This is a half-joking idea, but if we wanted to reveal that Palpatine had a surprise grandchild, wouldn’t it be funny if it was actually Hux?

In the films themselves, it’s never really explained why such a young officer like Hux has so much authority within the First Order, even over older, more experienced officers. The films don’t really paint the picture of a young, brilliant officer who works up the ranks through his cleverness and ingenuity. Hux is portrayed as someone who is rather arrogant in his abilities, despite his moments of incompetence. In the books, it is explained that his father was a high ranking officer in the First Order, and he basically was given his position through inheritance. You could keep this idea, but it turns out his inheritance is actually a lot more significant than we thought.

You could keep Hux alive until the final battle, and have him speak to Palpatine instead of Pryde during the hologram scene, and Palpatine could even call him his “grandchild”. Yes, Hux isn’t Force-senstive, but neither was his actual son (or clone son) in canon, apparently. Also, young Palpatine was always depicted as having red hair, so Hux already fits the physical description as his potential grandchild. And if it was revealed that Hux was the heir to the Empire, it would add another layer to why Hux is so desperate to depose Kylo Ren and take over the First Order himself. He feels like it his birthright.