Page 28 - Star Wars Insider #176
P. 28

HEROES




                       Jyn Erso
                         Archetype: Loner
                  Strengths: Survivor, hope, discipline

                    Sometimes before a person chooses
                     to become a hero to others, she
                must have the inner fortitude simply to
                survive, no matter how diffi cult the
                circumstances. Jyn Erso endures hardship
                upon hardship in her short life before
                making the ultimate selfl ess sacrifi ce for
                the Rebellion.

                  As a child, Jyn finds a life of luxury
                on Coruscant exchanged for a desolate
                farm on Lah’mu and a constant fear of
                discovery by the Empire. After watching
                Krennic murder her mother and abduct
                her father, Jyn is retrieved by her new
                guardian, the extremist rebel Saw Gerrera.
                Though she learns much from him about

                how to fight, his gruff demeanor and
                protectiveness of the secret of her identity
                as the daughter of an Imperial weapons
                scientist leaves the teenager with very
                little opportunity to trust anyone, much
                less make friends. When Saw abandons
                Jyn after a mission to spy on an Imperial
                factory is disastrously exposed, she is
                completely on her own.
                  Instead of succumbing to despair, Jyn
                relies upon her ingenuity to turn her skills
                into ways to survive. In the coming years
                she negotiates with pilots, smugglers,
                rebels, and Imperials to exchange her
                talents for the funds, transportation, or
                food and shelter she needs to make her
                way in an unforgiving galaxy. Even a
                lengthy imprisonment by the Empire,
                shielded by the alias Lianna Hallik, does
                not crack her will. Unlike other inmates,
                Jyn’s self-discipline allows her to keep her
                head down through the daily torments.
                Despite the seemingly inevitable doom
                of her situation, Jyn endures. When she
                is unexpectedly retrieved by agents of the
                Rebel Alliance, it is their appeal to her
                long-honed instincts of self-preservation
                that provides a reason to tentatively
                cooperate with their mission to contact
                Saw and investigate her father’s work.
                When she realizes the stakes and fi nds
                true camaraderie in her team, Jyn has
                the courage to think beyond herself and
                sacrifice herself for others.









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