Star Wars Episode IX: Duel Of The Fates - 10 Things We Learned From Colin Trevorrow's Leaked Script

7. Finn And Rose Actually Get Arcs

Star Wars Last Jedi Finn Rose
Lucasfilm

If there was a single character it's fair to say that the Sequel Trilogy wasted, then it has to be John Boyega's Finn. The First Order trooper-turned-Resistance-hero was an instant fan favourite in The Force Awakens, and while he didn't have as key a role in The Last Jedi, he had a clear arc that looked like it was set for a big pay-off in the finale.

Sadly, said arc amounted to little more than Finn shouting "Rey!" over and over again. He's a confirmed force-sensitive in the final act, but the film does scarcely little with the revelation and it felt like a massive waste.

Likewise, Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico - a key character in The Last Jedi - effectively got nothing to do in Episode IX. Dominic Monaghan, who won his role in the film thanks to a bet with JJ Abrams, actually got more dialogue. In the context of the racist and misogynistic backlash that greeted Tran's character in the wake of Episode VIII, it's a move that can't be considered anything less than appalling.

Out of all the characters in Trevorrow's Episode IX, Finn and Rose arguably get the best arcs. They're positioned together like they are in the previous film, and are this time tasked with lighting the beacon on Coruscant. Finn goes through a whole arc that relates to his past a stormtrooper which eventually results in him leading an uprising of his old comrades against the First Order, while Rose takes a central focus over the course of the entire script.

The script's cliffnotes seem to indicate that Poe doesn't get much to do (again), but Finn and Rose undoubtedly emerge from Duel of the Fates much better than they did in The Rise of Skywalker.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.