Page 82 - Star Wars Insider #181

FINN’S CONTINUING JOURNEY

Rose is the 10
angel on Finn’s

shoulder, and
new ally DJ

is the devil.

reaction is awe and admiration until
Rose leads him to a balcony to take
a closer look at the bad treatment of
the fathiers and their child handlers.
Heroic journeys are about rising beyond
adolescence, where individuals with a
simplistic understanding of life begin to
comprehend the nuances of a broader, 11
more mature, and realistic perspective.
Facing choices posed by Canto Bight,
Rose is the angel on Finn’s shoulder,
and new ally DJ is the devil. He too
adds context to Finn’s understanding:
wealthy arms dealers didn’t just sell
to the First Order, but also to the New
Republic and Resistance. War is good for
business. DJ, whose nickname stands for
“Don’t Join,” suggests that Finn should
stick with his self-serving mindset, as
when he left Rey in Maz’s castle, and
watch out for his own interests. Despite
the many ways life has taught Finn that
people and organizations are fl awed, the
faith put in him by Poe, Rey, Han, Leia,
Chewbacca, Maz, and now Rose have
made an impression. Kylo Ren saw in
Finn the moral compass to do the right
thing, and the trooper formerly known
as FN-2187 chooses to stay on that path. defeat her alone. Rose offers an assist 10 Rose and Finn race to the
before he lands the triumphant blow. rescue of the endangered
Failure: The Best Lesson Finally able to look Phasma in the eye, Resistance fleet.
In the end, Finn and Rose do not Finn accepts the mantle of “rebel scum” 11 In confronting Captain
Phasma (Gwendoline
succeed in the objective of their before she falls into the fi ery bloom
Christie), Finn finally
mission, but does this render their below the hangar deck. Finn fi nally accepts who he is.
subplot futile or even worthless? Far becomes the person others had seen in
from it. Across storytelling, including him. The Battle of Crait reinforces the

in film, there is a powerful legacy of change in him that occurred on the
telling tales where the characters don’t Supremacy. When the siege cannon is until Poe realizes the meaning of
accomplish what they set out to do, revealed, Finn does not hesitate this Skywalker’s apparent sacrifi ce.
from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to time: he wants to fight, to stall for time As the small band of Resistance

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). until Leia’s allies can arrive. When the fighters led by Poe retreats through
But if the mission to thwart the First ski speeder attack wilts under the First the crystal caverns, Rey is waiting for
Order’s active tracking system is viewed Order’s onslaught, Finn is willing to give them on the other side, having faced
through the lens of molding Finn into up his own life to save the others—only her own decisions. Amid the fl uttering
a hero of the Resistance, then it is an stopped at the last moment by Rose’s saltflakes of Crait, the two heroes

undeniable success. intervention. When Luke Skywalker are reunited—and the next stage of
During his fight on the Supremacy strides out to face the First Order alone, their journeys to become a Jedi and a

with Captain Phasma, Finn cannot Finn wants to aid the legendary fi gure Resistance hero is about to begin.

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