The Mandalorian: Who Is Commandant Hux? & How Is He Related to General Hux?

The Mandalorian season 3 keeps heating up, and is now looking to make the connections between this timeline and the Star Wars sequel trilogy timeline clearer. Episode 7 of season 3 started with Moff Gideon’s re-introduction and the Shadow Council’s debut. One such member of the Shadow Council was Commandant Hux, whose family name is familiar to those who’ve seen the sequel trilogy. So, who is Commandant Hux?

Commandant Brendol Hux was an officer that worked for the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire, and the First Order. He was assigned to the Shadow Council after he was rescued by Imperial remnants following his capture by the New Republic. He also sired a son named Armitage Hux, who became a First Order general.

The fact that Commandant Hux is the father of General Hux means that some people’s loyalty to the Empire (and the First Order) runs deep enough that some could pass down their allegiance to their children. Of course, while Hux’s connection to the sequel trilogy can be seen through his son, something more sinister is at play here, especially regarding the project he is in charge of. Now, let’s learn more about Commandant Hux.

Commandant Hux’s Background Explained

Episode 7 of The Mandalorian season 3 allowed us to see more developments in the storyline of Star Wars. We know that The Mandalorian’s timeline bridges the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. And season 3 has already made the connections between The Mandalorian and the sequel trilogy much clearer.

It was always clear that the remnants of the Empire eventually became the First Order in the sequel trilogy. Moff Gideon was the most prominent Imperial remnant in The Mandalorian, and he was always a thorn in the side of Din Djarin and the other Mandalorians. Episode 7 of season 3 served as Gideon’s return to prominence as he was able to find a way to operate as a powerful warlord once more after he was broken out of prison by his forces.

In this episode, Gideon was seen talking to Elia Kane, who had intel regarding the movements of the Mandalorians. A troubled Gideon contacted the other Imperial warlords still active as they held a meeting. This group was called the Shadow Council, which oversaw the different actions that the Imperial remnants took about the bigger goal of the Empire. One of the people in that meeting was a man called Commandant Hux.

Born Brendol Hux, the future commandant, was an officer that worked for the Galactic Republic decades before the events of The Mandalorian. He was a man that worked in communicating tactics and strategies during the time of the Clone Wars. And it was during that time that he admired the Jedi because of how they trained children from an early age to become effective warriors early on.

Eventually, he became a more powerful member of the Empire and was the commandant of the Arkanis Academy, where he applied some of his philosophies in training Stormtroopers. As mentioned, he knew training soldiers as early as their childhood years was effective, so he began applying such methods in the academy. 

He created the Commandant’s Cadets, a secret society within his academy. This society allowed its members to have special privileges within the academy. But the only way for someone to enter it is to kill a current Commandant’s Cadets member and make it look like an unfortunate accident. It was through this method that Commandant Hux was able to develop elite soldiers that he could trust.

The New Republic eventually captured Brendol Hux after the Empire fell when Emperor Palpatine was killed. He was rescued by a bounty hunter on the orders of Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax. Rax also appointed Hux a position within the Shadow Council, a group of leaders among the remnants of the Empire.

In episode 7 of The Mandalorian season 3, Commandant Hux is in charge of a mysterious Imperial project called Project Necromancer, which is likely to significantly impact the future of Star Wars and during the events of the sequel trilogy.

How Is Commandant Hux Related to General Hux?

During the time of the Empire and just after the Battle of Yavin, Brendol Hux had an affair with a kitchen woman in Arkanis. As such, he sired a son that wasn’t the child of his legal wife. This man was Armitage Hux.

Ever since he was young, his father treated Armitage poorly because Brendol thought he was frail, weak, and lacking potential. He never even met his mother, a kitchen woman working in Arkanis. As such, he was often the subject of gossip in the Arkanis Academy not only because of his status as a bastard son but also because he was believed to have been physically and psychologically abused by his father.

But Armitage was able to work hard enough for his father to temper down his abuses. He found strength in the stories about how his father was able to help the Republic end the Clone Wars, which ushered in the birth of the Empire. He also idolized Palpatine because he believed he could start from humble beginnings and become a powerful man. That is why Armitage Hux worked hard enough to earn his place within the remnants of the Empire, which ultimately became the First Order.

During the time of the First Order, Armitage was able to work his way to become General Hux. As such, he followed in his father’s footsteps as a man that worked hard to become a prominent officer within the Empire/First Order. He also followed Brendol Hux’s practices of training soldiers at an early age, and that’s why Stormtroopers like Finn didn’t even have normal names and weren’t allowed to be unique as they were handpicked since their childhood years to become soldiers for the First Order.

For those who may have forgotten, General Hux was the general that took command over Starkiller base in The Force Awakens and was responsible for destroying the headquarters of the New Republic. Hux also betrayed Kylo Ren out of jealousy when Ben Solo took command over the First Order after Supreme Leader Snoke’s death.

Despite the poor relationship between the two, Armitage carried his father’s legacy into the new generation of Empire/First Order loyalists. But it was ultimately his ambition that killed Armitage, as this was likely his karma for being the one that facilitated his own father’s assassination and death.