All the main theories about Snoke try to make him the return of an iconic villain like Palaptine or Darth Plagueis.

If he really is the ancient evil that Palpatine sensed out in Unknown Space, the final ultimate villain of the three Star Wars trilogies, he needs to be something more, something that transcends all that has come before.

With the franchise working so hard to introduce the Journal of the Whills, as well the Whills Temple and Guardians in Rogue One, surely Snoke is the perfect candidate to be a Whill?

Just look at these images from Star Wars Clone Wars - he even looks like one.

WARNING SPOILERS

Snoke is incredibly tall and elongated – clearly not human. He favours gold as his main colour and has a bald head with cavernous eyes. Spot any similarities with these images from the animated series?

The latest trailers also show strange contraptions in his throne room which tie in with the reports that he is sustaining his life through draining the Force from others. He is not like any living being that has been encountered in the entire Star Wars universe.

Star Wars Youtube channel The Den of nerds explains how it all makes sense that Snoke is a kind of fallen higher being.

The channel says: “Snoke is an immortal being that is ancient and probably from the Old Republic times. Making him a Whill or shamen of the Whills is a canonical way to link him to that period."

The Force Awakens novel opened with a page bearing a quote from the Journal of the Whills. This still doesn’t make it clear if the Whills are actual beings or a form of belief or religion, but firmly introduces the Whills into the main movie franchise canon.

We know that Luke has been researching and studying the Force. The trailer is believed to show Luke with the actual Journal of the Whills in the Jed temple.

It is almost certain that what Luke has learned in the Journal clashes with many of the traditional and rather rigid Jedi teachings.

Not only does all of this explain Snoke’s immense age, mysterious origins and apparent need to drain power from others, it also implies that he had dealings with previous Jedi masters, tainting the entire Jedi Order without them realising at the time.

The theory adds: “I believe the Whills exist in between the Cosmic Force beyond the veil and our reality in the Living Force. Snoke fell from grace into our galaxy to become part of the Living Force but he feeds off the Cosmic Force.”

This all makes terrifying sense and opens up worrying possibilities for where Luke’s studies are leading him.

The Den of Neds also points out the major problem Disney has with Snoke. It needs to establish him as a major, possibly apocalyptic evil to end all evils. This runs the risk of undermining and devaluing the existing long history of villains and Sith masters throughout the movies and novels.

The Den of Nerds argues that making him pre-date virtually the entire Star Wars timeline also fits the Disney pattern of laying its Star wars mythology over existing Earth religions and faiths.

It says: “He can be presented as a kind of god or angel that has fallen from grace, rather like Lucifer, who was trapped by the ancient Jedi. This makes his power understandable by all audiences. It also keeps the villains of the past from being tarnished.

“Snoke even looks like one of the Force Priestesses (from the Clone Wars series), which I’m pretty sure are the Whills.

“My belief is that he is a fallen Whill or even a shamen of the Whills, perhaps even the one who taught Qui Gon how to achieve immortality.” 

Way back in George Lucas’ original plans, he saw the Whills as Force beings who were observing everything happening in the galaxy and recording it in their Journal of the Whills. This was back in the day when Luke was still Starkiller, but the concept has lingered.

Movie fans were first introduced to the theme in Rogue One with the kyber crystal temple on Jeddha and its martial Guardians of the Whills like Chirrut Imwe. Although they were not featured in a direct role, there were also Disciples of the Whills on Jeddha, who studied the ancient faith.

In the Clone Wars animated series Qui Gon Jinn and Yoda discuss the former’s training with the Force Priestesses, who are believed to be the Whills, or connected to the Whills in some way.

Later, Yoda tells Obi-Wan he has communicated with the dead Qui Gon who has found the path to immortality through teachings he learned from a shame or some sort of Whills. Yoda is also shown in the final episodes meeting with the mysterious beings himself.