ST Finn & Rey in Episode IX

I should've specified that Finn-Rey is the only romantic relationship that works well, as Finn and Poe play off each other very well.

I think it's telling that one of the only times we see Rey smile in TLJ is when she hugs Finn near the base, he's really the only person she feels comfortable enough to let her guard down around; their connection is strong. In the novelization even Kylo senses it and becomes jealous.

 

Rey comes off as if she's not attracted to Finn at all.

 

JJ himself said that Rey falls for Finn in the commentary. Yes he was lying about being in the Resistance, but at no point does that change considering she tells him to stay even when she finds out the truth. There are other bits in the script and novel that support attraction from her end as well. But the point is that she is canonically, physically attracted to him. According to the script she already adores him, and both novelisations do rather blatantly hint at attraction. We just don't know where it will go from here. But I definitely believe that there was something being set up between them. It wouldn't be unreasonable for JJ to continue it.

Out of all the possible romances, a Finn/Rey romance would make the most sense in the context of the situation.

 

I think Rose is an argument against romantic Finn/Rey. I don't see them ending that relationship after establishing it throughout the second movie and having it all lead up to an onscreen kiss. I'd say Finn is now more like a protective older brother to Rey.

 

How did you come to that conclusion because I get the opposite impression? He's the potential love-interest to Rey and protective brother to Rose.

 

Lol. Doesn't really feel like there was even a relationship established. Kiss came outta nowhere and noticably awkward from Finn. Besides the fact that I barely saw attraction or even that kind of tension from Rose, there was none from Finn's. It's why he was so confused by that weird kiss. A romance between them would be pretty meh and mostly for Rose. I don't even think anyone's that emotionally invested in it tbh.

If anything, I don't see JJ letting the relationship he built between Rey and Finn go stagnant for no reason. If Rose is supposed to be the argument, she's a pretty weak one. She doesn't understand- nor does she ever try to understand Finn the way that Rey does.

 

I posted the following elsewhere...but since it points out the issues with the above statement....I feel it bears repeating.

 

@Adept I already saw your post in the other thread, there's no need to spam the same message for my sake.

 

Another point in it's favor actually. We don't have to make the story 'About' their relationship for it all to work. JJ can just show it being a thing, and show them growing and succeeding together and apart. Being their own people while still loving one another. I mean Star Lord and Gamorra have clearly been pretty stable since Vol 1 (though they've had disagreements and conflict), don't see why that wouldn't work here....especially since it's also worked for Ant-man & The Wasp, T'challa and Nakia, Quorra & Sam Fynn, Elizabeth & Will Turner etc. I mean, you don't have to make a couple enemies to make it interesting. Heck Spock and Uhura in JJ's Abrams Trek manage to have a fair bit of conflict without making one of them start out evil.

 

Honestly I think RJ loved Reylo so much he explicitly created Rose to get Finn out of Rey’s story. I mean, I believe him that he oddly couldn’t distinguish between Finn and Poe’s characters when writing them together, but he clearly found Finnmance to be the better alternative. Just look at how TLJ ended. Finn and Rey get a great hug, but then have no dialogue. Rey watches Finn with Rose and then talks to Poe and Leia. Rose was a wedge between them even when they were reunited.

But I agree that there’s no way that was part of any plan. It was an RJ thing. JJ might respect it going forward, although I don’t think he should, or he might go back to what he was building in TFA. Of course, I in no way buy the “friendzone” stuff from TFA. JJ doesn’t write that way. It’s a very teenage soap opera way of looking at bonds and I don’t think that’s overall how JJ does things, besides the fact that that juvenile approach to relationships doesn’t belong in Star Wars. The only teen angst I recall JJ writing is Felicity. He could have had Felicity friendzone or whatever Noel, but he didn’t. Felicity cared for Noel and was attracted to him. She just ended up deeply in love with someone else. I always felt Noel was still a character written with respect. Writing a character to angst for another that’s friendzoning him/her is the opposite of writing a character with respect.

 

I actually don't think RJ wanted Rose to be with Finn, for the reasons I mentioned. I DO think he wanted her to provide friction between the two which is why we get that shot of Rey watching Finn and Rose...simply put Rey is being set up to misunderstand their relationship....which WOULD explain why nothing major happens off screen between the pair in the time until the next film. I also think his Reylo stuff is more of a subversion than people are thinking. I mean when it's all said and done...the "conflicted loner" chooses to remain in darkness, and the woman that was trying to help him actually get's a clue and essentially drops him by films end.

That is my read of the situation as presented on film.

 

See I saw Rey and Kylo's relationship being overall strengthened in TLJ and the door close being temporary. I say that because I don't see much romantic attraction between Rey towards Finn, and Finn was (poorly) paired up with Rose.

Food for thought: Who's the new trio? Finn, Rey, and Kylo as implied in TFA with all three being introduced to the audience wearing masks or is it Rey, Poe, and Finn as implied in TLJ?

 

I'm not trying to turn this into the rey/kylo vs rey/finn thread, as every thread eventually ends up focusing on Kylo, but I think the end of TLJ, with Luke's speech, along with the dice fading from Kylo's hand indicates that Kylo had his chance to stop being a villain but threw all of it away. So it's Rey Finn and Poe who are inheriting the legacy of...whatever.

Even if he is redeemed, he's not inheriting the Falcon or leading the next generation of edgy grey jedi babies. He's gonna die, be exiled or locked up. He's not gonna be able to return to the Resistance and expect everyone including Finn and Poe to forgive him, or do anything besides blow his head off. It's a ridiculous notion. Otherwise there's no lesson learned for him except that he can do whatever he wants and still gets to be a hero because he's a Skywalker, which completely throws away the supposed "message" of the nobody thing.

I also believe that Rey rejecting Kylo and shutting the door in his face pretty much has to be permanent otherwise there's no empowering message behind it. She gave Kylo a chance, a nonsensical one at that which wasn't even deserved in the slightest and he blew it and threatened her and basically ordered her death after becoming the new space hitler. So no I don't believe that relationship was strengthened in the end. And Rey managing to still fall for him would be pretty damaging for her character as it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever.

And being back with Finn in IX as confirmed kinda gives me confidence in where it's headed. And yes it's canon that Rey at the very least adores Finn and finds him attractive. Will they fall in love and 100% establish a romance? I'm confident that JJ would go in that direction as he's the one who laid the groundwork in the first place, but I don't know the future.

 

I never saw the post, so I appreciate him posting it here for us to read.

 

Rian Johnson forcing Finn to be assaulted by Rose to 1) Remove him from Poe and 2) remove him from Rey as a potential suitor (and connection) will always tick me off.

 

TL is the most ambiguous Star Wars movie for me and so I've reallly got to wait for Episode 9 to come out before I can look back and see how I was supposed to take certain actions. For example, Rey and the Dark Side was very nebulous to me and I couldn't tell if certain actions of hers such as going to the Cave and attacking Luke were supposed to be examples of her about to Fall or Rian Johnson showing that the Dark Side is nothing inherently to be afraid of. Same thing with Kylo. Was Rey seeing deeper than Luke or was she seeing something that was all but gone and that Kylo purposefully extinguished when he decided to keep destroying the Resistance and his mother?

Rey and Finn have great chemistry, but as friends. Finn was attracted to Rey, but Rey gave little indication in TFA that she was attracted to Finn. Also, Kylo comes across more as Rey's equal (though she beats his ass plenty) whereas in TFA, it really felt like Rey was superior to Finn. Rey could pilot, and fight, and was Force Sensitive, and understand multiple languages but Finn couldn't do any of that and was running around with his mouth agape.

 

I disagree with this. Rey is not given to overt displays of romanticism, that said her growing fondness for Finn is VERY clear. She goes from not even wanting him to hold her hand to initiating a hug when she realizes he came back for her and later even kissing him and promising him they'll see one another again. For Rey this is significant, and is born out in TLJ when she ensures that Finn will receive a message from her in case she dies, and later hugs him, smiling happily when she is reunited with him.

Kylo is not Rey's equal where it actually counts. Finn is a capable soldier, and despite not having the force was able to injury Kylo Ren and later knock Phasma down (Despite her having blaster proof armor). However, where Finn outshines Kylo and proves himself Rey's equal is in their morality. Kylo Ren has proven time and again that he is a horrible person. He killed his father for power, killed Snoke for power, tried to wipe out the past by destroying the resistance, promised Luke he'd kill Rey and rule it all. In the two movies we've seen Kylo Ren has managed to get worse instead of better.

Finn on the other hand started out as a man who just wanted to escape the First Order...yet he keeps helping people even when it's not in his own best interest. If he really was a selfish coward then he should've pulled the trigger when all the other Storm Troopers gunned down a village of innocent people. If he didn't really care about anyone else he never would've tried to help Rey when she was being mugged. Over and over again Finn keeps helping people because in the end he can't actually stand to see others suffer. Finn is Rey's equal when it comes to their goals and morality and that's far more important than flying a starship...and since that skill can be learned along with others, trying to use that as a reason to keep them apart comes across as shallow to me.

 

It also wouldn't be the first time he's filmed an Interracial Couple



So if that is JJ's intent...it's going to happen now.

 

Eh. For all the reasons people how said on this thread for Rey and Finn to be together, I wouldn't count this reason at all.

Just because JJ did an interracial couple in a previous franchise, gives no grounds for a foundation that he'd do it in Star Wars, just because. Basically I'm saying don't use "JJ has done interracial couples before" as a reason. It actually hinders the purer reasons for a Finn and Rey relationship.

I'd stick to your other reasons and the other reasons people have posted.