ST Bond Between Finn and Rey Going Forward

um didn't RJ say that rey and luke is the center or heart of the film? unless it's ruke after all, any romance will not be central.

 

Rey and Kylo's dynamic was a centerpiece in TFA and it will be even more of a centerpiece in TLJ. They are the lead protagonist and antagonist, everything about their interactions with each other will be a centerpiece to the plot of each film in the trilogy. Rey and Luke's relationship will be the "heart" of the film, but that doesn't mean Rey and Kylo's dynamic is any less important. The marketing so far has been beating us over the head teasing their interactions. In my opinion, if the seeds were to be planted in TLJ for a potential romance to blossom in IX, Rian would have answered the romance question a lot differently than what he ended up doing.

 

JediAce1 i disagree with you and in any case i don't think seed planting (a la ANH) = central romance. i already gave the ANH example so i don't see the point in repeating (i will leave it to you to work out how seeds can be planted without it being a centerpiece - i can see it so i believe it's possible). also this isn't the rey and kylo thread so i'm not going to debate that. though i did notice that finn/rose disappeared from the discussion entirely.

i was really more interested in noting arguments i believe are untrue. i think it's untrue that only rey/finn romance hints can be non-central and i think it's untrue that RJ said nothing romantic whatsoever in TLJ! so my points are made.

(also i didn't say rey & kylo was unimportant nor was i implying it.)

 

Han and Leia were not the lead protagonist of ANH. Their relationship with each other was never a centerpiece in that film. On the other hand, Rey and Kylo are the Luke and Vader of the sequel trilogy. Their dynamic is a centerpiece for each film, especially TLJ. Using Han and Leia in ANH is a false equivalency to the lead protagonist and antagonist's relationship.

 

Yep Han and Leia were straight up supporting characters in ANH. Hell, Obi-Wan was the more important supporting character with Luke being the straight up solo lead. The next two movies obviously brought them to the forefront but it's not like the ST where Rey and Kylo Ren have been main characters from the beginning

 

I never called the reunion of heroes a romance. I said it was a deepening of a connection and a chance to introduce new wrinkles into the relationship. Things that could plausibly be explored further by JJ Abrams, who is the one that went out of his way to make Finn/Rey's initial dynamic and later interaction highly positive. It's not lost on me just how big an impact Finn coming to rescue her was for Rey. She didn't even want him holding her hand when they first met....and now she's initiating a hug. However, RJ (who admits he wished he could work a romance in) just didn't see any of the characters going in a romantic direction(Han and Leia Style, a burning passionate style, or an unrequited love style) at this time as the quote shows. Now JJ could explore romance in Episode 9...or he could just keep things friendly/family, it's all up to him since:



And JJ has already talked about taking the story in new directions, so there's no sword at his throat forcing him to do anything romantic if he dosen't want to or can't make it work.

 

I'm thinking, judging by other SW trilogies, that episode IX might wrap up the conflicts established and there might be no time for a central romance to bloom there.

 

Depends on time skip between TLJ and EP IX

 

luke was the main protagonist in ANH and he had a thing for leia. ANH had no central romance. do you see how romantic elements can be in stories without there being some full-blown han/leia-ish romance that is very central to the overall plot of the film? ANH has already given us this example, and with the main protagonist!

it doesn't really matter because you were projecting a course of romance for rey and finn throughout the ST. the reunion is an important piece in the "deepening of a connection" as you say, one that is leading towards actual romance in IX. you seem to think this can be in TLJ with rey and finn but are arguing against it in other cases. it's an example of how developments in a relationship are being set up towards romance without there being a central romance in the movie the set up is in. this is my entire point. if you are trying to argue something like there's no big romance in TLJ, i agree with that. RJ said there isn't. my point however is that this doesn't mean there is nothing at all even slightly romantic as you seemed to be claiming initially. RJ did not say that so if you are saying it, that's your idea and not what he said.

which is your interpretation of things that you are welcome to. my arguments remain the same.

 

If there is an undercurrent of romance in Rey and Kylo's interactions in TLJ, it is hard to see how it wouldn't be central. Meaning, we already know because LF keeps telling us that they have a connection. That connection is clearly going to be explored in TLJ. Either the connection has a romantic element to it, or it doesn't. If it has a romantic element to it, then yeah, central, otherwise it wouldn't be such an important point for LF to emphasize in the marketing and extended material.

But I'm not sure what that has to do with Rey and Finn... other than for some reason discussing the possibility of Rey and Finn possibly ending up romantic at some point is treated like it's a controversial topic.

 

because the characters themselves are not trying to pursue a romance with one another. their conflicts are over the main plot of the movie. it's kind of like how luke's little crush on leia was not a central romance. he wanted to help leia because she was beautiful and needed help. but he left tatooine because the empire murdered his family and there's nothing left for him - he wants to go with obi-wan and become a jedi like his father. when he finds leia on the death star he resumes his princess-rescue idea which there is a bit of a potential crush in it. they even kiss at one point. but there's no central romance.

the connection between rey and kylo can have a romantic element to it that comes out in IX but is not central in TLJ. i suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree.

what it has to do with finn and rey is that i wasn't even specifically talking about rey and kylo but merely saying that RJ didn't say no romance at all. this apparently leads to people trying to debunk all romance so as to debunk a rey/kylo romance. because it needs to be finn/rey vs. kylo/rey when imo both are possible.

 

The thing about the "well maybe VIII sets up the foundation for romance that blossoms in IX" is that it seems clear now the directors/writers aren't writing the films this way lol. RJ was not thinking about 9 at all and romance wasn't a priority for him whatsoever. It goes to show that there isn't any kind of endgame romance in mind that Kathleen Kennedy is demanding or something. RJ and JJ aren't putting their heads together to plan out a particular couple across three films.

JJ can apparently pick up or drop any threads he wants - it wouldn't even matter if RJ had featured a central romance in VIII because JJ can scrap it at will.

 

RJ didn't say there was no romance so whether it is finn/rose (most likely imo) or rey/kylo there may be something. and generally people can argue finn/rey set-ups but not call them set-ups when narratively they would be. if finn and rey have a touching reunion in VIII and then a romance in IX, obviously the entire course of their relationship before then was leading to this even though the story creators didn't necessarily pre-plan it all. it's that JJA has what RJ did and now he will take it in directions.

to deny this is possible for rey/kylo but not for finn/rey and finn/rose is imo simply untrue.

of course i also believe it's possible there won't really be *any* significant romance in the entire ST.

 

I find it super bizarre how people interpret the "no Han and Leia, burning, unrequited love" quote. Would you describe Anakin and Padme in The Phantom Menace as any of those things? No? And yet their dynamic still evolved into romance in Attack of the Clones. How about Han and Leia in A New Hope? Again, no. There was what could be interpreted as light flirtation, but no romance. Both films contain the backdrop that make future romance conceivable plot elements but neither revolve around central romances. Nothing about Rian's quote takes a romantic storyline off the table, one that would evolve over the course of the trilogy. What it does take off the table is a romance similar to romances we've experienced before in SW that begin and reach their high point in a single film. In both cases the following film revolves around the couples in established relationships (Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi). Obviously that's not what we're getting in the ST, but that doesn't mean VIII can't deliver a Phantom Menace or A New Hope backdrop to be further explored and fleshed out in IX.

 

You didn’t address my actual point, which is their connection that LF is promoting. The connection is central to their interactions in TLJ. If that connection contains a romantic element, whether Kylo asks her out on a date or just stares at her longingly, it’s (the connection) central.

 

yeah but rey and kylo are not the central thing in tlj, and the main conflict with them isn't going to suddenly be romantic either. their connection isn't the point of tlj, so neither is anything romantic that could begin to develop in it. their conflict is moral and their priorities are greater than omg are those romantic feelings? they're not going to be spending a significant chunk of the movie hiding in an asteroid and hitting on each other.

also i don't really feel like this rey kylo discussion belongs in this thread. i'm on my phone right now and it's too limited but if i reply again on this topic i'll probably do it in the rey kylo thread.

 

You say this as if you've seen the movie already. No one really knows at this point.

I'm struggling to see how the main protagonist and antagonist dynamic could be anything less than central to the plot.

 

It immediately stops ceases to be the definition of their dynamic if there is any romance between them. Full Stop.

 

Rey and Kylo are the primary protagonist and antagonist, respectively. Yes, their "connection" is central to the plot in TLJ. After Luke and Rey, it's getting the most focus in the marketing.

If they secretly wanna bang, that's the root of their "connection," whether it actually happens (which we know it won't) or the movie just makes it clear that they have some suppressed longing. They're not going to be jovially, briefly flirting like Luke and Leia. This movie is exploring whatever their intense, angsty connection is. LF tells us that explicitly. Exploring a connection that includes romantic attraction between these two characters really can't be anything but central.

Contrasted with Finn and Rey, who this thread is actually about, they could easily put in some simple ANH-style flirting that would certainly not be central. They could have an emotional reunion, and then move on to fighting the battle. It wouldn't be central, in that it isn't being developed throughout the movie. It could just be a brief moment showing how much they missed each other and are happy to see each other again.

 

So Finn and Rey...

 

Will likely be reunited on Crait before the final conflict in the film. Their interaction at this point will be telling.

 

[So we were introduced to Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens; what can audiences expect in The Last Jedi? Is romance on the cards?]

Everything is being shifted in the opposite way to what the audience expected after Star Wars: Episode VII. What’s happening with Rey and Finn? They are separate in this film. It’s like two separate stories. Rey is off doing her lightsaber stuff in the mountains somewhere and Finn is on a new adventure. In that sense, maybe they are in a long-distance relationship right now?
— John Boyega. (via swnews)

Source:swnews​

 

I love John's sense of humor, but I do seriously hope we get a nice reunion with them.

 

Where was the joke?