The Emperor didn't need much of an explanation because being the Emperor in such a universe is explanation enough. The powerful and evil Empire has a powerful and evil leader. It's a common trope. Kill the leader, and the evil Emperor/Queen/Witch/etc. and the good guys win, the darkness is lifted off the land (or galaxy), birds sing again, rainbows can be seen, children play and so on.
Then they added his backstory afterwards, how he was powerful enough to defeat all the Jedi, turn Anakin, followed the 'Rule of Two' where Vader would be his apprentice, and assumed he is unmatched in the galaxy up until his demise, all of a sudden a powerful dark Force user who leads an Empire-esque group is more than just a succession plan, but something that could probably use a few lines of exposition to clear up.
It's as much a TFA fault as it is in this one, but something that was left for this movie to deal with regardless, and decided to just discard it instead. Had this been the universe that was created 'Supreme Leader Snoke' would have benefited from the same assumptions as the Emperor got, and Kylo killing him to become more powerful would play just fine. Trouble is that this is an already established universe on an established timeline where you can't just ignore the rest.
Snoke doesn't need to be tied to the original storylines, doesn't need to be Mace Windu or whatever other theories are out there, but it would have helped to be something just to satisfy the questions. The perfect time to do it in this movie would have been on Finn/Rose's side trip with all the weapons dealers talk: 'Snoke was an influential person under the old Empire. His factories produced the weapons, his industrial network supplied the ore. I don't think anybody knew how powerful he was with the Force, not even the Emperor. So when the Empire fell, he still controlled what gave the Empire it's might, and created the First Order. Not everybody was happy when the Empire fell, Snoke offered a way to maintain the status quo for these people, keep the arms trade going, etc.'
Everything's answered, it's not perfect but good enough to accept that Snoke was able to get all this power as quickly as he did, but still be very dispensable. Plus it would give more meaning to the Finn/Rose sidetrack and open up the realization that it isn't just a simple 'cut off the head and the whole beast falls' kind of game which is what we were used to with the OT.
Mind you, this wasn't a make or break moment in the movie or this trilogy anyway. It's just sloppy, IMO, and a missed opportunity.
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