Originally posted by UnbowedThis guy gets it.
Excepting that even without training that potential manifests itself in moments of extreme physical or emotional duress. An adolescent Kylo almost killed Luke when fearing for his life, Rey managed to hold her own against Kylo and put Luke on his ass when angered, in the EU an infant Galen Marek snatched Vader's saber from him.The point I'm making is, why didn't a much more powerful Kylo manage to do the same to Snoke in a fit of anger? Here is Snoke twisting a knife into Kylo's psyche, exposing and mocking Kylo's inner most fears and insecurities until Kylo loses control and lashes out. Yet all he manages to do is to be knocked on his ass in a split second.
Same with Rey. Even a hint of her unleashing her powers is enough to scare Luke, yet when Snoke is torturing her and all her friends are getting decimated she is completely helpless. Luke can barely handle her but against Snoke she is a babe in the woods.
The very fact that the director chose to kill him by subterfuge and have the film's set piece battle to be against the guards shows he was meant to be way, way above them, even as a team.
The quotes about the GFFA's knowledge of the Force coming from the unknown regions, Snoke being from there, and Snoke knowing secrets Sidious sought just seals the deal.
It points to the fact that the modern Jedi and Sith traditions are flawed, their understanding of the Force is incomplete, and their teachings were diluted with the passing of thousands of years. Basically, Snoke was there at the very source, while Luke, Yoda, Sidious and the rest are working with whatever knowledge filtered down throughout the millenia.
The Jedi and Sith are like the guys in the Early Middle Ages pouring over the scraps of knowledge that survived the fall of the Roman Empire, meanwhile Snoke is like someone who traveled forward through time straight from the Senate.