Life Debt and Episode VIII

Nice post @The Futurition ! I guess all the ways lead to Jakku now.

Yeah, it gets me thinking that we might not have seen the last of Rax yet. Maybe the debate "Snoke is Plagueis" will shift now to "Snoke is Rax".

I have to re-read yet the book, to catch on minor details, but so far I'm undecided on thinking Rax might be Snoke, based on the personality traits from Rax I noticed so far. However, his close relationship with Palpatine as well as his involvement with Jakku gets me thinking there are more than what meets the eye.

 

i see no Snoke in Rax whatsoever. of course it's been 30 years and maybe he's changed (a lot), but just the basic temperament is completely different, Rax is too human, too regular-sized (Snoke is allegedly 7 feet tall), doesn't show any particular interest in Force business (at the moment), etc. the only thing they have in common is that they like being "behind the scenes" while others carry out their dirty work.

i'd wager if Rax has a hand in anything Snoke-ish, it's that he's resurrecting him on Jakku or building something that will summon him (likely to his own peril).

 

Another thing that can lead me to think Rax could somehow become Snoke is what Leia says about him perceiving Ben's Force abilities since he was about to be born. With Rax being actually "The Operator" and having undisclosed contact with the nascent New Republic, would it be possible he became aware of that this way? I don't know, but it got me thinking.

 

Could Jakku be a version of Wayland?

"The Emperor had a private storehouse. It was beneath a mountain on a world he called Wayland. It was where he kept all of his private mementos and souvenirs and odd bits of technology he thought might be useful someday."
―Mara Jade[src]

 

Remember this from TFA:
“No. It was Snoke.” Han drew back slightly. “Snoke?” She nodded. “He knew our child would be strong with the Force. That he was born with equal potential for good or evil.” “You knew this from the beginning? Why didn’t you tell me?” She sighed. “Many reasons. I was hoping that I was wrong, that it wasn’t true. I hoped I could sway him, turn him away from the dark side, without having to involve you.” A small smile appeared. “You had— you have— wonderful qualities, Han, but patience and understanding were never among them. I was afraid that your reactions would only drive him farther to the dark side. I thought I could shield him from Snoke’s influence and you from what was happening.” Her voice dropped. “It’s clear now that I was wrong. Whether your involvement would have made a difference, we’ll never know.” He had trouble believing what he was hearing. “So Snoke was watching our son.” “Always,” she told him. “From the shadows, in the beginning, even before I realized what was happening, he was manipulating everything, pulling our son toward the dark side.

It sounds like Snoke was close to the Solo family.

Rax sets up the Battle of Jakku to make it look like the Empire's last stand, then the Galactic Concordance is signed along with the Republic's Military Disarmament Act, then the empire reorganizes as the First Order in the Unknown Regions.

Rax then takes on a new identity as Snoke in the Republic just so he can get close to Leia's child.

 

Could it be that Rax is actually the hooded figure we saw in the Rogue One Trailer? Also, since Palpatine was apparently looking for the source of the Dark Side and Luke apparently found the first Jedi temple on Ahch-To, could it be possible that Jakku is the location of the first Sith Temple or even a Dark Side order that predates the Sith?

 

Could he have seen the rise and fall of the empire ? Is he a human ?

Could that Gallius Rax be tied to Rey and explain why she's on Jakku ?

 

If the Prologue and Epilogue of Life Debt were 30 years before the main action, and he was about 10 years old, by the time Rogue One happens - near ANH - he would be around 4 years younger than in Life Debt, so he would be about 35 years old. We don't get to see the black hooded guy face so his back looks like a grown up adult, so it is not that crazy theory that he could be that guy. Guess we will find out anyway in December.

 

Isn't Snoke supposed to be very very old ?

 

Obviously Rey Rax is a terrible name but I sense there is something with him, Rey and Jakku.

 

ANH to TESB: 3 years
TESB to ROTJ: 6 months to a year
ROTJ to Battle of Jakku: one year

ANH to Battle of Jakku: 5 years max

 

I don't think so. The Battle of Jakku took place about one year after the Battle of Endor. Rey was dropped off on Jakku approximately 15 years later than that (when she was 5 or so).

 

I think the main reason why we will find out that Snoke is not Rax has to do with the fact that it would appear that Snoke was a close enough ally of Han/Leia that he was able to spend time alone with young Ben. I think this will mirror "Chancellor" Sheev Palpatine and young Anakin. No way that the string puller, bearer of many imperial medals, favorite of Palpatine, Gallius Rax had that type of relationship with our protagonists.

I'm going for what's behind curtain number 2. Snoke was a "double agent" much like the FO sympathizers we met in Bloodlines. I have no doubt that the story group already has the outlines for several stories that will let us really get to know Snoke and how he infiltrated the inner circle and kept the Alliance off kilter. After of course, the big screen reveal.

As a further wacky prediction, after we know how Snoke fits in, we will be able to re-read new cannon to date and find tantalizing clues that were there all along, but that we have missed. Think about the horrendous selfish witch in Bloodlines who outed Leia as the daughter of Vader. If I actually took the time to re-read that, I bet I could find some tanatalizing and oblique reference to Snoke...maybe even as a member of a royal house???

Edit to add: Agreed that we are going to learn a whole lot more about Jakku. What the heck kind of machine/installation was Sheev working on: Some sort of font of Dark SIde Energy? As mentioned above, maybe a counter to Luke's First Jedi temple? Maybe Luke went looking BECAUSE of what he found out about Jakku and stuffed Rey there precisely because the best place to hide her would be right under Snoke's nose.

 

there is always the possibility that Snoke and Ben did not have physical contact (that it was through the Force, rather).
and that Han and Leia only realized this after Ben was in trouble.

we don't know when Leia discovered it, only that she kept it from Han. It could have been merely a "feeling" that later got a name and a shape.
and Ben could have been well away from Luke before Snoke ever revealed himself (or was revealed) to Ben's parents.

or he hung around the Organa house playing galactic pokemon with the kid. who knows.