I like the movie and even I think it’s unwieldy and unclear, for the record. It is a not great scene. But it thematically tracks to me regardless of if Luke was coming or not. Rose was saving a guy she cared for in a human act of desperation. “The cause” in such a moment is so muddled by survival instinct - it didn’t matter more than saving/being with the people she loved. The idea is that that is a more pure intention than destroying an enemy, and how we care for each other is where good comes from. “How we’ll win.” Those acts can add up to true heroism, saving lives and not further taking them.

This pursuit of a fight to end all fights, the concept of a war to be won and an ending to be reached, are some of the things TLJ wants to show is an unrealistic, bad goal. Finn and Poe’s stories throughout the film are supposed to be examples of actions made towards those goals. The fact that Finn would/could have done damage and bought time is irrelevant to the message, because his sacrifice would be a selfish one. Motivated by anger and validation. That’s what the scene is about, but it just doesn’t do anything to stop people from thinking about its mathematical yields compared to other sacrifices. Which is ultimately its problem.

(altho that skimmer was fucked imo idk how you guys thought he was going to succeed)