Snoke Week! Part Two: The Shadow Council

The recent Star Wars novels have dug a pretty deep rabbit hole. Hard to tell how far it goes. We’re looking at Snoke this week and examining some theories from around the web. Today, I’d like to take a look at the Shadow Council and related factions, and see if we can connect the dots to anything pointing to that mysterious figure: Snoke.

So what exactly was the Shadow Council? They were a secret group that was proposed to maintain order after the fall of the Galactic Empire. Sounds a lot like the First Order doesn’t it? Or at least part of it. The Shadow Council was proposed by none other than Galius Rax, who we discussed last time. The Shadow Council, included none other than Brendol Hux, who was the father of General Armitage Hux.

So who exactly was Brendol Hux? Fans will know that he was heavily involved in the Empire, with close ties to Palpatine. The Aftermath novels not only highlight the “Shadow Council” and his connections there, but also the Arkanis Academy. This Imperial Academy on the planet Arkanis was a key point of recruitment and training for the Empire. It was connected to Project Harvester, which was a way that the Empire found Force-sensitives. This project recruited none other than Dhara Leonis, the sister of Zare Leonis, who we met on Rebels. In fact, fans will know that the Arkanis Academy was introduced in the “Servants of the Empire” junior novel that has close ties to Rebels:

Lucasfilm/Disney
Lucasfilm/Disney

So we have Brendol Hux, the commandant of the Arkanis Academy, which was a front-end for recruitment of Force-sensitive individuals from the Imperial Ranks. Now why would Brendol Hux be heading such a secret group, along with his connections to the Shadow Council and close ties to Palpatine? It certainly makes you wonder if he led this group because he was secretly a Force-sensitive himself. It would make a heck of a lot of sense. Could Snoke be somehow tied to the Project Harvester or the Shadow Council? It certainly seems plausible that Snoke was either recruited by this or a similar program, or was involved in it’s administration during the Galactic Empire.

For that matter, whatever happened to Brendol Hux?

The Force Awakens: Visual Dictionary
The Force Awakens: Visual Dictionary

According to The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, he fled to the Unknown Regions never to be seen again. Now we know that Snoke emerged from the Unknown Regions, so it makes you wonder: Is Brendol Hux Snoke?

This theory of Brendo Hux being Snoke isn’t new, and has been proposed here, here, and recently here and with associated Reddit post here. This theory is also probably introduced many other places, but it is the most recent video by missupsetter that expands on it the most and is the first to point out all these details about Bredol Hux and his connections to other groups. Here are some of the comparisons:

Brendol Hux had blue eyes Snoke had blue eyes
Brendol Hux disapeared into the Unknown Regions Snoke emerged from the Unknown Regions
Brendol Hux led a group of Force-sensitive Imperials Snoke was a Force-sensitive leader of the First Order, which grew from the Imperial.

This is a really exciting theory and probably one of the best ones yet! I think it makes some major connections. The problem with this theory is that Brendol Hux was not 7 foot tall, and is described as “stocky” as pointed out by missupseter. He couldn’t be Snoke without some sort of Force-magic growth formula. The same could be said about Galius Rax for that matter. That said, there is nothing forbidding such as thing and is totally possible for all we know.

While we’re on the subject of Snoke’s height, check out our previous post on Snoke and the Celestials. This is the one theory that I’ve come across that explains that issue most clearly.

Follow me on twitter @davestrrr and stay tuned to spoiledbluemilk.com for updates MWF

“your snoke theory sucks” sticker from @steelewars