I’m sure it’s been done before but I’m about to have a Moment about Takodana.
Finn is loading the ship and the audio track cues in distant sounds of shock with gasping and murmuring and screaming. It’s clear it’s coming from a distance, as it is somewhat muted and flat. Almost immediately, Finn’s attention is caught but no one else’s. He turns and looks toward the sky of all places, when all logic would suggest he look around him. He’s clearly being drawn to what his brain says is the source, but the source he’s looking at just doesn’t make sense. Those sounds are not from Takodana and there’s no way in hell he would hear those sounds from Hosnian Prime, let alone that he would be the only one to do so. Moreover, those sounds are of shock and fear and escalate the fear factor quickly. Why would the people on Takodana start screaming over something that isn’t clearly identifiable whatsoever? It could be some sort of cosmic even for all anyone knows.
Now, I’d have to break down the audio track, but I also suspect the screams Finn hears and the screams we see on Hosnian Prime are the same track. The sound the same, but in person it’s louder and clearer. So I gotta dig into that because now I’m curious.
But all of that isn’t really what boggles my mind.
What boggles my mind is that Finn goes running toward Han and immediately says “It was the Republic! The First Order, they’ve done it!”
I can handwave away how Finn might know that the First Order did it, if he is in fact familiar with the weapon because he worked on Starkiller base. The real question is, how does he know it was the Republic that was attacked? That strikes me as HIGHLY classified information that a regular ol trooper wouldn’t have. Even if he worked on the weapon, I fully believe the first time any trooper knew its target was the Hosnian system was when Hux was Hitlering on about it. Even trying to reverse logic it doesn’t make sense. I mean, follow me with here:
If what we see if the first time Starkiller ever fired, it doesn’t make sense that it would be anything more than a test run. I believe it IS the first firing, if I’m remembering the Hux and Snoke dialogue correctly. This means that it would make sense for the first firing to be a dialed-back test, much like the Death Star.
If it HAS been test fired before, how would Finn know the success of that test? They wouldn’t see the destruction up close and any reports among the troops could easily be fabrications for morale. Finn is aware of the lies of the First Order and probably smart enough to know he can trust very little of what he hears. So there’s nothing to firmly, undeniably suggest that what he saw wasn’t another test fire.
But ok, following these two thoughts, let’s keep in mind that Starkiller to fire that powerfully needs an entire fucking sun’s worth of energy. Test fires aren’t that feasible because it’s pretty fucking obvious when a suitable star disappears. So if Finn figures that this is a legit firing with a real target… how does he know it’s the Republic?
I mean, just this thought alone: The First Order is against the New Republic because they are supporting the Resistance. Hux says as much in his speech. So logically, one could easily assume that the weapon was being fired because the Resistance base was discovered, with the Republic simply being another potential target. There’s simply no way for Finn to definitively know exactly who the target is gonna be.
So let’s come at this from another perspective. Could Finn simply know it’s the Republic given where in the sky he’s looking? Not bloody likely. Finn has clearly never been to Takodana before. Even IF he knows astronomy enough to know where major systems and planets are in the galaxy, and that’s a big if, his knowledge would have to have an anchor point. Astronomy isn’t just looking at the stars, it’s understanding their relative positioning of the stars, the rotation of the planet you’re on, nighttime.
I’m so sorry, this is about to get deep nerdy. For Finn to be able to understand where the weapon was aiming, he would first have to understand that Takodana was in the Mid-rim. Then he would have to know he was at Nymeve Lake. He would also have to know the Hosnian System is in the Inner Core. Then he would have to be familiar enough with the orbit and rotation of Takodana to know that Nymeve Lake had full view of the Hosnian system in the Inner Core during broad daylight. AND THEN he would have to familiar enough in the fine details of all of that nonsense to understand where exactly in the daylight sky with NO STARS he would be seeing Hosnia Prime.
Does it sound even remotely likely that Finn would have all of that information AND be able to process all of it into the conclusion that the Republic was the target of the First Order’s superweapon with such surety as to yell it at Han as he comes running? No.
Finn is fucking Force sensitive and LF does not make an editing mistake that big.
I did not research where tf they were on Takodana for one note on my very good analysis of that scene pls love me
Re the audio, I’ve done a video and audio overlap as an experiment and it’s uncanny. I agree the screams Finn hears and the screams during the destruction of Hosnia Prime are the same track, or at least so similar it’s hard to tell them apart. They’re even the same length. http://lj-writes.tumblr.com/post/163828940989/content-warning-mass-murder-genocide-so-this
I always thought Finn knew it was the Republic because of Hux’s constant hate-on for it, the anti-Republic indoctrination he received for years. But you’re right, his instant certainty is uncanny. To put a more skeptical spin on it, maybe Finn wasn’t certain it was the Republic that had been destroyed but he was positive it was some sort of action against the Republic (and destroying the Resistance would qualify as one). I agree though that his realizing the Republic was destroyed is a more natural reading and it’s not fully explained by prior knowledge, whether of the First Order or astronomy.
Assuming Finn realized Hosnia Prime was the target, this means he’s MORE Force sensitive than Obi-wan, who sensed the deaths on Alderaan but didn’t know where the destruction had taken place. He was on a ship headed to Alderaan but didn’t change course because he didn’t know (or couldn’t be sure, or didn’t want to believe it). The whole party was captured and Obi-wan himself died as a result. Finn could head off potential disasters like that with his very specific Force sense.
Without knowing what this implies I always assumed he had sensed it was the Republic. Also, it is known that Obi-Wan was only average with the Force, so Finn being more Force sensitive than him is likely…
I will go to my grave happy in the knowledge that Finn is more force-sensitive than fucking Obi-wan.
Not just Obi-wan either, but also Luke. Luke’s level of training in the Force was similar to Finn at this point, in fact Luke had more progress with some lightsaber training and instruction in the force from Obi-wan, yet Luke felt nothing from the destruction of Alderaan. Finn surpasses his father in the Force by a large margin!
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