Scott109 said:
Perhaps I need to watch the film a second time to give a more objective assessment.
You should see any film more than once. Just to reaffirm your position.
A storm trooper spontaneously deciding to leave the First Order and join the Resistance is equivalent to a member of Hitler Youth deciding to leave Nazi Germany and fight for the Allies. It is conceivable, but his motivation should have been explained better.
Finn wasn’t conditioned to be evil, (evil people seldom think what they are doing is “evil”) he was conditioned to be obedient, and fed First Order propaganda. Being ordered to slaughter innocents and seeing a fellow trooper die was a major shock to his system.
History is full of people who woke up and realized they were on the wrong side, and tried to do something about it.
They could have prolonged it but there was enough for Finn to defect. Especially since he was about to be reprimanded had he actually submitted his blaster for inspection.
Luke was only able to deflect the blasts of the seeker droid and blow up the Death Star as a result of Obi-Wan’s training. Even if Luke trained Rey as a child before Kylo Ren wiped her memory, she should not have been able to subconsciously remember how to perform a Jedi mind trick as her memory was wiped.
For one blast deflection takes time. More time than just a couple of minutes. And like stated before all Obi-Wan did was tell Luke to stretch out with his feelings and to not trust his eyes. Anyone could have told him that.
As it pertains to Rey if she had her mind wiped like Revan the teaching lying dormant in her mind could have been coming back to her.
If Kylo Ren massacred the New Jedi Order, why was he unable to defeat Rey?
This has been answered on at least one occasion and you’ve ignored it. Hopefully you won’t do so again.
- He was shot by Chewie’s bowcaster which one shots everything in the film
- He had his sword arm cut by Finn in their duel
- He was weakened by the guilt of killing Han (hinted at by the film and confirmed in the novelization)
- He most likely hasn’t had a serious lightsaber duel in over a decade
- He hasn’t completed any of his training whether that be Jedi or Dark Side training
as an alternative we also have the fact that Rey could have had her mind wiped and is now reclaiming her suppressed skills.