Warning, here be spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick. If you’ve not watched the movie yet, this will give away plot points that might ruin your enjoyment of the film.
A popular theory states that Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is dead for most of the sequel to the 1986 hit movie. In this theory, it is said that he dies when the Darkstar, traveling in excess of Mach 10, suffers catastrophic failure, as the human body cannot withstand the speed outside an encapsulated environment, so ejection would prove instantly fatal.
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According to the fan theory, the remainder of the film is a ‘death dream’ in which Maverick comes face to face with his own mortality, grieves the loss of Goose and Iceman, and rectifies his past. While I do agree that Maverick dies in the film, I disagree with the point in time in which it occurs.
The Darkstar was shown to be built by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division, the same division responsible for the SR-71 “Blackbird”, a high-altitude supersonic reconnaissance jet.
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It’s worth noting that on January 25th, 1966, the SR-71 suffered a catastrophic failure at Mach 3.2, in which the crew not only had the vessel disintegrate around them but survived thanks to their pressure suits. It stands to reason that Lockheed Martin would have taken this into consideration in the creation of their successive projects. In fact, Kelly Johnson (the founder of the Skunk Works) commented on the efficiency of the pressure suits:
“We set ourselves a very high goal in providing crew escape systems. We were determined to develop a system good for zero escape velocity on the ground and through the complete flight spectrum, having speeds above Mach 3 at 100,000 feet. We did achieve our design goals…. I have never been convinced that a capsule ejection is required for anything other than high velocity re-entry from outer space. Our escape system in a very important sense really provides a capsule, which is the pressure suit, which is surely capable of meeting the speeds and temperatures likely to be encountered in the near future of manned aircraft.”
“Some Development Aspects of the YF-12A Interceptor Aircraft”, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, Vice President, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California, July 1969. As quoted in Miller, Jay, “Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works”, Midland Publishing Ltd., page 212, middle of column 2
Indeed, we can see Maverick wearing a pressure suit as he prepares and pilots the Darkstar. With the G-forces over three-times that of the SR-71 failure, the argument could be made that the pressure suit was not built to survive such a failure, but Johnson’s commentary regarding the YF-12A (a prototype supersonic interceptor that preceded the SR-71) suggests that Skunk Works would plan for ‘the complete flight spectrum’ and that Maverick’s pressure suit would be sufficient to ensure his survival.
Having established the plausibility of Maverick’s Mach 10.4 survival, the movie continues as Maverick returns to Top Gun, reunites with Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (the son of Maverick’s RIO “Goose” in the original film), as well as Penny Benjamin, a one-time flame mentioned in passing in 1986 (“…high speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral’s daughter!”).
Fast-forward to Maverick leading the final mission of the movie, an incursion into an unnamed enemy territory to destroy an enriched uranium plant before it can come online, in a sequence straight out of Star Wars. Following a high-speed trench run flight through a canyon to evade SAM placements, the pilots must destroy a three-meter exhaust port ventilation shaft with precision strikes. Of course, the mission is a success, but the exfiltration sees the team come under attack as they are forced into the SAM radar envelope and immediately besieged from all sides. Missiles are flying, jets are evading, and flares fill the sky as they make their way out of enemy territory: until Rooster’s jet runs out of flares with a pair of missiles closing.
Maverick returns to a maneuver we’ve seen again and again from the first time he performed it in the original film, slowing his jet, pulling back on the stick, and deploying his own flares directly above Rooster to counter the first missile. Having bled off too much air speed, however, he is struck by the second missile and goes down.
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The other jets leave the area, and we see Maverick has ejected safely and has parachuted to the ground, where he is met by a Mil MI-24 Hind attack helicopter. Not only does he dodge a barrage of autocannon fire by hiding behind a fallen tree, the helicopter is destroyed as Rooster returns to the scene and is shot down by a missile.
Maverick and Rooster reunite, and make their way to a destroyed enemy airfield, where they find the only intact aircraft: an F-14 Tomcat; Maverick’s pride and joy from the original film. Here, Maverick gets to shine as Rooster takes on the back-seat role of the RIO just like his father had so many years ago. We see some fantastic flying and action sequences, as Maverick and the F-14 take on two 5th generation fighters and win despite the superior technology of the enemy planes.
A third enemy fighter almost destroys the F-14, but for the timely intervention of the backup fighter piloted by Hangman, the cocky, ambitious pilot that didn’t make the cut to join the primary mission. Having lost his front landing gear, Maverick performs a hard landing on the deck of the carrier, and returns to San Diego a hero, where we see him enjoy a happy relationship with Rooster and a rekindled romance with Penny, flying off into the sunset to the sound of Lady Gaga singing a love song.
However, when we examine the sequence, we realize that Maverick likely did not survive the missile strike or his jet crashing at low altitude. He simply didn’t have time to eject. What comes after the impact is a perfect buttoned-up resolution to all of Maverick’s failings thus far, and it allows him to be the hero of his own story before the lights go out.
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Not only does everything line up perfectly to allow an aging pilot (granted, with demonstrably amazing flying skills) to defeat two vastly superior enemy jets, but he repairs every relationship that matters. Just as he’s about to have his happy moment, Penny’s daughter Amelia (named for a famous pilot who crashed and was never found, mind you) steps into his line of sight and simply looks as though she’s waiting for him before showing him where to go.
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This is punctuated by the flight into the sunset and the lyrics of the song “Hold my Hand” that plays in the final shot:
Hold my hand, everything will be okay
I heard from the heavens that clouds have been grey
Pull me close, wrap me in your aching arms
I see that you’re hurtin’, why’d you take so longTo tell me you need me? I see that you’re bleeding
You don’t need to show me again
But if you decide to, I’ll ride in this life with you
I won’t let go ’til the endSo cry tonight
Hold My Hand, Lady Gaga 2022
But don’t you let go of my hand
You can cry every last tear
I won’t leave ’til I understand
Promise me, just hold my hand
Songwriters: Michael Tucker and Stefani Gemanotta
Copyright Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Hold My Hand is not a love song; this is a song of mourning and grief for the loss of someone you love. This is Maverick’s goodbye, a song to usher him into the afterlife.
I know you’re scared and your pain is imperfect
Hold My Hand, Lady Gaga 2022
But don’t you give up on yourself
I’ve heard a story, a girl, she once told me
That I would be happy again
Songwriters: Michael Tucker and Stefani Gemanotta
Copyright Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Official Website of Jay Koster 