𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕀 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕟’𝕤
𝕒𝕣𝕔 𝕚𝕟
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕁𝕖𝕕𝕚

Before I begin let me clarify and ask you to correct anything I get wrong and I’ll be more than happy to correct myself on the matter!

A quick introduction. You all know him by now, but this is Finn. At the start of TFA, Finn was a stormtrooper, at the end, Finn was not, choosing to defect from the first order because he said -and I quote in the form of a gif-

Now jump to The Last Jedi. I see a lot of people clowning Finn for being shoved around and seemingly ‘sidelined’ for the bigger plot. I’m here today to argue that Finn’s arc means more than a lot care to imagine. For me, the message of his story is a powerful one.

We follow Finn through TFA as his story is simple. He wants to help Rey, but as soon as that’s done with, he wants to go. However after injury he’s stuck with the resistance- however that’s not where he needs to be from his perspective.

Finn wakes up in TLJ and his immediate focus is on Rey. He doesn’t care for the resistance as much as he maybe should. His allegiance lies with his attatchment to Rey- who is very much one of the first REAL things he knew outside of his life as FN-2187.

This why Rose is so much more important than fans give her credit for. Rose is Finn’s guidance for this film. We see he’s still into the idea of leaving the resistance. He needs to find Rey. He needs to make sure she’s safe. He doesn’t care about these other people-

But over the course of the film, Finn learns how to belong. You can’t tell me there’s been no progression when a man who is willing to drop everything for his own ideals is then willing to sacrifice himself come the end of the film. It’s blasphemy.

Canto Bight isn’t made for you to instantly fall in love with. You can have all the issues with Rose, or the whole CB segment but you can’t deny that it has significant effects on Finn as a person. Rose helps him see that the resistance is worth fighting for.

I think that’s the main problem. I think many people will look at that segment for the surface level enjoyment, rather than looking deeper at why it’s the way it is. That scene is staged from Finn’s perspective. We see that in his eyes this place seems amazing-

Which shows us how out of touch he is. The surface level of Canto Bight seems all nice and colourful, but everything behind that is bad. Thanks to Rose, Finn is helped to see this and grows as a result.

You may not like Finn’s arc in The Last Jedi: that’s completely okay! I’m not telling you you’re wrong for interpreting it differently but for me, Finn’s journey in TLJ is about love. Finding self worth and importance to an overall cause, and learning to fight for the good.

Finn learns from everything in this film. He grows from the person trying to sneak away into an escape pod, to the badass who takes on Captain Phasma before declaring himself to be a part of the good fight- something TFA Finn wouldn’t have done.

So many characters have complex arcs in TLJ, and Finn is no different. It just takes perspective to understand. His role to the larger plot may have been undervalued by some, and that may be true, but it’s so that his character could grow.

Personally I love Finn in TLJ. It’s such an emotional progression for TFA jar I’ll appreciate @rianjohnson and his film for telling this beautiful story, no matter the discourse. This is the man we wanted to see all along guys, and we couldn’t have seen it without TLJ.

Again; THANK YOU for reading, I appreciate any love or feedback you have for these! I enjoyed writing this one so I’d love to hear your own opinions; did you enjoy Finn’s arc? Or if not; what didn’t you like? What would you have changed?

-End of thread