I don’t envy the task Rian has undertaken. My friends and I often write pass-around stories among the 5 or 6 of us (I have been told that normal people engage in other activities), and it feels like being handed an entry that the previous author didn’t establish well or know how to end. You kind of stumble around re-establishing the scene while also trying to do your own thing, and it doesn’t often end well. I bet Rian does a good job of it regardless.

I would probably start the film after a crawl explaining the state of the galaxy with a pan down to a planet which has now been bestowed with the honor of being the new Republic capital. There’s an address from some low-level bureaucrat who is now acting chancellor, then Leia bursts in all solemn business. Who knows. As has been suggested, I wouldn’t return to Luke and Rey until the second scene at earliest.