somebody told me a synopsis of the aftermath books. apparently, Palpatine was hearing a voice in his head. other Sith heard it too.
the voice was telling him to go to an unexplored region of the galaxy beyond the outer rim. but he was too busy building death stars and getting himself killed.
so: when he died, the imperial fleet was instructed to go beyond the outer rim, and find the source of the voice in his head. without him.
it's clear to me now who snoke is. and what he wants.
snoke is the first 'dark side' force user, who has somehow managed to make himself Immortal.* Rey is the first "light side" force user, who is reincarnated-by-the-Force, over and over, in an effort to stop him.
in a previous life, she created the jedi order.. and many thousands of years ago, her Jedi Order managed to defeat this being. but he is immortal, so they couldn't kill him. instead, they imprisoned him. and he has called out to Evil Force Users over the centuries, to come find him and rescue him.
what does he want? a new body. his old body is broken. obviously. (this is the ONLY thing we know about snoke; therefore it is a plot point) --- he has called out to Evil Force Users over the years, and he has tried to lure one of them to come to his location, to release him from his prison and BE his new host body.
Palpatine heard the call. but Palpatine only sent his fleet; he didn't come in person --> so NOW: snoke has been released from his prison by the Imperial Fleet, but snoke STILL needs a new body, of a PURELY evil force-user, to be his new host.
so.. what does he want?
he wants Ben Solo, aka: Kylo Ren, to be his new host body --> Ben Solo is snoke's "dark-side" Chosen One, (as per: "snoke is using you") -- Ben has been "chosen" (by snoke), to embody the "spirit" of the original dark side force user -- as it transfers its consciousness, from one host to another. but Ben is not evil enough (as per:"there's still light in him"). so snoke can't use him for this purpose. yet.
* this is how the Original Dark Sider has kept himself alive all these centuries: he transfers himself into new bodies; meanwhile the Original Light Sider gets "reincarnated" over and over, to oppose him, and maintain Balance.
((he has been alive 'continuously', and she has been alive 'repeatedly', for thousands of years)).
^^ Luke knows all this. when snoke first came on the scene and corrupted Ben Solo, Luke recognized this was an Ancient Evil -- and he has no idea how to defeat it. he went in search of the Original Jedi Temple, so he could find out exactly how the Original JEdi Order managed to imprison this thing, a thousand years ago. and what he learned: it requires a "light-side" Chosen One: the being "chosen" by the Force, to be the reincarnation of the original Light Side User. this is the ONLY way to imprison snoke, all over again.
so he sat there. and he waited. for Rey. he waited for the original Light Side User (aka: light side Chosen One) to reveal herself in the flesh, "re-incarnated" -- and when it is finally revealed to him, that the child he left on jakku IS the reincarnation of the original light side force user .. he is gob-smacked.
Now Ben has 'passed the test' and killed his father Han, this means Ben is finally Evil Enough, that Snoke can finally train him to become snoke's replacement host. snoke is vulnerable at this moment, because he is trapped in a broken body.. but.. if he transfers his consciousness into Kylo, then there will be no stopping him
--> Rey convinces Luke, that the time to act is NOW.
- one of them will advocate killing Kylo, to prevent him from becoming a Host Body to the Ultimate Evil (probably Rey);
- the other will advocate turning Kylo back to the light side, as per: ROTJ Vader Redemption Motif (probably Luke).
in the end: the spirit-of-Snoke WILL enter Kylo's body -- then Rey & "Snoke-in-Kylo's-body" will fight a passionate lightsaber duel, as she fights for Ben's Very Soul -- and it will 'seem like' all hope is lost, now that Snoke has succeeded in his Ultimate Goal -- now that snoke has found a new host, and taken FULL control of Kylo's body...
...but Kylo is not FULLY evil -- "there is still light in him"[Carrie Fisher] --> Rey WILL turn Kylo back to the light side.. but only AFTER snoke has ALREADY used Kylo as his New Host.. only AFTER snoke's own broken body is dead.
(ie: once Snoke has "won", and accomplished his Goal of using Kylo Ren as his New Host -- once it seems like "all hope is lost" -- then Kylo will 'mentally' defeat the 'spirit of snoke', from within: that small bit of 'light' inside of him, will take control -- thus destroying the 'spirit of snoke', FOR GOOD).
this will break the cycle of 'dark vs light' , and Rey's Spirit will no longer be reincarnated EITHER, over and over again, to oppose an immortal snoke.
(ie: once the spirit of the "Original Dark Side User" is finally dead , then the spirit of the "Original Light Side User" will no longer be reincarnated over & over, by the force: this will break the cycle of Dark vs Light, and unify The Force into a SINGLE entity (no more "dark side" vs. "light side" anymore -- only just "the force" from now on); the "human" bodies of Rey and Ben will be 'Free' to live their lives (to fall in love?); and everyone lives happily ever after).
I called it