In The Force Awakens, when Finn and Poe Dameron escape the Star Destroyer Finalizer, Poe flies back to Jakku over Finn's protests, insisting he has to pick up BB-8 — and what BB-8's carrying — as per his mission.
But when they crash land and Finn goes to look for him, Poe is already gone. Later, we learn he returned to the Resistance base without BB-8, as BB-8 was with Finn and Rey.
Why did he make the gamble to return to Jakku only to leave after he crashed? For all he knows, BB-8 was still somewhere on Jakku.
Answer
He left because he had no way to reconnect with BB-8 and knew the droid could take care of itself for a while till he got help. From Alan Dean Foster's novelization:
He was alive on the surface of Jakku. Alive and alone. There was no way of telling if Finn had been as fortunate. More important, where was BB-8?
The droid could take care of himself, he felt. Poe knew if he could just get offworld and reconnect with the Resistance, a way could be found to recover the droid. All he needed was a ship. He’d already stolen one. Could he steal another?
He had no idea what happened to BB-8 till he saw the droid with Finn later:
“I wasn’t dead, just momentarily out of it,” the pilot explained. “Came around long enough to see that you had got out. Pulled out of the dive just long enough to set down—hard. Impact threw me clear. Woke up at night; no you, no ship, no nothing. Went looking—in the wrong direction. Got picked up by some itinerant trader.” He grinned. “Tell you all about it sometime.” A plaintive beep caused him to turn and look down. “Beebee-Ate says that you saved him.”
Finn eyed the droid. “It wasn’t just me.” A slow smile spread across his face and his eyes twinkled. “Tell you all about it sometime.”
“Either way, you completed my mission.” Poe gestured at their surroundings. “Beebee-Ate is here, where he was supposed to come all along. And you saved my jacket.”
Comments
Post a Comment