@Timjer #105222
Heck, I don’t think the Sequel Trilogy doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. I agree with many criticisms but I also think the general themes and what the story was trying to get at are perfectly valid…
* Like how the mess with Starkiller blowing up the Hosnian System and the denialism leading up to it reflects the lesson of never being complacent.
* Had the New Republic not ditched most of their military and kept a regular eye on the Imperial Remnant and their little government in the Unknown Regions and not be so certain that tyranny could never return. I support Two-State solutions but even then, if a state in question is repressive, an eye should be kept on them, lest they try to take over the free society. Also, bad ideas must be challenged so they become less popular.
* Ep. 8 shows the dangers of both impatience and the dangers of poor communication. What many detractors don’t realize is that Holdo was not meant to be 100% right. It also made sense to have her and not Ackbar in that role because Ackbar would’ve handled things better. The story needed a fresh face that kinda “green” and a bit loopy, personality-wise. The point was that Holdo didn’t have to reveal the plan but she should have stated that one existed but must be kept under wraps for security reasons due to spies. Had she stated there was a secret plan, perhaps Poe, Finn & Rose wouldn’t have jumped the gun and had the whole thing ruined by a goofy stuttering Hobo Hipster Hacker whose “name” is the initials of his personal credo (’Don’t Join’).
* The whole thing with Snoke being a puppet for Palpy and Palpy being Rey’s granddad may sound incredibly stupid at first but it’s not any weirder than the “Vader is Luke’s father” in the turn of the 1980s. What’s more shocking than a heroic farm boy finding out the scary black-masked villain is really his own father? A heroic scavenger girl finding out her grandpa is the ultimate Big Bad of Star Wars!
* The franchise tends to correct things after the fact and fill out plot holes. Stuff not filled out will be fleshed out in future stories. It seems Disney & Lucasfilm is taking the “symbiosis with fans” and “come up with ideas and see what works”, minor characters get future stories in comics or whatnot if the fans show and interest and other characters are forgotten or underused. The Sequel also tried to end things in a way that further stories could go in a number of directions. After seeing the “Reylos vs. Anti-Reylos” mess play out, they kinda catered to both in the end for “Pro-Reylos”, the door can still be open for Ben’s return.
* Same holds true for “Stormpilot”: They couldn’t have a blatantly gay subplot because Disney also markets to a bunch of other countries who hate LGBTQs and Disney wants to make money… so they feel they have no choice but hint that a character might be gay (LeFou from the live-action ‘BatB’, Artie from ‘Cruella’, etc.) or have something that can be edited out without affecting the plot when exported (Gay-Female Resistance Doctor / X-Wing pilot smooch). It’s cowardly but that’s “business”. Locally, however, “Stormpilot” can still be a thing.
… People are finally coming around to the Prequels for its message so the same should be the case for the Sequels, someday.