There has been an awakening. Shadows moving on the edge of Wild Space while secrets remain hidden in the Unknown Regions. After the fall of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor, the Empire lies scattered throughout the galaxy, each governor, admiral, and general trying to seize control for themselves. The Shadow Council was created by Gallius Rax, trusted advisor to the Emperor, to secretly coordinate these scattered remnants into a power that could once again threaten the New Republic.
First mentioned in the Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig, the council’s aim was to restore greatness to the Empire, but without the previous egalitarian power system. Each council member was to help with the ruling and decision making. Which is why fans get to see key members debating in Chapter 23 of The Mandalorian, though some Imperials are noticeably absent. While the Shadow Council has its roots in canon literature, its appearance in The Mandalorian is also inspired by elements of Legends. So, what is the Imperial Shadow Council? And where is Grand Admiral Rae Sloane?
Kat: When Gideon walks into the Imperial Teams meeting, I was so excited. Aftermath is one of the most underrated of the recent Star Wars book series, and yet it explains so much as to what happened to the Imperial fleet after the Battle of Endor. The Empire wasn’t destroyed with the destruction of the second Death Star, and its military leaders still held control over many sectors. This is what we see discussed amongst the council members present. With the ruling fist of the Emperor gone, this is actually a chance for the Empire to become a better version of itself.
Each member of the Shadow Council is chosen to come from a different branch of the many Imperial factions. Grand Moff Randd as the leader of the Imperial Navy. General Hodnar Borrum of the Imperial Army. Chief Information Officer Ferric Obdur for propaganda. And Commandant Brendol Hux to be put in charge of Imperial troops training – but we’ll get to him in a bit. In The Mandalorian there’s also a new member straight out of Legends.
Mark: Gilad Pellaeon. Emerging directly from Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire, looking exactly how I think most fans had imagined him over thirty years ago, nearly a perfect match to the original cover art. For someone who grew up with the Legends timeline, this was very unexpected and an absolute joy to behold. His demeanour, attitude and quiet power was so well acted, even in a hologram, and the casting for this character is perfect. It also looks very much like Pellaeon is pulling the most strings here for a certain someone else. It’s easy to wipe the slate clean with the new Canon, but for a good proportion of fans, they remember the original Thrawn trilogy. These factions, the warlords, and having Thrawn to come in and unite them, is straight from Zahn. And it shows a lot of respect that Pellaeon and other elements from these novels are being incorporated.
Even the idea of a ruling council comes from Legends. Crimson Empire 2: Council of Blood had the leaders of the Empire forming a council to try and rule the Empire in the absence of the Emperor. The council slowly gets hunted by an ex-royal guard (and to be honest I would love to see something like this in the future). This comic series and the Thrawn trilogy are from the very early days of Legends in the 90s and the fact that they have already been brought into current lore, to explain the wide gap between the Original Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy, is just wonderful. To then have all of that combined with Hux and Pellaeon clearly having more power than the others…
Kat: Alright, let’s talk about Hux. Especially because fans need to not get this Hux confused with the other Hux! Commandant Brendol Hux is Armitage Hux’s father, first introduced in Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy by Jason Fry. He’s also a main character in Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson. However, his appointment to the council occurs in the Aftermath trilogy, when Rax asks for the Commandant to be rescued from Arkanis, which is being fought over by the New Republic. This is because Brendol Hux has created a training programme for the next generation of stormtroopers at the Imperial Academy on Arkanis, something which the council knows will be imperative for the Empire to rise once again.
What’s quite surprising in The Mandalorian is the mention of Project Necromancer and cloning. At no point in the books is Brendol suggested to have an interest in cloning. He’s much more about psychology and shaping the minds of young cadets into perfect soldiers through strict forms of conditioning that are borderline brainwashing. Throughout Phasma he’s solely concentrated on survival (he’s very self-centred) and who he can return with to the First Order fleet to train. Brendol isn’t above kidnapping either. Spoiler alert – he’s one of the biggest jerks in Star Wars. There’s been a lot of talk about what Project Necromancer might be, some suggesting the name is tied to the resurrection of Palpatine, but the council were not interested in bringing the Emperor back. Especially not another powerful figure on it – Rae Sloane. Yet she was noticeably absent.
Mark: I was less surprised to see Sloane not on the council. She is an important figure, but maybe too important? Just as Thrawn isn’t there directly, presumably having sent Pellaeon, could it be that Sloane might have sent Hux as her representative? It would mean he and Pellaeon are more at the same level, comrades doing the bidding of their respective leaders? Or is it that she realises that to get involved in the politics of these, for want of a better word, warlords, will take her away from her main task of working out how to make a better Empire?
And cloning. You can’t help but talk about it when mentioning any of the above. We know the Emperor is attempting to be cloned and ultimately this results in the Sequel Trilogy. In Legends, it was one of the first storylines to emerge, the predecessor to Crimson Empire: Dark Empire. In the Thrawn trilogy, there are clones, as well as the cloning facility at Mount Tantiss. This has now been made canon and is seen in the latest season of The Bad Batch. Is it so much of a stretch to think that Project Necromancer brings all these elements together? Is it another reason why Sloane isn’t there, because she wants no part of that, that she knows it will spell doom for the Empire again to have the Emperor back?
Kat: Quite possibly. Sloane was already on the outskirts of the council, and as a woman of power she held a very isolated position in the Imperial Navy. She had her own way of doing things, her own image of what the Empire could become. Sloane was also very distrustful of other officers, even her own retinue, so it could be that she doesn’t want to share her plans quite yet. Brendol might be her representative, if he forgave the Grand Admiral for roughing him up (deservedly) during the finale of Aftermath: Empire’s End.
While the Shadow Council may include representatives, what is quite obvious from their interactions in The Mandalorian, is that each of them has their own agenda. Working together for the betterment of the Empire probably sounded like a good idea to these officers and warlords, yet the reality is that you just can’t take the Imperial out of the Empire. There is infighting, disagreements, and barely veiled insults even during this short discussion. Moff Gideon is clearly a more recent addition to this council, and he’s already working behind their backs with his own cloning operation, blatantly lying to Brendol Hux. In The Mandalorian Season 2, Din Djarin finds the secret Imperial base on the lava flats of Navarro, which included cloning tanks that were originally speculated to have something to do with Snoke. Yet with the reveals of Moff Gideon’s true narcissistic agenda, were these just failed clones of himself? Was Moff Gideon trying to set himself up as the new leadership?
Mark: There is definitely some need for re-evaluation of Navarro. Was that the work for Snoke and Gideon then copied it to his own ends, or were they also Gideon clones? Could we see Gideon return, also as a clone? Gideon I’m sure was working for his own gains and only joined the council to help further that. The knowing look between Pellaeon and Hux I think shows that there are two levels to this council. There is one side that are the different factions, that loosely want the Empire back but in reality, want to help further their own goals. The other side is the elite, Pellaeon and Hux, who seem to have more power and more resources. They are trying to salvage what they can from this first group, to try and keep them somewhat in line, but also making sure that they don’t interfere and ruin what the true goal of the Shadow Council is – to bring the Empire back. Is it why Thrawn, and possibly Sloane, send representatives – because they don’t want to have to deal with warlords that are quite frankly beneath them and their plans?
GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN
Kat: Speaking of plans, it’s no stretch in assumption to say that Thrawn ultimately fails. We know this because the Empire doesn’t return. Instead, the galaxy sees the rise of the First Order. So, either Thrawn is defeated, or he simply returns to the Chiss Ascendancy and retires to run a nice art gallery. This might not be due to Ahsoka though. What if Sloane is Thrawn’s main adversary? Thrawn represents the Empire that was, but Sloane could be the one sowing the seeds for the First Order. One of the main missions of the First Order is to be better than the Empire, which is exactly what Sloane wants. Maybe they both send representatives because they don’t want to deal with each other?
One part that does remain unclear is how the Shadow Council goes from being a group of leaders to being replaced by a singular figurehead – Supreme Leader Snoke. This must happen as the Empire evolves into the First Order, leaving schisms amongst the ranks between the older former-Imperial officers and the younger First Order officers. Something we plainly see between General Armitage Hux and Allegiant General Pryde in The Rise of Skywalker. And this is probably why the First Order could never be better than the Empire – it was built up from a graveyard of infighting and distrust, manipulated the whole time by the Emperor through Snoke.
Mark: Whatever the future of the Shadow Council, one thing is very clear with its inclusion in The Mandalorian. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have been able to do what would seem like an impossible task. They have been able to provide something for every era of fandom: Legends (the current Expanded Universe), Rebels, the Sequel Trilogy. All of them have been combined to create something that allows everyone to enjoy this new storyline and unite fans behind it. Given the state of fandom at times, and the rifts parts of the franchise cause, it’s great that we can all come together to enjoy Star Wars. That’s definitely more than can be said for the Shadow Council itself!
