[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I got the impression from the Imperial Council scene that he is powerful, but still has to ask for replacement TIE's and the cool red guard dudes from the others. Some of which I don't even think outrank him, like Hux.

If you go by the aftermath books, there's pretty much a shadow cabinet within a shadow cabinet.

Hux is a major player because he's the father of the Stormtrooper army.

Ok, I'm going to post some stuff in spoilers because I know some people don't like my stuff, so I can spare them the pain of a theory that might come to pass

Spoiler!

This whole shadow council is filled with disposable yeoman. they are all burnt out Imperial Remnant warlords controlling their own territories, I believe that Gideon is a sacrifice that's going to be made.

But there is a spy on the council, not for the republic though.

If you follow the Disney EU and the aftermath books and some others. After the Battle of Jaku, Palpatine through his observatories got the best of the Imperial Officer core, the most hardcore facist bring order to the galaxy people to go to the unknown regions to meet with the Super Star Destroyer, I think Eclipse or Reaper. This would form the mobile homeworld of the First Order.

They basically it feels like have used these warlords in the Shadow Council to engage pirates to raise money, and a bunch of it will be filtered to the FO.

Right now we know there's no Snoke, they're still working on the cloning project that would bring him and Palpatine to life. The whole Shadow Council waiting for Thrawn to return is a dupe.

The original provisional leadership of the First Order was Hux, and Grand Admiral Rae Sloane who is considered Canon.
She established the name of the First Order, which she saw as a better empire with the First Order being to begin again and do it right.

There were other leaders on the ruling council, but they weren't recognizable names.


Eventually Snoke will be discovered and will become the Supreme Leader. Phasma will show up and become the commander of the army. Ben Skywalker when turned would join the ruling council as the heads of the Knights of Ren.

The Republic would look at these fractured Imperial Warlords and decide they weren't a threat and Mon Mothma would stupidly disarm the republic. This was probably encouraged by inflitrating First Order spies.

This is all so Palpatine by the way with a plan within a plan.

The Shadow Council had a First Order ruler driving things in Hux, but when the First Order made its move and moved into the open, it burst out of the shadow Council like a cancer and the Renmant assets were absorbed into the First Order and the warlords were given a choice of submitting or death.

What the First Order didn't know was that they were a distraction to pin down the Galaxy while the Final Order gained strength.

The plan being that the First Order would be absorbed into the Final Order and Leadership would fall to Palpatine.

So there's a possibility that Gideon will be the sacrifice that makes the new republic relax and think the threat is over. Meanwhile Hux and Sloan if they bring her in, will continue to influence the so called shadow council who are weak and separated.

So in theory, they could introduce a Big Bad in Sloane, but the better story would be that Gideon loses. The New Republic believes that the Empire is truly in the bag and disarms. Then the First Order pops into existance and starts creaming everyone.