Eight days. The fake spoilers have already started rolling in. Fist fights have broken out across the fandom. No, wait. That’s normal for the Star Wars fandom. The anticipation has reached a fever pitch. What can we do to ease this pain?

Take about Finnrey, of course!

Join me under the cut!

Finnrey In The Last Jedi

Not to pick one of those fistfights that I was complaining about up above, but Finnrey is endgame and anybody who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves.

Sorry Finnpoe and Finnrose fans. Your ships would have been cool, too. But there is way too much effort and time put into to Finnrey in order for it to be anything but endgame.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s in the this film.

Rian Johnson: no plot central romances.

Yeah, that’s pretty black-and-white. Unlike Star Wars morality, contrary to popular opinion.

So, no plot central romances. What does that mean?

• It means exactly what it says. Romance is not central to the plot. Honestly, I think this is a good thing. Rian Johnson has many talents. I don’t think writing romance is one of them.
• It doesn’t rule out any ship teases or continued development as friends before they become lovers in IX
• It means no fucking Reylo, thank Godzilla.

Some Definite Finnrey Teasers In The Trailers

In point of fact, that’s kind of the only thing we’ve seen from Finn in the trailers. Well, that and him kicking ass. Not a bad way to show off a character, if there were a little more of it.

But those are some heavy teases, man. The first thing Finn does when he wakes up is call out for Rey. Now, part of that is he’s still in the forest as far as he knows, and is concerned about one of only two friends he has. Sure. I get that. But it’s a big honking tease.

And then there’s the fact that after he wakes up, Poe offers to answer any of Finn’s thousand questions. Finn has one: where’s Rey? Again, a big honking tease.

And then there’s the stuff from TVD. I’m not going to go into detail, but suffice to say that it confirms that Rey and Finn care about each other way more than as ‘just friends.’

So We’re Probably Going To Get Some Finnrey Teases In The Movie

Even the best marketing campaign, which the TLJ campaign isn’t, is a lousy way to judge a final movie. Trailers lie. Trailers use scenes from out of date cuts of the movie. Actors, directors, and movie producers give the vaguest non-answers possible in interviews. And they all lie their ass off. J.J. has a name for it, but his insistence on secrecy and misdirection is actually the Hollywood norm. They don’t like it when fans break their security and leak things.

However, marketing can be used to make some informed guesses. And given just how thoroughly Finn has been tied to Rey in marketing, we can assume that we’re going to get some teases for Finnrey here and there.

But Daisy Ridley Said Finn and Rey Are Just Friends!

Which, at this point, is literally true. Finn and Rey’s relationship has not yet progressed into a romantic one and honestly? It was wishful thinking to ever assume it would in this movie. Han and Leia took three movies to work out their relationship. Anakin and Padmé did it in two, and look where they ended up. Oh yeah, in an abusive, toxic relationship!

So, yeah. It makes sense that at this stage in the story, Finn and Rey are just friends. However, there are a few things I want to point out:

• See above about marketing campaigns
• Also, ‘Just Friends’ or ‘Like Brother and Sister’ have a long history of being used as lies to cover up the fact that yes, the people in question are indeed in a relationship
• From the context, it’s clear that Daisy is talking about their relationship in TFA

All of which is a long way of saying: take Daisy’s words with a grain of salt.

But John Said Him Having A Relationship Now Would Ruin The People He Was Having A Relationship With!

Right. The key word there being ‘now.’

Look, I know there is some distaste in the fandom for a ‘broken black man’ storyline. Why, I’m not entirely sure: trauma, and a realistic reaction to it, is deeply humanizing to me. But maybe that’s just me.

At any rate, my job is not to psychoanalyze the fandom. My job is to analyze Lucasfilm’s bullshit, apparently.

And the fact is, Finn is kind of broken at this stage. And again, that makes perfect sense: he’s a guy who ran away from an evil, brainwashing, space Nazi cult. That should, logically, fuck someone up just a bit. And then he got put into a coma.

He’s in kind of rough shape, our man Finn. And part of his arc in TLJ will be to heal, to overcome the damage that the FO did to him.

And, at this point, that leaves not ready for a romantic relationship. Which makes perfect sense to me. Let the man heal. Let him enter a romantic relationship on his own terms. That way, it won’t turn out like Anakin and Padmé, which was an abusive relationship and you should be ashamed of yourself for shipping it.

And Finn’s current less than perfect health doesn’t rule out any teasing. Oscar Isaac, who is apparently very fond of Finnpoe, is going to do his darndest to keep teasing us, so expect lots of that. There will also probably be some Finnrose teasing, ’cause that’s just how Hollywood roles. And expect lots and lots of Finnrey teasing.