Page 28 - Star Wars Insider #176

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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