"I don't get facts wrong! It's everything else I screw up."
For me, what truly sets the Librarian franchise apart from the rest of the cheesy fantasy-adventure movies about treasure hunters seeking priceless artifacts is one thing: its main hero. Flynn Carsen is a socially awkward nerd with a genius IQ and a tendency to leap before he looks. He's funny and charming and quirky in all the best ways. The movies simply wouldn't be as fun to watch if you insert any of the more stereotypical adventure heroes in that role. Flynn is the embodiment of the "anyone can be a hero" concept. He's not always right, and he's got a boatload of human flaws, but his good heart and genuine desire to do the right thing drives him ever forward.
I appreciate how much the writers allowed his character to evolve from one installment to the next. In each successive movie, we see Flynn gain more confidence (and competence) as he truly grows into the title of the Librarian. Then the TV show takes over, and we get to see a really heartfelt journey for Flynn as he struggles to overcome his trust issues and poor people skills -- and grow from a stubbornly independent loner to a true team leader and partner.
On this page, you'll find an ever growing collection of character discussions, analyses, musings, fan theories, and plenty of headcanons. Some are my own, some are from various other places around the web. Have fun and enjoy this deep dive into the heart and mind of Flynn Carsen.
Obligatory PSA/Disclaimer
This page contains a lot of character analysis essays, articles, posts, and ramblings. Some by me and some by other people. I'm collecting them to preserve them for fandom study reasons -- just because something is linked here doesn't mean I agree with the thoughts shared in that post. Similarly, there are a lot of headcanons ahead, so please be respectful of other people's theories/opinions. We don't all have to agree on how we see or interpret a character. No one's headcanon is more or less valid than anyone else's. Variety is the beauty of fandom after all. Okay, proceed and enjoy!
Table of Contents
✧ Character Analysis
✧ Flynn's Relationships
✧ Headcanons: Autistic Flynn
✧ Headcanons: Destiny
Character Analysis
"Afraid of Getting Close" - a post by julietbibliophile on tumblr about Flynn's line in "Trial of the Triangle" about being afraid of getting too close to people.
TV Tropes List - page includes Flynn's "character trope" list from the TV Tropes website.
"Let's Talk About Everything Flynn's Dealing With Right Now" - an interesting discussion between two tumblr users talking about Flynn's supposed "resignation" in season four. Obviously written before the big reveal in 4x11, so parts of it are irrelevant to canon now, but there are still alot of interesting points brought up and good analysis of what Flynn was dealing with during that season.
Relatable Student - a text meme post about Flynn's 'professional student' status in the first movie.
Hero Preview: Flynn Carsen - article about the Librarians card game that goes over Flynn's character specifically, analyzing his role in the franchise and how to translate that into a gameplay style. Very interesting overview of his character.
Canon Find: Flynn's College Years - random canon fact about Flynn's college years, based on dialogue from the first movie.
Flynn's Relationships
The Airport Fight - meta post by julietbibliophile on tumblr about the fight between Flynn and Eve in 3x06 "Trial of the Triangle".
Flynn & Cassandra: Peak ND Friendship - deep dive into the friendship between Flynn and Cassandra, and how their neurodivergency affects their interactions with others.
"How Flynn Carsen Fell In Love" - character exploration post by julietbibliophile on tumblr analyzing Flynn's feelings toward Eve from "The Crown of King Arthur" to "Trial of the Triangle".
Headcanons: Autistic Flynn
Inherently Autistic - a reblog post from mythicalmidwest on tumblr about why they believe Flynn is autistic, looking at both the movie trilogy and the show.
Autism Spectrum - post by mythicalmidwest on tumblr explaining their headcanon for Flynn and Jenkins being autistic.
Autistic Characters Part 34 - headcanon post by edea-the-undead on tumblr for Flynn being autistic; the notes of the post have some fun headcanons to add.
(This page is still under construction. More content coming later.)