What did we learn about Snoke in The Last Jedi?

Question

Did The Last Jedi (or any script, novelization once that becomes available, etc) shed any new light on Snoke?

I do mean that in a pretty general sense in that I'm not after a particular piece of information, but rather, what were his goals, where was he from, who actually was he, etc...

After the events at the end of the movie, it seems a little strange to me that

they would just kill off Snoke like that, basically just being a means for Ren to draw even further to the dark side and becoming the new Supreme Leader (which in itself is a fine reason, but still... I [wrongly] expected him to play a further role in the SW universe).

Answer 1

As JK mentioned, The Last Jedi tells us very little about Snoke. But things we do learn are that:

Snoke commands the First Order from his massive command ship. It is instantly recognizable to members of the Resistance.

If he rules from any particular planet, there is no hint as to what it is.

Furthermore, Snoke is

an extremely powerful Force user. He effortlessly suspends Rey in the air and drags her from place to place in his chamber. Most impressively, he drags General Hux across a floor from perhaps many parsecs away, during holographic communication.

He also

reads the thoughts and emotions of Rey and Kylo with ease and bridges their minds across a vast gulf of space.

We also learn that

Snoke first influenced Ben Solo to join the Dark Side during the latter's training under Luke's tutelage. This may also have occurred across a great distance.

In addition, we discover that

Snoke employs a squad of eight Praetorian guards (clad completely in red). Previously, Palpatine also had Praetorian guards in his service.

From dialogue between Snoke and Kylo Ren, we learn that

Snoke is quite preoccupied with nurturing the "next Vader" and is deeply disappointed by Ren's inability to rise to this challenge.

Finally, perhaps the most interesting thing we learn:

"As detailed in the [film's] Visual Dictionary, Snoke wears a ring with an obsidian setting from the catacombs beneath Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar. But the truly interesting tidbit is that the gold ring is etched with glyphs of the Dwartii, presumably a reference to the Four Sages who served as controversial lawgivers and philosophers from the dawn of the Galactic Republic."

(Source)

This last point may suggest something about Snoke's origins or motivations — although nothing is for certain.

Answer 2

The Last Jedi tells us very little about Snoke. Some things we can say for sure:

He's half the man he used to be.

And

He's old, very old. Going by this, it's likely that he was alive during Palpatine's reign. This doesn't give any hint as to wether the two of them ever met.

And

He is a very powerful and skilled dark side user, and he knows and uses the same techniques that Palpatine used. He appears to be at least as powerful as Palpatine was. He's had some serious training, but its not revealed from where.

And

If he was an apprentice of either Palapatine, or Vader, or Dooku, then they kept it as a pretty closely held secret.

Answer 3

I think that TLJ shines some light on the questions about whether Snoke is a Sith or not.

If you follow Luke's line of reasoning (the Jedi claim a monopoly on the Force, when it's actually everywhere), then there's no reason Snoke should have any interest in the archaic 'religions' of Jedi/Sith and all the mumbo-jumbo. (This 'Force for all' theme is reinforced by the closing broom-grab scene).

Another theme which runs through TLJ is the 'bad capitalist/opportunist' trope. What with Rose's 'sermon' about the casino people and DJ's speech about both sides being in it for money, there's no reason Snoke isn't just in it for power, and the Force is just a means to an end.

Answer 4

editing a bit to try and address some of the dislike of this post

There are some subtle hints that Snoke and Palpatine are somehow the same. It should be noted that in the Legends continuity Palpatine has several new bodies post battle of Endor until he is eventually destroyed.

The Last Jedi, as The Force Awakens does before it, shows a lot of similarities between the two people which could imply they are the same being in some way. There is nothing definite but if you look for these things as signs you could see the makers are trying to signpost that they are the same.

The iconography of the throne room, with the Praetorian guards. The guards themselves Palpatine inherited from the old republic. The throne itself is very similar. You could interpret this as Snoke trying to emulate Palpatine, but it does not seem the sort to want to emulate anyone. Why would someone different use the same setup?

and

The idea of getting two potential apprentices to fight each other is a very Sith thing to do. the whole scene is a lot like the end of Return of the Jedi.

also as @RedCaio points out

Palpatine's theme music plays when Snoke is confronting Rey

But mostly

Snoke claims to want a "New Vader". He seems almost obsessed with creating a new and better Vader. Palpatine spent a long time corrupting and turning Anikin (some even say creating). Snoke seems unusually fixated on this failed apprentice of another master.

Now JJ Abrams (executive producer) is well known for misdirection, both with statements made in public and with things in his works, so this could all be a misdirection to make us think that Snoke = Palpatine. Alternatively the whole 'their not sith' thing could be a misdirection.

But it could make you think

That Snoke is not as dead as we are lead to believe. If he has skipped bodies once before there is nothing to stop him doing so again.