I could see the exposition dragging down a film and grinding the plot to a halt.
"It was salvaged from a desolate planet many years ago."
Done. Not great, but it at least tries to explain something that’s a very big deal. Would have taken 10 seconds to add the line in but JJ is too obsessed with non-stop action nonsense to let the characters breathe for two minutes.
Chucking random things into a movie that have been established as gone for 30-odd years and saying “it’s okay, the sequel might explain how it suddenly popped up” is atrocious writing. I have no idea how anyone can defend it.
I just feel sorry for Rian, you’d need half a film just to explain the holes in TFA.