This is an idea that will probably require some clever editing, but I’ve been thinking about what the benefits could be to not making the First Order stormtroopers be kidnapped children.
For one, I feel like there really isn’t a proper resolution to this plot point in TROS. Finn and the good guys seem to lack any self-awareness or concern that they’re killing what are basically child soldiers. Making this change would make the lack of resolution in TROS not feel as disappointing, because I think the writer’s desire to make Finn and Jannah as innocent as possible came back to haunt them in a way.
The movies really bend over backward to absolve Finn (and Jannah) of any responsibility for being one of the bad guys. They were kidnapped as children, indoctrinated their entire lives, and in Finn’s case, he never even really killed anyone before he went AWOL (the same may be true for Jannah).
Yes, Finn is a stormtrooper, but in actuality he barely was a stormtrooper. In fact, he barely even acts like someone who was indoctrinated their entire life. We never even see Finn have to unlearn the propaganda that has probably been hammered into him over the years.
The stormtroopers not being child soldiers also makes our heroes killing them without remorse a little less questionable, especially in Finn’s case. Plus, I feel like if Finn and Jannah joined the First Order voluntarily, and then realized it was a mistake, it is a much more nuanced way to portray them as stormtroopers-turned-rebels. This touches on a larger subject I want to eventually explore in a discussion thread, but I like the idea of our heroes all having made mistakes in the past, or even have blood on their hands, but them accepting that their mistakes don’t dictate their future and who they are. And I think having them not be stormtroopers by choice takes away from the decision to make them stormtroopers in the first place. Redemption, forgiveness, and second chances should have been central to this trilogy, and unfortunately they didn’t fully commit to these themes.
Again, this will require a number of clever changes, but I wonder how differently our perspectives would change on the trilogy with this change implemented.