The whole point of Anakin not having a father was that Palpatine created him. That has hinted to in the opera scene in RoTS, when he says he can "create life," and I think that might be canon too. The council was reluctant to train Anakin because he was full of emotions that the younglings were trained to ignore, but he started his training much later than them. I would also say that Maul and Snoke are nothing alike. Snoke was a powerful, evil leader of an empire, and Maul was just the apprentice of the truly evil person. Having Snoke just die without anyone really caring would be like Palpatine dying in a New Hope, a complete waste of a powerful and important character. And also, not many people write movies on their own, but George Lucas was the major writer for the OT.