"I have crossed galaxies of lightyears to find you."

The big question of this post is a simple one: before leaving Arkanis, did Armitage know his mother at all?

In the The Rise of Skywalker: A Junior Novel by Michael Kogge, we read the following information about Armitage:

‘Friendless as a boy, and never knowing his mother …’

Immediately, we have Scenario 1: Once Armitage’s mother has given birth, Brendol immediately takes the baby from her to raise himself, and she is never allowed to see him. He grows up either being kept away from her as she remains in the kitchens, or she is sent away entirely.

This is not an unlikely scenario. Brendol is unpleasant enough to inflict this kind of cruelty, and I can believe that he would want to avoid as much of the embarrassment of his son being illegitimate as he could. Aftermath: Life Debt suggests it's widely known information - maybe it was a scandal - so keeping Armitage's mother from him is a kind of damage control. Separating them completely means the boy is Brendol's entirely, and his mother was just a means to an end: an incubator, a vessel for what he hopes will be his legacy. Whatever fiction he tells his son about his mother — that she was killed by the Republic, that she died in childbirth — simply serves to reinforce the eradication of that part of Armitage’s identity (until Brendol throws it at him as cruelty, that is).

However, the way Gallius Rax gives his instructions for extracting Hux from Arkanis to Rae Sloane in Life Debt, I think, somewhat contradicts this scenario. He says:

‘He has a child — a bastard boy, as I understand. Not born of his wife, Maratelle but of some … kitchen woman. Don’t worry about the mother or the wife, but a child is a child and blood is blood, so make sure the boy finds rescue’

(Life Debt, 47)

This tells us, firstly, that Armitage's mother is definitely still alive when he's five years old. We can read this instruction in two ways: either 1) Rax assumes that Armitage’s mother might in his life somewhat or 2) Rax knows that Armitage’s mother is still a figure in his life (and Rax does know a good deal). In either case, the fact that he feels the need to specify that he doesn’t want her rescued implies that she and Armitage might not be completely separated from each other.

(I also find this interestingly contradictory for Rax's assertion that 'The Empire Needs Children'. (47) He agrees with Rae they could reinstate breeding programs to encourage imperials to have children (47-8), but doesn't want either of the women Brendol could potentially impregnate again brought with him. What this potentially says about his view of the breeding program vs stealing children is perhaps a matter for another post)

This gives us Scenario 2: Armitage’s mother maintains some, but likely limited, contact with him. I suspect this might be more accurate to the truth of the situation.

Do I think that she’s allowed to spend quality time with him, or get to know him as he grows up over his first five years? No. As before, I think Brendol wants to keep them as separate as he can, and if blood is blood, he wants his blood to be the dominant one. However, Brendol is also, Rae tells us, ‘a slithering thing who views people as tools’ (Life Debt, 49). I think it entirely likely, then, that he would see a pragmatic use in keeping Armitage’s mother around essentially as a wet nurse for the first few years of his life, and also a convenient nanny.

However, Brendol doesn’t want his son growing up as a kitchen woman’s son. He is Brendol Hux’s son, his legacy. He can’t have the boy getting too fond of his mother. I suspect if she is used as a nanny that she’s always supervised by DeeDee to ensure she never gets too close to her son; that nothing too affectionate happens.

Here is our Scenario 3, which is, perhaps, closest to the truth: Armitage does have contact with his mother, because she is kept around by Brendol to feed him. DeeDee is his primary caregiver, but his mother does look after him on occasion when necessary. However, because she is always supervised, probably by DeeDee, Armitage is never allowed to know her as a mother. He knows she is his mother: everyone knows, and as stated, Brendol throws his illegitimacy at him as abuse for him not to. However, Brendol wants softness trained out of his son. I suspect when they do see each other, they’re not supposed to treat each other as mother and son, rather as servant/nanny and charge (although perhaps she does occasionally manage to get something past DeeDee’s watchful eyes).

There is an even sadder version of this scenario, in which Armitage’s mother is not allowed to tell him that she is his mother. It is only after he has left Arkanis that he comes to know who the woman who used to look after him was when Brendol tells him to be cruel.

This is all speculation based on a few lines of text, and ultimately, whether he knew his mother or not, I'm certain Armitage doesn't remember her apart from one or two vague, shapeless memories.