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2.) First you criticize the characters for being in the same position they are in at the beginning of A New Hope, but then you criticize it for not being continuous with the Original Trilogy. Which is it?
There’s a difference between “The stories should not contradict each other” and “I want these characters to stand here and never move for ~20 years so that they can pick up exactly where the OT starts”
Precisely. IMO, a good prequel trilogy would have ended with Vader turning evil and only then a living Padme realizing she’s pregnant. The birth and distribution of the kids are completely unnecessary to depict.