That’s a good point. You’re basically saying that even if Starkiller Base was better set up, it still doesn’t address the fact that it barely has any relevance to the characters. So by repositioning the destruction, you could have it tie in more to the characters’ motivation.
I would definitely be interested in seeing that. That could work, but on the other hand maybe it is disconnected to “the story we care about”, as JJ calls it in the TFA commentary, because they didn’t want Death Star 3.0 to be very integral to the fresh part of the story, if that makes sense. Like, if you can’t get those two thing being connected to work, then they’re better off being separated.
I haven’t actually heard the commentary, probably should do that.
But it sounds like JJ couldn’t think of anything better than a Death Star 3.0 while also realizing how boring that would be and simultaneously de-emphasizing its importance. Like you said, we’d been better off without it. Would it have been so hard for him to include a ‘boring’ exposition scene where we learn what’s happening in the galaxy? That’s what this movie really needs. Just one, anywhere.
I would argue that a scene that explains what’s happening in the galaxy is only really “needed” for the more serious fans. It would be at least equally irrelevant to the story at hand as the destruction of Hosnian Prime (if not quite a bit more so).
To be clear though, I agree they really should have included such a scene. It could (if done right) had added a lot and cleared up fan confusion.