessed with keeping Luke Skywalker out of the picture, to the point of doing extreme things (destroy a planet, give up on finding him to prevent others from doing so). It may be that he's damaged to the point of frailty and knows he couldn't take Luke on. What gives me pause to say he's weaker is the fact he knows he can train Kylo more, and Kylo had some very strong capabilities (stopping a laser bolt, reading minds ... ) that were beyond what we've seen the greatest Jedi demonstrate.

 

You are right, kylo probably learnt the mind rip and the bolt stopper force powers from Snoke, which alludes to great knowledge, but his actions are partly desperate which indicates not wanting to be head to head versus Luke.

 

As strong as a small pony

 

I'd prefer that he was some ancient and immensely powerful DS-user, but one that has a different philosophy from the Sith. Him being a fraud wouldn't really fit in with what we've seen/been told imo. MAYBE they could make it work, but I'd prefer not.

As for why we haven't seen him before, well perhaps he was severely weakened/nearly killed before (his body does seem to bear obvious injuries/scars, as does his face) and he's been laying low and rebuilding his strength for a long time. And now, h's capitalized on the power vacuum left by Sheev and Vader's deaths in order to make his move.

 

I believe that he is the Most powerful Darkside user ever seen in canon : mainly because I totally believe in the Darth Plagueis theory, but even if the Darth Plagueis theory turns out to be false if he was alive and kicking during the Clone Wars (maybe pulling strings from far far away and without anyone suspecting anything) I suspect that now he can be really the Most powerful Darkside user ever seen in canon... in the new canon at last.

 

3 possibilities for me:

1) He's not all that powerful but has immense knowledge of the Dark Side and uses this to influence others to do his bidding.
2) He is very powerful but his strength is required to keep him alive so he is in fact very vulnerable. More Dark Side + imbalance = more powerful he becomes.
3) He makes Sidious look like a b****! He has the power to cheat death, create life and keep debunked fan theories alive, apparently...

 

In my opinion that's the shady part of TFA, for what we've seen so far, if Darth Vader fights Kylo Ren, must likely Kylo Ren would Win and therefore Rey would uber win over Dath Vader, and in my consideration that's just bad writing. For NOW, Vader should be more powerfull than Kylo.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 19, 2016, Original Post Date: Jan 19, 2016 ---

I think would make a good angle if Snoke powers are just mind controlling, i mean he is super powerfull but he can't fight he is "only" able of controlling others minds and wills.

 

I was thinking precisely on the blaster scene, Kylo could stop the blaster fire and Vader can't. If we consider the facts from OT and TFA we must say that

- Vader is the chosen one, the Jedi killer, the ultimate badass
- Vader is fully trained as a Sith

Either way is set that Vader is incredibely strong in the Force BUT a young apprentice is already more powerfull than him? Wouldn't that diminishes Darth Vader powers and capabilities, why would Kylo Ren worship Vader if he's already stronger than Vader was?

 

I also think Kylo's arrogance damaged him in the fight. He didn't think for a second Rey would be on par with him or could hurt him.
You see this arrogance vs Finn. He thinks he can toy with him but ends up getting a smack on the arm.
It just shows us that Kylo has a lot of power but with it he is still very immature and undisciplined.