- Antilles skill as a pilot can clearly be seen to be lacking. In the Battle of Yavin,
Antilles, already a pilot with training and combat experience under his belt, is made
subordinate to Luke Skywalker - a teenage farmboy with NO
experience with the squadron, NO experience in
combat, and NO experience flying an X-Wing
starfighter. Obviously Wedge's superiors felt that this boy - whom they had never even
seen before, let alone had a chance to evaluate his performance and abilities - was a
better pilot and leader than Antilles.
- Even sadder, a person of whom their commanders feel is so bad as to place them under the
command of a total rookie was later placed in command of the Rebel Alliance's so-called elite
fighter squadron.
- Word of Wedge's lack of flying skills was so prevalent that it had already spread down
to the newest member of the X-Wing squadron, Luke Skywalker. This is evident in the fact
that when Skywalker was under attack by a TIE Fighter, he called to Biggs Darklighter for
assistance, rather than the much closer Wedge Antilles. Following Wedge's near-suicidal
attack at the TIE, Skywalker was obliged to say a small 'Thanks, Wedge' - while probably
thanking the Force at the same time for Wedge not having hit him.
- Once again, the confidence placed in Wedge by his superiors was shown in the fact that
he was left for the VERY LAST group to make an attack on the thermal
exhaust port.
- During the trench run on the Death Star, Antilles was slightly singed by a blast from a
pursuing TIE. Following this one hit, Antilles pulls out and leaves his comrades to die.
The blast would seem to have caused extremely little operational damage, evidenced by the
fact that he safely flew his X-Wing back to Yavin 4 and landed without incident.
- But even if one were to believe the explanation that a stabiliser had been hit and he
would have been a danger to remain in the trench, why did he not circle around and strafe
the pursuing TIEs? Lord Vader even specifically said to leave him - why did he not make
use of this tactical advantage? It could easily have saved the life of Biggs Darklighter.
Or was there a reason Vader let him go? Was Antilles working for the Dark Lord?
- Antilles memory is obviously not the best, either. In later years, he would constantly
refer to the group that attacked the first Death Star as Rogue Squadron. They weren't -
they clearly identified themselves as Red Group, as would the pilots of the same group
during the Battle of Endor. Only during the battle of Hoth were any of his group ever
referred to as Rogue group.
- In the credits of Star Wars, Wedge was so unimportant that they
spelled the actor's name wrong. It isn't Dennis Lawson, it's Denis Lawson. Only one 'n'.
- One of the few surviving pilots of the attack on the first Death Star did not even rank
highly enough during the Battle of Hoth to merit a wingman, as evidenced by the fact that
Luke Skywalker had to fly cover for him during an attack on an Imperial At-At.
- Of all the attributes you can ascribe to Antilles, modesty sure isn't one of them.
During the Battle of Hoth, Wedge and his gunman manage to down one of the At-At's, which
Skywalker commends Wedge for by saying "I see ya Wedge, good work". While
Antilles did fly the Snowspeeder, at least some credit goes to his gunner, Wes Janson.
Sure, Wedge did say "Good shot, Janson!", but he could have mentioned something
to Luke about giving credit where credit is due...
- What the hell happened to his accent between the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor?
- When attacking the second Death Star, Antilles surely failed to check his instruments,
or perhaps even turn them on. As the fighter wings approached the Death Star, he commented
that he got no reading from the Death Star, indicating that he could neither tell if the
shield was up or down. If the shield were down, he would get a reading saying that the
shield was down. If the shield was up, he would get a reading that the shield was up. In
the case where he gets no reading at all, it should surely be self-evident that scans are
being jammed, yet he still questioned if that was indeed the case. So either he had no
idea whatsoever about combat tactics, or he did not even have his computers switched on,
and was merely trying to cover his own incompetence.
- Undoubtedly, this hesitation cost several Rebel pilots their lives when the order to
pull up was finally given - too late in those several case. The few seconds that Antilles
took up being stupid would have made all the difference.
- As Antilles took the point leading a group of fighters and the Millennium Falcon
into the interior of the Death Star, he completely failed to warn Lando Calrissian that
the way ahead was actually too small for the Falcon to fit through, causing the
loss of the Falcon's subspace antennae dish.
- Following the Battle of Endor, Antilles took to marking his X-Wing with the symbols of
two Death Stars, in addition to all the TIE craft he had destroyed. In reality, he
deserved neither of these kill marks. The kill shot on the first Death Star belongs to
Luke Skywalker - Antilles caused little to no damage on the Death Star itself. The kill
mark for the second Death Star rightly belongs to Lando Calrissian. Antille's shot
destroyed a power regulation tower, which in itself would not have proved fatal for the
battle station. It was Calrissian's shot that triggered the detonation of the main
reactor. And even if one were to be lenient on these factors, standard military pilot
protocol dictates that only those who have the final kill shot may add the kill to their
tally - Antilles can claim neither, so his usurping of the kill marks is blatant slap in
the face to the skills of Skywalker and Calrissian. (No wonder
Luke only pops up once and Lando never turns up in the X-Wing novels or comics...)
- In said Rogue Squadron novels, what little flying skill Antilles may have had has
already eroded to the point that former police officers and millionaires are racking up
more kills. Also, Tycho Celchu seems to be presented as a better pilot, but is not
credited for his skill, and Wedge's flying is so bad that the vast majority of the series
supposedly inspired by Antilles is devoted to Corran Horn.
- Antilles later creates and leads "Wrath Squadron", a collection of lousy,
incompetent pilots. Apparently he decided to cover his own lack of skill by surrounding
himself with more of the same...
- In the LucasArts Rogue Squadron 3D game, the player spends ONLY 1 MISSION
as Antilles. (And it's a crappy Dark Empire one at that...)
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