Top Gun 2018 -

The mission. Four Super Hornets against five drones. The canyon is a blender of granite walls and SAM radar.

FLASHBACK (quick cut): His father, Hollywood, sobbing at a dining table, 1995. "Maverick left me hanging. He broke high aspect. I took the fault. I took everything ."

Jake breaks down. Maverick pulls him into a one-armed hug. top gun 2018

Jake slams the stick. A 9G turn. Black encroaches on his vision. He pulls lead, the piper on the drone's engine exhaust. He fires.

Maverick: "He said, 'Tell my son I was wrong. And tell Pete... thanks for the save.'" The mission

Then he hears Maverick, calm as stone: "I never left your father, Jake. He left himself. Now break— break right —and end this."

We learn the truth via a private scene with Iceman (text-to-speech device): "Hollywood broke formation on a live-fire exercise in '92. He almost killed you, Jake. You were a baby in the back seat. Maverick took the blame to save his career. Your father never forgave him for the mercy." FLASHBACK (quick cut): His father, Hollywood, sobbing at

The mission: "Operation Afterburn."

Training is brutal. Maverick pushes Jake into unrecoverable scenarios—engine flameouts, flat spins, head-on merges. During one mock dogfight, Jake gets a missile lock on Maverick but refuses to fire, screaming, "I won't be you!"

His RIO (unnamed) sighs. "Sundown... you locked up."