Official Hux Episode VIII Discussion Thread

He’s a predator who identifies weakness and exploits it, drawing the young and promising to his side with promises of power, then using and discarding his protégés when they are no longer of use...

http://ew.com/movies/2017/11/22/star-wars-last-jedi-andy-serkis-snoke-backstory/

I take from this that Snoke is not just limiting Ren's powers on purpose, but Hux's as well. Being in Snoke's power leaves him in a constant state of terror. Take Ren's comment on Snoke considering a clone army for example.The comment is merely to keep Hux on his toes and not that Snoke is actually dissatisfied by the results.

Rax pointing out to Armitage that he was a lot like him(full of fear) when he was a child- "The pinnacle of a private education. Such a crisp evocation of words for such a young lad. Even with fear you speak cleary and plainly. Well done, Armitage." and "Fear is useful when it guides us- but it becomes dangerous when it governs us... " , promising him they will leave all of this behind and together they will begin something new.

This made me think of the "useless" comment from Life Debt and what "useless" could mean in that context. What if "useless" meant "fearful" - like if you want to become a good soldier you have to overcome the fear of death? And just like Anakin, who had deep seeded fears since he had to leave his mother, Hux is going down the path to the dark side?

FN-3263827:

Sloane and Rax: they offer him something where he fears and loathes his father. there's no love there, but his survival instincts tell him to do as they ask and he'll be protected--and gradually he comes to accept that this is his place and revels in the power of it, even though it is a living horror.​

TFA Hux is much more the product of Rax than Brendol's: "Rax had risen in the military ranks and became Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Navy. The Super Star Destroyer Ravager served as his flagship." (Wookieepedia). It looks like Rax had a big impact on Armitage's career choices. And thinking about that, it feels unlikely that there is no bad blood between Sloane and Armitage, since she was the one who killed Rax.

For all we know Sloane’s philosophy wasn't very much Brendol’s. What if they not only sealed the deal "if you're willing to keep me safe from the children, then I'll keep you safe from your father", but Armitage also accepted Sloane’s view, what impact would that have on Armitage's training methods for example?

FN-3263827:

it will be very interesting to see if she starts out by just using him as a shield and later comes to form an actual affective bond with him. i'm just dying to know! my mind races with the possibilities: she realizes she's being terrible and tries to be more of a mentor/mother and something horrible happens to her and Armitty is crushed and devastated and it puts him further down the Dark path. or does she get worse about using him and he not only ends up killing his father, but her as well?​

At 19:45 Domhnall Gleeson talks about Hux. He points out that it's the fear of individuality that drives Hux on.

FN-3263827:

i wonder how much this idea of individualism is going to play out in the ST ~ we have the past and its clones, we have this brainwashed child army, and we have the FO who wear the names of dead imperials on their sleeves in remembrance. does Hux really fear his own individuality? or the individuality of others? is that part of why he hates Ren? because Ren is his own person independent of the command and not prone to ORDER?​

Let's say he fears his own individuality- consequence might be denying or hiding who he really is, even to the point of deceiving himself completely. Never being genuinely himself, but instead he is what he feels Rax wanted him to be. I'd say he's aware of that he could strive to overcome what he was prophesied to be by his father and Rax and that his methods are questionable at best. But does he want to give it all up?

FN-3263827:

i do think there's something about Hux that is about ideas and not about tangible things. it goes back to Neverland and his shoulder pads and delusions of grandeur regarding his ascendancy to Emperor. the very idea of an ordered galaxy: it's pure fantasy. once again, where does the rubber hit the road with Hux? what's real to him? or is he incapable of discerning real from this manufactured reality he was handed and has been living in all his life? ​

This leads me to following:

Chances are that there is nothing more to the "absent mother" storyline. It seems to be a recurring SW theme - absent mothers and shitty fathers. Then again it still leaves the possibility open for the upcoming films to present a twist like that his real mother was with the Republic.

FN-3263827:

Hux's mom didn't give him up; Brendol took him. so whatever memory he might have of her might be like Rey, but Rey thinks her parents are coming for her even after all those years. Hux had to have given up a long time ago. if she's alive, there's a carrot to dangle over his head. in Peter Pan, Wendy shames the Lost Boys by reminding them of their mothers and they all want to go home afterwards.​

Some time ago I came across this article:

„TFA is a film about people stuck in the past, who need to “awaken” from this and move on with their lives. It appears that, in an inversion of the first two trilogies, the sequel trilogy will be more interested in showing the danger of being stuck in the past rather than dwelling on the future.“
(source: http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/ )

Taking this into consideration, that could lead to following in Hux's particular case: Hux longs to become Emperor (TFA showed us in any possible way that the FO is obsessed with rercreacting the Empire, they are obsessed with the past). But then there is no character arc, there is no awakening.

We have Hux trying to be the man he thought that Brendol or Rax wanted. One scenario I can think of, is Hux's having a connection to the ones that represent the other side of the continuum - the guys from the New Republic or Resistance. Since the stolen childhoods seems to be a common theme between the main characters, why not have Hux's character have to deal with that theme too. It is really that far fetched that Hux feels betrayed by his family (a* for a father and absent mother)? Maybe his hate for the Republic is personal?

Take a look at his speech:

"Meanwhile a host of systems are left to wither and die — without aid, without care, without hope. Drowning in tis own decadence, the New Republic ignores them, unaware that these are its final moments"

source: TFA novel