watching the force awakens

snoke

EXT. STARKILLER BASE - DAY

A pair of TIE fighters roar towards a magnificent PLANET, frozen WHITE. This is the STARKILLER BASE, a natural planet that has been hacked and modified into something sinister.

All of the Jedi gape at the planet weapon in shock, as well as fear.

"What... what is that!?" Master Mundi says in barely concealed horror.

"it's... some kind of weapon! How is that even possible!?" Anakin says in shock. "Something like that should take decades, maybe centuries to build!"

Mace fumes. How could the Sith have become so powerful under their very nose?! It shouldn't have been possible! They've been in control for over a thousand years! The idea of the Jedi being gone in this holovid is absurd, blasphemy!

"Something that large... could destroy a planet!" Master Ti says fearfully. Yoda nods sadly.

"Blinded we have become..." he murmurs.

Over this we HEAR a DEEP, almost SOOTHING VOICE. A voice very much in control, of power:

SNOKE (V.O.) The droid will soon be delivered to the Resistance...

Everyone stiffens. That voice had to belong to the Sith Lord! Mace narrows his eyes, determined to discover who this Sith truly is.

INT. STARKILLER PLANET - ASSEMBLY ROOM - NIGHT

KYLO REN and General Hux in a dark space, looking UPWARD at someone addressing them. We're in a massive and dark ASSEMBLY ROOM. Hundreds of DESKS in a stadium arc, focused on a platform where we see SUPREME LEADER SNOKE. Not entirely human, at nearly twenty-five feet tall. All of him a STONY GREY. Old, wounded, fragile and powerful, all at the same time.

Everyone gapes at the size of him. His whole demeanor just screams power. He had to be at least 25 feet tall!

"Who... I've never seen someone so huge!" Obi-Wan exclaims.

Ahsoka shivers. She feels it, and they all seem to feel it as well.

Snoke's appearance on the screen has suddenly made the room feel a lot darker, and colder. Even in the Jedi Temple itself, the Darkness seems to overtake the light!

"It's as if the Dark Side itself has taken form..." Master Fisto says.

SNOKE: ... Leading them to the last Jedi. If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise.

GENERAL HUX: Supreme Leader, I take full responsibility for th-

SNOKE: General!

Snoke stands up, briefly blocking the light, which makes him appear massive and dangerous. General Hux looks up at him with shame seen in his eyes, though his expression remains stony.

A few of the Council members flinch, feeling very small compared to Snoke.

Anakin shivers at the feeling he gets from this figure. It doesn't feel as cold or powerful in the dark side as the Son from Mortis of course, but this Snoke might as well be. Never before had he felt such power radiating from anyone.

Yoda regards Snoke with a frown. If it truly was Skywalker's destiny to defeat the Sith, even he in all his wisdom had to wonder how he would face such an individual. Yoda's perceptiveness in the force is allowing him to know that Snoke is old and powerful, mostly like born long before even their current time right now.

SNOKE: Our strategy must now change.

GENERAL HUX: The weapon. It is ready. I believe the time has come to use it. We shall destroy the government that supports the Resistance, the Republic.

"No! They can't!" Mace exclaims angrily. Mace actually has a secret love for the Republic. It means civilization, a place to live, the very fabric alongside the Jedi that keeps everyone together. Without the Republic there is nothing!

Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are all in shock, as well as the rest of the Jedi. Is this how the Jedi were eliminated? By this planet killing weapon?

Yoda lowers his head in sadness. They had failed.

GENERAL HUX: Without their friends to protect them, the Resistance will be vulnerable, and we will stop them before they reach Skywalker.

Snoke considers. Almost seems to die for a moment. Then:

SNOKE: Go. Oversee preparations.

GENERAL HUX: Yes, Supreme Leader.

Everyone feels defeated. There's nothing they can do to stop this from happening. How can someone even destroy a weapon so large?

General Hux, proud, cocksure, exits. Kylo Ren watches him go. Snoke SITS. A new intimacy in his voice.

SNOKE: There's been an awakening. Have you felt it?

KYLO REN: Yes.

An awakening? Yoda listens closely, trying to understand what the Awakening is. Is it perhaps Skywalker's power growing to enable him to defeat Snoke and bring balance to the force? Or is it the girl Rey...

SNOKE: There's something more. The droid we seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon. In the hands of your father, Han Solo.

"The smuggler?!" Anakin says with surprise. "How did that happen?"

Mace however is furious. That no-good smuggler birthed a menace to the galaxy!

"Kylo Ren's emotional attachment to Solo no doubt caused him to turn to the Dark Side. Did Luke Skywalker's Jedi not understand this principle?!" Mace exclaims.

Yoda, Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan frown in concern. Anakin more in annoyance. He knew Mace never liked him from the start, yet he's just straight out badmouthing is namesake right in front of him!

Kylo Ren reacts with subtle, but real, surprise.

KYLO REN: He means nothing to me.

SNOKE: Even you, master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test.

"The Knights of Ren? I thought there to be only two Sith." Master Mundi says in confusion. Yoda closes his eyes in thought.

"Hmm. Perhaps not Sith, Leader Snoke and the Knights of Ren are, but instead follow the Dark Side, their own group, they are." he theorizes.

KYLO REN: (STEELY RESOLVE) By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced.

SNOKE: We shall see. We shall see.

A gentle, satisfied nod from Snoke, and Kylo Ren, obsessed, filled up, exits. Snoke watches him disappear, a grotesque evil SMILE growing - as he DISINTEGRATES - Snoke has been a HOLOGRAM all along.

"So he's a hologram..." Obi-Wan murmurs.

"Probably mean's he isn't some giant, which is one positive about him." Anakin says, trying to lighten the mood.

"A hologram he may be, but more powerful than this Council he is, I fear." Yoda says worriedly.

All of the Jedi in the room, no matter how much they try to remain in control of their emotions, are afraid, even Yoda. They are afraid of this planet killing weapons, and of the power which was felt from Supreme Leader Snoke...