Star Wars: The Last Jedi *SPOILERS* (Off-Topic)

by EffortlessFury , Friday, December 15, 2017, 10:03 (2540 days ago) @ breitzen

The thing is, Snoke’s backstory is ultimately unimportant. It’s irrelevant to the story being told here, to the actions and decisions of the main characters. It’d be cool to know, sure, but ultimately it would just add clutter and distraction. Comparisons to the lack of backstory around Palpatine are appropriate. The details of Palpatine’s rise to power had no impact or significance on the dilemma facing Luke at the end of RotJ. Snoke’s backstory is equally irrelevant to Rey and Kylo’s relationship in TLJ.

Ultimately I agree (see my prior post about me loving how this sets up a much more interesting villain in Kylo). I'm just saying we never got a reason to fear Snoke. Everyone seems to be scared of him, but even Hux is more intimidating in my mind.

I think you might be ignoring his Force prowess. We didn't get to see much of it but he was clearly very powerful. He just (somehow) managed to get blindsided (bamboozled!) by Kylo. That's the more questionable aspect, in my opinion.