Comics Star Wars: Age of Resistance

Spoiler

Star Wars explained did a interesting video on what Kylo's destruction of the cave could mean for the future

 

Spoiler: Spoiler

I honestly understand the complaints that this retreads a lot of what Kylo was feeling in TLJ, but I honestly love this because now we know how long he was feeling this way. He went a long time putting up with Snoke's garbage. Maybe at first he didn't think much of it, just that it was a part of his training. In TLJ though he was just done. Not to also mention why he hesitated when killing Han and just couldn't kill Leia at all. He couldn't kill force projections of them. Lots of interesting stuff in here imo.

 

What did we get?

Spoiler

- A strange emphasis on Snoke's ring, which came from catacombs beneath Vader's castle.
- Snoke's teaching methods (dropping Ren so he could use his anger to save himself), he think Luke would have saved Kylo but it would have stopped him from reaching his true potential. He also really doesn't like Kylo's mask, I wonder if he was the same to Hux and his other apprentices. It shows he's more impatient than Palpatine who would zap or Force choke his apprentices as punishment but never physically hit them. Palpatine is more subtle in his manipulations, I think. Kylo's philosophy to "kill the past" clearly came from Snoke's influence.
- Some weird fascination for Luke while he is more fearful of him in the movies.
- Kylo blows up the Dagobah cave which stood for thousands of years, fooling Snoke by letting him think that he succeeded the test (notice how from Snoke's perspective we see Kylo cutting limbs while in reality he just cut trees), thus foreshadowing his death in TLJ.
- Conformation that Snoke had other apprentices in the past. Doesn't seem to subscribe to the rule of 2. Still not a Sith apparently. How did Snoke know that Luke trained on Dagobah?
- Han and Leia love their son, Kylo didn't hesitate to kill vision Luke (understandable since he thought Luke wanted to kill him) but was more conflicted when confronted by his parents they really want to drive this home.
- Luke's fear was that he could become Darth Vader, Kylo's fear is knowing thta his family still loves him and wants him to come back home. I think it represents the "pull to the light" that was mentioned so much. Nevertheless, I still like the contrast to ESB.
- Yeah, there will be no other apprentice because you will kill him.
- It's interesting how both Hux and Kylo end up killing their tormentors.

Definitively more of a Kylo comic than Snoke, just goes to show what was Snoke's purpose in the story of the Skywalker saga.

 

Spoiler

I quite liked this comic, more of a Kylo then Snoke though. But i liked his trainning of Ben and how abuse him and ridicule him of his mask and his connection to Vader. I liked the visions of Lke and got chills, his momment with his mother Leia, was heartbreaking. I liked how he managed to fool Snoke and destroyed this acient temple in a cave. No more entering the cave.

 

Can we please stop calling the Dagobah treecave a cave? It clearly is and always was an overgrown buried Force Temple... not a natural cave. It annoys me how this is always ignored and not expanded on its past. Glad Snoke at least mentioned its age!

 

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cave_of_Evil

Also: "The cave. Remember your failure at the cave." - Yoda, ESB

 

Snoke also calls it a cave in the comic.

 

You can build a shrine in a cave.

 

I think that Snoke's mockery of Kylo Ren's mask is something that I just don't get. Who would have put Kylo Ren on the path to admiring Darth Vader if not for Snoke?

 

Maybe he didn’t want him to be so literal about it.

Either that or Kylo’s own stupidity did? Or his KoR pals.

 

“I wanted a murderous Jedi killer. I didn’t expect that I’d have to help you with your cosplay projects.”

 

Admiring Vader was probably encouraged by Snoke, but not the literal dressing up as him. Star Wars Explained also raised an interesting point that the mask also represents Kylo needing to hide his conflict and indecision about his path. Paradoxically, dressing up like Vader makes Kylo less like him; if he was "a new Vader" as Snoke hoped for, Kylo wouldn't actually wear the mask

 

This is your mask.

 

I've had the theory that Snoke has actually always been less powerful than Kylo Ren and there's a bit of the Captain Marvel gaslighting going on. Snoke belittles him and encourages him in equal measure until Kylo Ren realizes he could kill his master at any time.

 

He's certainly less powerful now.

 

He's HALF the humanoid he USED TO BE!

 

Spoiler

I hope that if Palp's is in 9 in a capacity to do Force stuff (Heck Force Ghost can do stuff so whatever) that Palpatine is just crazy uber-powerful causing Force Storms, Dark Empire....All that good stuff

 

The comic implies Kylo came up with the helmet stuff before he came into contact with Snoke. Snoke does not really encourage the use of the helmet, but tolerates it to some extent.

Snoke just plays upon Ben's fears and desires, his insecurities as well as his confidences. He's manipulating and molding him, or thinks he is.

Kylo destroys the cave to prove he's the apprentice that Snoke wants, while also preventing Snoke from training other apprentices. Snoke is obviously not bound by the Rule of Two cause he's not a Sith. The TFA book makes mention that Snoke trained at least one other apprentice before Kylo, so there should be someone else still out there, dead or alive we don't know and may never know for that matter.

Snoke also pleased by the destruction of the cave despite his comments which are obviously there to get inside Kylo's head, make him angry and hungry for power ect, since he's been training Kylo into becoming this powerful Dark Side warrior. So he thinks he wins either way no matter what Kylo did there. Little does Snoke know that Kylo is just using Snoke's knowledge and training in the Dark Side arts for his own advantage and eventual rule of the galaxy.

 

I don't think the comic implies the helmet predates Snoke; TLJ suggests the Vader worship came from Snoke originally ("When I first found you, I saw [...] a new Vader"), and that's what Snoke references when he tells Kylo to leave it behind ("You cannot pretend to be Vader in this place"). He wants Kylo to be a new Vader, and if the helmet helps get him there, great. By the time of TLJ, Snoke's lost patience with Kylo hiding behind it, because as this comic proves, he's been hiding his true intentions for years.

 

If it "helps him get there great"? Not at all in this comic or movie.



The helmet is a Kylo thing, as being as strong as Darth Vader or pretending to be, is also a Kylo thing. This was noted also by Hux in the previous comic.






Snoke abuses Kylo for the helmet wearing and cause Kylo is not as strong as Vader because thats who Kylo idolizes and worships. Snoke also has respectful things to say about Luke cause he knows that pisses Kylo off, but also cause its true . Snoke admitted to also being fearful of Luke cause he was a formidable Jedi and to him his only true threat to his reign. Luke was a more a more powerful being than Kylo. Snoke has the next best thing with Ben Solo, but he's no Luke but will have to do or he would be destroyed.

Kylo is still an expendable asset to him. Its also made clear when he dropped him, Kylo would have to either catch himself or die.

Major theme about the Snoke comic, is that its not really even about him. Its about Kylo. Snoke while clearly a sinister being is very dumb, he is thinks he is smart cause his an arrogant being with the limitless power of the Dark Side at his command. He's so naive as it displays a failure in knowledge of history or a complete disregard for it, either case its his doom laid out. In the end, just as TLJ proves - Kylo is the one to worry about as he's a much more cunning and resourceful young apprentice than Snoke allows credit for. All of Snoke's focus is still on eliminating the Jedi Luke Skywalker. Kylo wants to be a Sith Lord and using Snoke to get as close as possible to being one. Kylo has a working knowledge of history of the past, he's smart. Kylo cannot become a Sith cause he lacks a Sith teacher, thats also why he speaks to the helmet for guidance, he's looking to become something more than what even Snoke offers.

 

In retrospect, it makes sense that the Snoke comic was about Kylo. When we saw the Emperor in ESB, he was talking to Vader and how to proceed with Luke. We learned nothing about the Emperor himself. We got no backstory on him. He was just a hologram much like Snoke in TFA.

Then in ROTJ, again the Emperor wasn't seen on screen without Vader also on screen. Their fates were tied together and the Emperor's real purpose in the original trilogy was to be the devil and tempt Luke to come to the Dark Side.

So in the end, Snoke's real purpose was to push Kylo to become more powerful and I guess you can say that he succeeded in his job. The only way we eventually learned anything about Palpatine pre-emperor days, was in the sequel trilogy so maybe someday they'll be some content in a different medium where we may potentially learn about Snoke pre-supreme leader days, but at this time, it's not important as what's important is what makes Ben -> Kylo and what will be his path in the final chapter of the "Skywalker Saga".

 

I rather liked the comic, even if its focus wasn't all that much in Snoke.

There is obviously a story waiting to be told about how Snoke rose to prominence within a group of former Imperials, what where his origins, how he avoided Luke and the Republic, even if he must have been sensed as a darksider and seemed to have previous interactions with at least Luke himself... all of this sounds more like material for a novel with a comic adaptation, rather than portrayed directly in comic form.

I imagine there will be some reference to Snoke in Ep. IX, and only then we will be getting more background from him. Still, he remains an interesting character to me, despite his unexpected demise. Is this the one issue devoted to Snoke in this series, or the "Nº1" do imply otherwise?

 

All of these Age of issues have been #1s. It might leave the door open for a second run of issues with the same characters at some point, but at least for now they're all just one-shots.