Raymus Antilles/Legends

"Nice work, Captain. I owe you one."

- Bail Organa

Raymus Antilles was a prince of Alderaan and the captain of the Alderaan Diplomatic Cruiser Tantive IV from the time of the Clone Wars until his death in 0 BBY at the hands of Darth Vader. He served the Royal Alderaan Civil Fleet under Senator Bail Organa.

Biography
Raymus Antilles was a native of the peaceful planet Alderaan, a member of the prominent House of Antilles, the uncle of Corla Metonae and related to Queen Breha Organa. He wore the iconic gray uniform of an Alderaan starship captain, and carried a target blaster.



Following the transmission of Order 66, Captain Antilles recovered a Jedi homing beacon from the ruined Jedi Temple, encountering opposition from clone troopers of the 501st Legion in the process. The beacon helped Bail Organa locate Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Captain Antilles transported the Jedi back to Coruscant, and later ferried the weary Masters to the medical center of Polis Massa.

When Bail returned to Alderaan aboard the Tantive IV, it was in the company of the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, as well as Bail's newly-adopted child, Leia. To preserve the truth of the girl's parentage, Bail ordered Antilles to have C-3PO's memory wiped, though R2-D2 managed to avoid this fate.

Over the next nineteen years, Raymus Antilles continued to command the Tantive IV, but was separated from C-3PO and R2-D2 until almost immediately before 0 BBY.

Early during the Galactic Civil War, Raymus fought for the Rebel Alliance, commanding the modified Corellian Corvette Sundered Heart which participated in the Battle of Kuat. He personally destroyed six Imperial shipyards in orbit of the planet, in order to begin the operation of stealing the X-wing prototypes. He also attacked fleet of Imperial ships transporting Rebels, saving them from certain death. He was involved in many other missions for the rebel cause. Later, while back in command of the Tantive IV, he was part of the mission which intercepted plans for the Death Star. During the Battle over Tatooine, he commanded Blue Squadron from the cockpit of the Tantive IV. When the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Devastator captured his ship and the 501st Legion stormed the cockpit, he was captured and taken to Darth Vader. The Sith Lord strangled Antilles to death after he refused to give information on the location of the Death Star plans.

Despite sharing the same surname, Captain Antilles was not related to Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles.

Behind the scenes
Raymus Antilles was played by Peter Geddis and Rohan Nichol in A New Hope and Revenge of the Sith, respectively. He was voiced by David Ackroyd in the Star Wars radio drama and by Stephen Stanton in Star Wars: Empire at War.

George Lucas proposed to Denis Lawson, the actor that played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy, to make a cameo as Raymus Antilles (much as Jeremy Bulloch had a cameo as Captain Jeremoch Colton). However, Lawson turned down the offer, and Lucas returned to his original choice, Nichol.

Rohan Nichol suffered an accidental shaving incident leaving a noticeable nick on his chin that would not stop bleeding prior to filming for Revenge of the Sith. After apologizing to George Lucas for the blemish, the latter jokingly responded that the character "must have gotten it in the Clone Wars."

According to Chapter 5 of the Visual Guides, Raymus weighs 79 kilograms.

Raymus vs Colton
C-3PO refers to a "Captain Colton" in the novelization of Episode IV. 3PO would refer to Jeremoch Colton, however the name Colton Antilles was also given in C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid, as the captain strangled by Vader. Furthermore, actor Peter Geddis who played "Captain Antilles" in A New Hope does not appear to be nineteen years older than Rohan Nichol in Revenge of the Sith.

Therefore, it was perhaps originally intended that the character seen in Revenge of the Sith was not the same "Captain Antilles" killed by Darth Vader; Colton was originally identified as a possible Raymus Antilles's son, named in honor of the latter's colleague, Jeremoch Colton (who was perhaps introduced in continuity to explain the reference to 'Captain Colton' in the novelization).

However Leland Chee confirmed later that the captains in both films are the same individual ; this retcon, if indeed there has been one, is surprising, since not only it erases the 'Colton' character mentioned by C-3PO from canon (unless he refers to Jeremoch Colton), but it also brings about the inconsistency of age and appearance between the two actors. Further, in Empire at War, Raymus usually pilots the Sundered Heart, yet is tasked by Mon Mothma to captain the Tantive IV when it received the transmission that set off ANH. While his fate is not shown on-screen in the campaign, Mon Mothma believes him to be dead when the Empire explains the disappearance of the ship as pirate-related, correctly guessing that they tried to obscure their own actions.

Appearances

 * Bailed Out
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Captain Threepio
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars Empire: Princess... Warrior
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * ''Death Star
 * Star Wars radio drama
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Journal: Captive to Evil
 * Trooper
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * X-wing: Wraith Squadron
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Shield of Lies

Notes and references
Raymus Antilles