If they had tried to pull it off as some big reveal a la ESB, I would’ve been rolling my eyes. They still managed to achieve this with Han’s death scene, though.
Actually, I went into the film already knowing that Harrison Ford wanted Han to have died in the OT given the character’s arc from a selfish scoundrel to a loyal hero was complete; and that he was unhappy with the “teddy bear picnic” in Jedi in lieu of a more bittersweet ending. So I could tell it was coming pretty early on in that scene.
I’m not saying that scene is obvious, I’m just saying it was in no way a shock.