Snoke Is Not Dead in the Last Jedi

*Spoilers for the latest Star Wars movie. If you haven't seen it stay away

So you just came back from the Last Jedi. You saw it, liked it but can't figure out how Supreme Leader Snoke, the ultimate badass villain since Palpatine, became shish kebobed by his traitorous apprentice in the ultimate betrayal by a dark sider since Palpatine killed Plagueis. Kylo assumes the mantle of the supreme leader, and henceforth we see no more of Snoke....

Unless....

Hear me out. This is a fan theory. But it is backed by some cannon and legendary evidence.

Snoke is really powerful.

We see in this movie the awesome power of the force in ways we haven't seen since the legends universe. Astral projection. Mind hallucinations across distant planets and star systems. A force bomb unlike anything. But here's the deal.....Snoke is amazingly powerful in the movie. He moves Rey around like a rag doll. He is able to plant false images. He can manipulate the force to create lightening bombs. Kylo tries to defeat him but he is woefully unprepared for the power he has, as is Rey when she tries to take the lightsaber from him. We know now that Snoke has been manipulating Kylo since the very beginning, when Luke first saw him confront Kylo and go through his thoughts. This ultimate betrayal could have been a test for Kylo, seeing if he truly could betray his master. After all, if Kylo is a Sith, or even a true dark sider, he must betray his master. It is the way of the Sith.

Here Is Why Kylo Is Not the Supreme Leader Now

Kylo is not a good dark sider or even a Sith. Time and time again he has failed to defeat his demons. He could not shoot his mother down in this episode and he barely survived the conflict at the Starkiller base. He lets his emotions get the better of him at the end and the entire Resistance escapes due to a farce by Master Skywalker. Even if he does assume command, there is another problem...

Rey is far too powerful

Rey was overpowering in the Force Awakens. Something obvious to be sure. But that was ok because Kylo was hurt and had great emotional conflict. In this entire movie Kylo, despite his best efforts, and despite the fact he defeated the Supreme Leader, is an equal. Rey is able to hold him off and escape the ship. They are evenly matched. The thing about Star Wars is that the ultimate evil is never, ever so easily defeated. Palpatine wasn't defeated by Luke, he was caught in a moment of weakness by Vader in the ultimate act of self-sacrifice. Kylo is already Rey's equal, he cannot defeat her since he has no more master to teach him. He will not improve. Rey must face a true nemesis at the end of the trilogy. Plus, you have to see the blueprint the movies are following. Part one was like A New Hope. Part two was like Empire Strikes Back. Part three must therefore logically be like Return Of the Jedi. Luke is the equal to Vader in part three. Yet, he had to use the dark side. Rey has brushed with the dark side in this movie against Luke, but not really. Now, she must truly overcome it. Snoke will seduce her with the dark side. Not to mention he was so willing to kill her in this one, more so than I think he was in the first one where he wants her brought to him alive and whole.

How did Snoke survive?

Snoke has some very bad scars on him. He was able to build an empire in the outer rim by the sheer power of his force presence. He was able to create giant monstrous combinations of machine and biology such as the Starkiller base. Could this Snoke be some sort of clone? Could Snoke be using an advanced form of astral projection? But here's the big thing. In the Legends continuity, Sidious survives his fall in the shaft in Dark Empire by using essence transfer, an ancient Sith ability to transfer into new clone bodies. If Snoke could survive whatever scarred him in the first place, it is not out of place to think he could have used the same ability to survive again. Using the advantage to draw Luke out and ultimately kill him via Kylo's bid to destroy the alliance, he can now take over the galaxy uninhibited or deterred. Also, the power to cheat death is a power Plagueis achieved, so if the many fan theories of his real origin are true, is it really far fetched to believe he could in fact be alive again...

It will be two years till we find out for sure....But till then may the force be with you....always