Is Captain Phasma the Pilot of the Crashed TIE Fighter in Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
The mystery of Captain Phasma has been escalating ever since her first appearance in the second Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Despite finally getting confirmation that Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie was the chromed-out stormtrooper, and even though we’ve seen her in full armor in the Vanity Fair The Force Awakens photo-shoot, there is relatively nothing that is really known about her.
Last week’s San Diego Comic-Con saw Star Wars take over Hall H, and even though there was no new The Force Awakens trailer, there was a behind the scenes video shown. In this video, a chrome and red TIE fighter is seen crashed into the desert planet of Jakku. Knowing that the other TIE’s in the film do not share that same chrome and red paint-scheme, one assumption can be made — Gwendoline Christie’s Captain Phasma is the pilot of the crashed elite-chromed TIE Fighter. The crashed TIE appears at :25. Watch and see what you think.
The contextual clues as to the identity of the elite TIE Fighter’s pilot can be seen in the second The Force Awakens trailer, in two spots. For the sake of time, we’ll just look at GIFs of each scene.
Captain Phasma walking down a hallway in what looks like an underground bunker. Notice, first her chrome armor, and second the red strip on her cape (which could be the underlining of the cape).
Now take a look at the elite TIE Fighter chasing the Millennium Falcon from later in the trailer. Notice the chrome flight suite and what appear to be two red stripes on the helmet (although they could be explained away by red light reflection onto the shiny chrome).
Next let’s look at concept art of the scene, compared to the actual screen-grab of the crashed TIE Fighter from the behind the scenes video.
Notice there are two main continuing themes in each piece of evidence in the mystery of the pilot of the crashed TIE Fighter:
- Chrome.
- Red stripes/underlining/light reflection.
What we do know about Captain Phasma, is that she is the leader of an elite squad of First Order stormtroopers. She appears to be working directly under Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux.
So, is it possible that Captain Phasma is the pilot of the crashed elite TIE Fighter? Possibly, in fact, I would hazard a yes. Remember too, that John Boyega’s Finn, is a stormtrooper deserter on the run from a Star Destroyer above Jakku, and the rumor was that Captain Phasma was on orders from General Hux to hunt him down. It seems as if Finn causes quite a bit of damage during his escape from the Star Destroyer.
Notice how the TIE Fighters in the above GIF are white with black outlines. Perhaps the scenario is this: Finn escapes with Poe Dameron from the Star Destroyer under General Hux’s command. During their escape, the two fugitives decide to cause some chaos and make some mayhem, blowing-up a TIE Fighter hangar during their exit. They race to the planet Jakku’s surface, where one or both of them escape and from there, they run into Rey and at some point board the Millennium Falcon while escaping. General Hux sends his elite unit of stormtroopers to the planet to apprehend the deserter and the escaped prisoner of war, and during the ensuing air battle, Captain Phasma — piloting the chrome TIE Fighter — gives them a merry chase. Whomever is piloting the Falcon, be it Han Solo — Rey — Finn or Poe — out-maneuvers Phasma in her elite TIE, and cause her to crash.
I believe the Chromed-Captain will walk away from the crash and continue her hunt for Poe and Finn. Then again, I’m probably completely off, and the pilot is some unnamed elite TIE Pilot from Phasma’s squad. Either way, whether or not Gwendoline Christie’s Captain Phasma is the pilot of the chrome and red crashed TIE, remains to be unconfirmed. So, for now, we will have to just continue speculating and waiting on December 18, when The Force Awakens hits theaters.
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