…making it clear it can not (and never have) stood on its own legs.
This is definitely the most disappointing and concerning thing about this Palpatine reveal. I have my problems with TLJ, but it seemed like at the very least Rian Johnson was trying to move the saga away from the more fan-servicy aspects of Star Wars, the story repetition and over-reliance on plot elements from the previous trilogies.
My immediate reaction to Palpatine coming back is not one of excitement. Rather it feels like the worst kind of deja vu. It feels like we’re going in circles. Didn’t we do this already? It feels reductive and only serves to lessen the importance of this new trilogy and the future of Star Wars. The prospect of going on a fresh, new adventure is now gone because Disney can’t help themselves from serving up that familiar dish that they know most people eat. They had some wonderful ingredients to create something new and interesting. But why take the time and energy to do that when we already know that people like and will eat hot dogs?