Eh I get that you’re excited about Rey redefining what means to be a Jedi but isn’t that exactly what Luke did/was expected to do post-RotJ??? I mean, they literally picked his character arc, re skinned it and just gave him anew character arc to fit in with the new Luke. So, in a way, Luke’s also just plot device. Only in a way though.
Can’t really use Luke to forge a new path if the story is this far into the future though can you? I get what your saying, but we needed these new characters to continue the story, unbound by what came before them.