If things keeping progressing the way they are, Jar Jar Binks will be blamed for the Kennedy assassination, the death of Princess Diana, and Hurricane Katrina by the end of the year.

While fans have long considered Jar Jar one of the greatest evils in the Star Wars universe, a recent Reddit post in the Star Wars community compiled evidence to prove that there might be an in-story reason for that: He was a Sith lord all along and was working with Emperor Palpatine—aka Darth Sidious—since being introduced in The Phantom Menace.

That post has since caught fire on Reddit—there’s a Darth Jar Jar subreddit and a megathread—and in mainstream culture, replacing the Shining speculation of Room 237 when it comes to “out-there” movie conspiracy theories. Star Wars fans, however, have embraced the Darth Jar Jar (or the more melodic Darth Darth Binks, if you prefer) premise with an “I want to believe” passion that would make Fox Mulder proud. Even popular Reddit user and illustrator (and Upvoted contributor) Shitty_Watercolour was compelled to visually respond to the theory, causing one user to point out:

But how plausible is the Darth Jar Jar fan theory? Not all Star Wars lovers are convinced. That’s why Upvoted has decided to highlight the arguments for and against Jar Jar Binks being more vile and malevolent than anyone had ever possibly imagined.

The Case For …

The Post That Launched a Thousand Theories: Reddit user Lumpawarroo posted the ür-thread when it comes to speculation about Jar Jar’s Sith leanings. Within the context of the films, Lumpawarroo cited examples of Jar Jar’s fierce Force-aided physical feats …

…his subtle use of the Jedi mind trick to influence other characters …

…and his tight-as-bros relationship with Palpatine that helped the fellow Nabooian move up the political food chain from supreme chancellor to emperor. The user also peeled back the moviemaking process, speculating that George Lucas had always intended for Jar Jar to be a Sith lord, but he balked when the character was so reviled by audiences.

Ultimately, Lumpawarroo compiles all this evidence to reach his final conclusion: Jar Jar Binks is not only a Sith lord, but he’s also Supreme Leader Snoke, the commander of the remains of the Galactic Empire—called the First Order—in The Force Awakens. Snoke is a motion-captured, computer-generated character in the new movie, played by Andy Serkis.

Suspicious Looking: Zephyr4813 and other Reddit users added fuel to the Snoke speculation by citing a leaked description of the concept art for the Force Awakens character that could conceivably be an aged Binks:

“The concept art reportedly shows Snoke to be a reptilian alien and his head is said to be shaped like that of a cobra. The character is said to have pitch black eyes and a closed ‘bulbous’ mouth. He is said to have an ‘angry sneer about him’.”

Is It in His Eyes? Check out Jar Jar’s peepers and compare them to the eyes of a Sith-turned Anakin Skywalker.

According to user guiguilebref, both characters share the same jaundice eye-coloring, betraying the evil in their hearts.

Shout Out From the OB (Original Binks): After the Darth Darth Binks theory reached critical mass, Ahmed Best, the actor who played the character in the prequels, made this ambiguous statement on Twitter:

I will say this, it feels really good when the hidden meaning behind the work is seen. No matter how long it takes. #TPM — Ahmed BEst (@ahmedbest) November 2, 2015

Some have taken this as confirmation that Jar Jar is, indeed, a dark lord of the Sith.

The Robot Chicken Connection: This 2010 comedy sketch, which user TheRealHeathBar mentioned in Lumpawarroo’s thread, isn’t corroborating evidence so much as it’s an example of how far back the germ of this theory goes.

The Case Against …

He’s Out of Control: For years, Jar Jar’s ascension to a Galactic Senate seat and his new-found eloquence during a speech granting Supreme Chancellor emergency powers in Attack of the Clones was all thanks to Palpatine using the Force to manipulate Binks’ feeble mind.

That’s sound reasoning, according to user valouris:

“Doesn’t it sound more plausible that Jar Jar is not doing everything conciously of his own accord, but that he is under complete control of Palpatine, who truly is the Sith Lord?”

He’s Not That (Jedi Mind) Tricky: One of the bits of evidence used by those in the Darth Jar Jar camp is that the Gungan’s constant hand fidgeting and gesturing is clearly meant to be him intentionally using the Jedi mind trick on people. Koala_Guru, as well as other users, doesn’t buy that interpretation:

“[I]t is clear that in order to actually trick someone, the motion of the hand is not very specific. And in the examples the theory supplies, each hand movement is accidental rather than intentional.”

At most, a Force-sensitive Jar Jar might have unconsciously and unwittingly influenced people, Koala_Guru speculates.

He’s Not Evil, He’s Just Written That Way: User Mendonza tackles the creative side of the argument. That user doubts Lucas tried to pull a Keyser Söze with Jar Jar.

Throughout the Star Wars films, Lucas has never been shy about including kid-friendly, comedic characters, Mendonza observes. Jar Jar certainly falls into that category:

“He made Jar-Jar a completely ridiculous character. Why? Because of the reason we’ve been defending for the past 16 years. To sell toys! Kids liked Chewie because he was cute. Then kids liked ewoks because they were cute and funny (the slapstick kind of funny). Then Lucas’ reasoning was that if he raised the ridiculousness and “funniness” by 9000 he would sell more toys! And he wasn’t wrong either. Jar-Jar Binks’ merchandise sold like crazy. So yeah, I doubt he would’ve wrote such a silly character if his intention was as smart as we’re now defending it was.”

According to Mendonza, all of Jar Jar’s foolish and embarrassing traits—his ineptitude, his clumsiness—aren’t an elaborate ruse Lucas devised to keep audiences from guessing the character’s true evil nature. Those characteristics are present for the reason fans have been claiming for years: Lucas isn’t a very good screenwriter.

The $200 Million Question: Why in the name of Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-Wailers would Disney, J.J. Abrams and everyone else connected with the production up to and including craft services take a chance on alienating audiences by continuing to give such a reviled character screentime, even if he has been reimagined as a badass villain? If that’s the case, expect Han Solo to admit to Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens that Greedo really did shoot first.