Shadow Council The Shadow Council was a secret advisory council that had been created by Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax in 5 ABY . Rax created the Council in order to govern the fragmented Galactic Empire from behind the scenes while supporting an official figurehead in the form of Grand Admiral Rae Sloane . In secret , Rax planned to eliminate the Shadow Council during the Battle of Jakku , with the exception of Commandant Brendol Hux , whom he regarded as essential to revitalizing the Empire . History . Smoke and mirrors . The Shadow Council was a secret advisory council created by Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax in 5 ABY , to govern the Galactic Empire from behind the scenes one year after the cataclysmic Battle of Endor , which saw the death of Emperor Palpatine and the fragmentation of the Empire . The Council consisted of the most talented and ablest Imperial minds within the Imperial military and bureaucracy , which had been depleted by the Galactic Civil War . With the intent of having it succeed the more egalitarian Imperial Ruling Council as the primary directorate of the Empire , Rax intended for it to be far more covert , serving as more of an advisory board as opposed to an actual oligarchal organization . Fleet Admiral Rax revealed his plan to create the Shadow Council during a meeting with Grand Admiral Rae Sloane to discuss rescuing Brendol Hux , the Commandant of the Arkanis Academy . Rax identified Sloane and Hux as prospective candidates for the Shadow Council . After the bounty hunter Mercurial Swift had rescued Hux and his son Armitage Hux , Rax convened the inaugural meeting of the Shadow Council aboard the Super Star Destroyer " Ravager " , which served as the flagship for Imperial forces in the Vulpinus Nebula . Sloane and Hux were joined by the chief informational officer Ferric Obdur , Grand Moff Randd , and General Hodnar Borrum . During the dinner conversation , Sloane and Obdur advocated promoting the narrative that the Empire were the underdogs in the struggle against the New Republic , the successor to the Rebel Alliance . Pleased with the vigorous exchange of ideas among the delegates , Rax introduced himself and then informed the Shadow Council about his plan to retake the galaxy from the New Republic . Rax secretly commanded other Imperial forces in the Almagest , the Recluse ' s Nebula , the Queluhan Nebula , the Ro - Loo Triangle , and the Inamorata . He planned to use these forces along with the Imperial factory worlds of Zhadalene , Korrus , and Belladoon to launched a renewed offensive against the Rebellion . Rax ' s coup . Later , Rax informed Grand Admiral Sloane that he was planning to attack the New Republic capital of Chandrila . To perpetuate the image of a weakened Galactic Empire , Rax instructed Sloane to initiate peace talks with Chancellor Mon Mothma . Rax ' s attack on the New Republic ultimately turned out to be an assassination attempt on the New Republic leadership using former rebel prisoners from Ashmead ' s Lock as unwilling assassins . When Sloane objected to Rax ' s tactics , Rax ' s agent Adea Rite attempted to assassinate the Grand Admiral but Sloane managed to escape . In Sloane ' s absence , Rax convened the Shadow Council a second time . Claiming that Sloane had been captured by the New Republic , Rax assumed the position of Counselor to the Empire . General Borrum objected to Rax ' s decision on the grounds that Rax was failing to provide the Empire with a figurehead leader . Nevertheless , Rax managed to advise the Shadow Council to assemble the remaining Imperial forces above the planet Jakku for a showdown with the New Republic . In secret , Rax planned to eliminate the Shadow Council with the exception of General Hux , whom he saw as essential to rebuilding the Empire . Rax was the executor of the Emperor ' s posthumous Contingency plan to tear down the Empire should the Emperor die and to bring a chosen elect into the Unknown Regions to rebuild a new Empire . Showdown on Jakku . Under the leadership of Rax , the Shadow Council marshaled the Imperial remnants to Jakku . There , they waited for several months for the New Republic to attack . During that period , Rax used the harsh conditions of the desert world to toughen the Imperial forces into a more savage and violent force . While Rax claimed that he was sharpening the Empire into a stronger force , his true intent was to eradicate those elements of the Empire which he deemed as weak . Meanwhile , Rax planned to take the worthy elect into the Unknown Regions to start anew . While Grand Moff Randd supported Rax ' s toughening policy , Borrum expressed concern that keeping the Imperial forces on alert for so long would wear his men . The propagandist Obdur found himself sidelined because Rax had little need for propaganda . Under Rax ' s orders , Brendol Hux trained 24 local Jakku children into a praetorian force of child soldiers who answered only to Counselor Rax . Rax used these assassins to assassinate Obdur , deeming him to have outlived his usefulness . He intended them to become the first of a new generation of stormtroopers . After the New Republic ' s Galactic Senate dispatched its fleet to Jakku , Counselor Rax briefed his Shadow Council . Grand Moff Randd was placed in command of the Imperial fleet while General Borrum commanded the Imperial ground forces . Rax and Adviser Yupe Tashu then traveled with Hux , his son Armitage , and the child soldiers to the Jakku Observatory . While the Huxes and the child soldiers waited aboard a replica of the Emperor ' s yacht " Imperialis " , Rax and Tashu entered the Jakku Observatory to initiate a self destruction mechanism that would destroy the planet Jakku and the orbiting Imperial and New Republic forces . This was part of the late Emperor ' s Contingency plan to destroy the belligerents and start anew . Rax killed Tashu after initiating the planet ' s destruction . However , he was thwarted by Grand Admiral Sloane with the help of the New Republic operatives Norra Wexley and Brentin Lore Wexley . Sloane then stopped the self - destruct mechanism before fleeing into the Unknown Regions with Brendol , Armitage , and the child soldiers . Aftermath . Following the Battle of Jakku , the Shadow Council apparently disintegrated with the Old Empire . With the deaths of Rax , Obdur , and Tashu , the only known surviving members were Grand Moff Randd and General Borrum . Randd escaped the destruction of the Super Star Destroyer " Ravager " and joined an Imperial remnant in the Queluhan Nebula . General Borrum ' s fate during and after the Battle of Jakku remains unknown . Behind the scenes . The Shadow Council first appeared in Chuck Wendig ' s 2016 novel " " and its 2017 sequel " " , the second and third installments in .