Skip to main content

star wars - What Happened to TK-421?


TK-421 was the call number of the Stormtrooper that was sent on the Millenium Falcon to investigate it once it was captured in the Death Star 1's tractor beam following their jump to the Alderaan system. TK-421 and another Trooper entered the Falcon, were ambushed, and Han and Luke emerged wearing their armor.


So, clearly their bodies would not be dragged off the ship because that would draw attention. So we can assume that their bodies (alive or dead) left the Death Star with the Rebels and brought (assuming they weren't jettisoned into deep space) to Yavin 4...


Is there any evidence (Legends or Canon) that details his fate or that deals with the whereabouts of these Stormtroopers?


EDIT: Also includes the scanning crew... are they amongst the dead stormtroopers?



Answer




He died (see below).


Basically every source is contradictory on this one. The official novelisation states that he/they were simply stunned, however the new (and hence fully canon) Star Wars Junior novelisation gives the very strong impression that he/they were killed by Han.



He had to give them a little credit—both stormtroopers were quick reaching for their guns, but very few in the galaxy were faster on the draw than Han. The two stormtroopers fell just as hard as the scanner crew did. “Nice shooting,” Luke said, clapping Han on the shoulder.


A New Hope: the Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy



This concurs with the older junior novelisation. Interestingly, the scanner crew weren't killed in this version, just knocked out.



The two stormtroopers glanced at each other, then marched up the landing ramp. They had no idea that the scanning crew had already been knocked out, and that it had been the Falcon’s captain who’d summoned them into the ship.


Han fired his blaster pistol twice. The stormtroopers never knew what hit them.



Star Wars: A New Hope - Junior Novelisation



(Note that Han's blaster doesn't have a stun setting).




That being said, in the Star Wars: Fact File, it's noted that the guards were merely stunned.



The prospect of leaving his escape from the battle station in the hands of an old man did nothing to improve Han Solo's temper. However, the calm air of confidence Kenobi exuded soothed Solo's doubts. Stunning the scanning crew and the two stormtroopers was not difficult. The overconfident Imperials had left no other guards.


Official Star Wars: Fact File 37



But which conflicts with the Star Wars Radio Play




COMM VOICE: What's your situation there?


2ND TROOPER: Sir, we're in the command office overlooking the captured starship. The scanning crewmen on the ship were knocked unconscious, and the guards have been shot.


COMM VOICE: Any sign of the Rebels?


2ND TROOPER: None, sir.



Which actually lines up with the early draft script.



GUARD: You have business here?


The guard is Han Solo. He struggles to hide a large blood stain under his right arm.



OFFICER: I thought I heard something down here.





As to why the trooper armour doesn't have any blood/scorch marks, this was addressed by authorised Star Wars artist Chris Trevas in his iconic "The Folly of TK-421" picture, commissioned by Lucasfilm in 2015 as part of their annual Star Wars Celebration


enter image description here




With regard to the ultimate disposition of his body/their bodies, only the official novelisation seems to address this. Note that this source indicates that he was stunned rather than killed, but regardless he was found aboard the Millennium Falcon before they escaped.



Someone finally discovered the two unconscious guards tied in the service lockers on board the captured freighter. Both men remained comatose despite all efforts to revive them.


Under the direction of several bickering officers, troopers carried their two armorless comrades down the ramp and toward the nearest hospital bay.



Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - A Novel



Thus even if he didn't die from his wounds, it strongly suggests that he died on the Death Star when it exploded.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

star trek - Warning regarding forward saucer section in Nemesis?

In Star Trek: Nemesis , just before the Enterprise rams into the Scimitar, Picard sends a text message from his captain's chair arm pad to Troi — who is manning the helm in lieu of the crewman who was just blown out through what was once the view screen — indicating that she should put full impulse on standby. (Literally, if you watch the scene closely, Troi's console prefaces the order with "TXT MSG" !) My question is: Did Picard also somehow warn crew members in the forward saucer section about what was about to happen? The ramming of the Scimitar was a heat of the moment decision. Considering that he also resorted to calling the auto-destruct sequence shortly after (which ended up being offline), he probably was of the mindset that any losses would be acceptable in order to hault Shinzon's march to Earth. Still, I'm curious. Answer The original script indicates that he called for the crew to " brace for impact ". Whether that call (or the comma...

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...