#sw:phasma

As promised, here's my "Armitage" ramble. I know I am so late to the party that it's not even fashionable anymore, but better late than never, no?

Some TLJ spoilers ahead.

  Short (sort of personal) premise. While I didn't mind Hux in TFA, my fascination with this character began with the TFA novelisation – there, he is intelligent, competent and sensible – and it only grew stronger and deeper with his other appearances throughout the canon novels. I started reading about Fandom!Hux and Kylux much, much later; therefore –  long story short – when Aftermath: Life Debt came out, I didn't have any particular commitment to the "Brendol II" theory and I was immediately on board with "Armitage". I am aware that many other fans had an entirely different experience and that the "Armitage" reveal was disappointing for them; they have my sympathy and my understanding – were my circumstances different, who knows where I would stand now.

Yet, I happen to like "Armitage" quite a lot, for the following reason: notoriously, Star Wars' names are descriptive names – i.e. they are somewhat connotative and immediately bring to mind what the character is all about – and "Armitage" is both as descriptive as a three hours documentary and still ambiguous.

At least to my deranged mind, "Armitage" suggests three main ideas: (1) "Army"; (2) "Hermitage"; (3) "Amrita".

    (1) Army

Is this on the nose? Undoubtedly. But we are talking about a franchise in which: Skywalkers were supposed to be called "Starkillers" (yes, the naming of Starkiller Base is an homage to that first concept); the Dark Side is called the Dark Side, just in case you were tempted to embrace any morally ambiguous reading about Force users' factions; and people call "Death Star" their super-weapons of planetary destruction – ok, imperial PR person who okayed that name, you did a great job: that doesn't sound ominous, scary and just plainly evil at all... Overall, names in Star Wars are not exactly subtle.

On the one hand, Armitage has been raised to be an officer – in a way, he is the ultimate experiment in Brendol's training programme. On the other hand, he is the de facto leader of the FO's military forces. The TLJ Visual Dictionary has confirmed what was already evident, i.e. that for all intents and purposes General Hux should be Grand Marshal Hux, but Snoke refuses to give him his rightful title. Besides, as I have been writing elsewhere (here and here), the fact that the FO's army answers primarily to Hux is likely going to be the basis for a new interesting dynamic between Hux and Kylo – not to mention that it's probably the main reason Hux's still alive... Nomen omen.

    (2) "Hermitage"

While Armitage Hux is a masterpiece (definitely in more than one sense), I am not referring to the St Petersburg museum, but to the main acceptation of the term, i.e. the dwelling of a hermit or an remote and isolated place, or a retreat. What does this reading tell us about General Hux?

(2.1) First, Armitage Hux grew up in exile and on the run, in the Unknown Regions, on ships in remote sectors of uncharted space far away from the rest of the Galaxy and what used to be home. 

(2.2) Furthermore, Armitage Hux is somewhat removed from his fellow human beings, beginning with his family (it's canon that Brendol hates him). In other words, Hux – just like Kylo, just like Rey, just like Finn – is incredibly alone.  (Basically, this new trilogy is about very lonely people with lots of issues). Hux is a General above the generals, he is only equal being – until very recently – Kylo Ren. While Phasma has been an ally in recent years, she doesn't seem to have been a friend, not really. As far as we know, the only meaningful relationship that Hux seems to have in canon is with Rae Sloane, the mother and protector he had never had before her – and as far as we know, whatever happened there still stings (see the infamous "robe conversation" between Cardinal and Armitage in the Phasma novel ). Hux seems to want attention, love or at least appreciation – from his father, from Snoke, from Kylo, from the entire bloody Galaxy if that could help – but he never seems to fit in, not really.

(2.3) Or, for the sake of completeness, Armitage Hux could end up being a retreat (other meaning of "hermitage"), the secret refuge, for someone else. (Go ahead, shippers! Have fun!)

    (3) "Amrita"

The following section is more speculative than the previous two. And it is mostly for those of you who enjoy the idea of Hux being somehow connected to Palpatine. While I am not a devoted supporter of Palpatine!Hux theories, I like to toy with the idea for the sake of argument  – and this is an argument surprisingly easy to support: half jokingly, I have done so here and I am definitely going to post more on the subject.

On top of Armitage's operatic conception ("a kitchen lady" sounds incredibly unlikely and melodramatic), of Brendol's hate for his son (why?), and of the fact that Brendol was running Project Harvester (training Force sensitive children) on Arkanis (dedicated post coming soon), you can add Armitage's name to the repertoire of reasons you might have to cheer for Palpatine!Hux.

Naboo names tend to be Sanskrit based: Padmé Amidala, Sheev (!), etc.

Amrita ( अमृत) is the Sanskrit word for ambrosia, the nectar of immortality, and hence for immortality itself. The metathesis of position, in this instance between "m" and "r" (Amrita >> Armita[ge]..), is one of the most common phonetic phenomena in Indo-European languages.

If you want to believe that General Hux is somehow connected to the old Emperor (a clone, a relative, etc.) and he is destined to rule over the Galaxy even by Palpatine's plan... well, he has the right name for that.