The Tension Between Kylo Ren and Hux (Star Wars Sequels) (shortened)

From the first moment we see Hux on screen, we see how Ren and Hux despise each other, to the end (of Hux). The first snarky comment comes from Ren, after Finn's deviance and stormtroopers failure to capture the droid that had the map leading to Luke Skywalker, Ren starts questioning Hux's capability of leadership. "Perhaps Leader Snoke should consider using a clone army" This is actually an attack to legacy Brendol Hux had left Armitage along with his improvements on the stromtrooper training.

Hux's childhood took place in Empire's reign. His father was in the shadow council and he was the one who set up the system to recruit new members into empire, which meant kidnapping children and putting them into an environment where they will be opressed and brainwashed into serving their cause. 

Even if Hux does not use Kylo's past against him in the movies (unlike Snoke), he very much does that in the comics. In Age of Resistance - General Hux, he says the only reason Kylo wears that mask is "to hide faces of his rebel scum parents." While used to tease Kylo easily before events of TFA, we don't see that in any of the sequels. Or how Kylo saved Hux twice in the comics (we will come back to that.)

Hux's hatred towards Kylo has so many reasons, many more than what Kylo has (I'd say one or two). Hux was born into the empire, his very existence has only one main goal, to serve the First Order. He had climbed the ranks and became the youngest general, only to be seen as equal with a manchild just because he has connection with the force. Not only this man stands equal to him, but his goals do not serve First Order, he expects to use the First Order as a tool to achieve his goals. This is the biggest conflict between them, the smaller ones include how Hux hates the way Ren looks (with or without the mask), especially hating how he does not conform into expected standards of the First Order, such as length of his hair.

Hux is used to being underestimated. Long before Ren and Snoke, he had to live with the humiliation of his dad and fellow officers, since he was an illegitimate child. This only fueled him with hatred and determination, assasinating anyone stood his way. His father, or an officer insulting him when he was a child, does not matter. He also wants to kill Snoke and take his place. Yet even though Snoke himself knows about it, when confronted by Kylo Ren (who thinks he cannot be trusted), he reveals that Hux is worth keeping their ranks thanks to his ambitious and spiteful characteristics.

But for Kylo, things are so much different than Hux's childhood. Getting sent to a jedi camp to train with Luke and getting betrayed by the literal beacon of hope of the series is of course no fun (that's why I think he has a poor backstory, Luke was out of character all sequels. The man who had hoped, didn't even see, there was light in Darth Vader wanting to kill his grandson over one bad thought is no way Luke would behave. Even if he had made a mistake like that, which he would not, Luke is not kind of man to isolate himself just like that. They could not grasp his character and butchered it in my own opinion, just to give Kylo a backstory. which. sucks.)

Ben, before turning to Kylo Ren, in his childhood years would unintentionally destroy objects with the force out of anger. While Hux's father was there to remind him how much of a disappointment he was, Ben's childhood went on with an absence of parents, relying on caretaker dorids, as mentioned in Skywalker: A Family at War. Which made him a clear target for Snoke to manipulate by using his fears and insecurities.

When his family lineage was revealed, Snoke wanted to take him as an apprentice. But there's a big fact that we do not know who Snoke is. It was told in Star Wars Ep 9 Rise of The Skywalker, that he was created by the phantom of darth sidius and later in the Visual Dictionary it was revealed that he was designed by the Sith Eternal Cultists to mold Ben into perfect shape for him to embrace the legacy of the sith. This is ridiculous. Not only Darth Sidius being back cancels the "chosen one" prophecy, it also does not make any sense.

Anyhow, Snoke was an awful mentor. That's why Kylo Ren's lightsaber is wobbling, that's why he's bad at combat. (along with shitty script writing. We have seen Ezra Bridger's training in the cartoon show Star Wars Rebels. There is no way Rey can adapt into using force with a blink of an eye let alone use a lightsaber, that didn't even belong to her.)

While this man had no respectable reason to be within their ranks, Hux wanted to get rid of him too. In the 8th movie, after Snoke's dead and Rey's gone, when Kylo is on the ground unconsicous, Hux makes a move for his blaster, to kill him. It was his perfect chance, yet Kylo wakes up, claims the title Supreme Leader 'cause he's a force user, and who is Hux to reject his authority when there's no Snoke to punsh him? That's the moment Hux dies and becomes the comedic relief of the story. After appointing General Pryde to take Hux's place, all that bootlicking, all that patience and effort Hux had put in to get where he was, simply, wasted.

Kylux is a big ship in the sequel community, even though it's not canon. The conflicts between them makes Hux and Kylo better enemies than Kylo and Rey, where his obsession does not make that much sense. All the things considered it's important to point out before the events of TFA Kylo had saved Hux from dying twice. Where he could ignore easily and not get in trouble for his death. He tells Hux to stay behind him and proceeds to fight a monster on a planet (Hyperspace Stories issue 8) and creates a force field to protect Hux and himself from the crash (Age of Resistance - General Hux)

Any ship that's been made should take place in before or during TFA, since after that they clearly lose interest in each other, thanks to Kylo. But according to the leaked The Rise of Skywalker script, Hux was meant to live, and eventually became the Grand Marshall. They also interact in the script, before Kylo goes to a far away planet to seek mentorship. In this version Hux wants to have connection to the force, trying to see if he can move objects without touching them. He even has a lightsaber collection with Mace Windu's lightsaber in it. Even if they have followed this version, it would contradict the previous versions. Hux believes in science, he wants to have weapons much stronger than the force. Being a force user may have helped to assert his dominance over Kylo's regime, but he does not need that, he's smart enough to get rid of Kylo. 

That's why him being the spy just so he could get rid of Kylo was bullshit. He would not betray the only thing he's living for just to avenge Kylo. Some might argue that he's trying to protect First Order (or whatever left of it) from further damage, but Hux is just not the kind of man to betray his live's work. But Kylo had always known that Hux despised him, that he wanted to kill him, it's just funny how Pryde got the chance to shoot Hux instead of giving us a confrontation scene. (I'm kind of glad they did not, Finn and Phasma's confrontation was awful, they could've done wonders.)

Long story short, they came from different parallels, with their childhood, and how they became an authority figure. With Kylo not living up to his expectations as Supreme Leader, I believe there could be a lot to be done with him and Hux's conflicts. Instead of making the man who killed an entire planet system with the Starkiller Base a comedy relief, they could have shown us how complex his character is on screen.