I agree with that. I feel a lot of the similarities TFA has with ANH could’ve worked with less complaint if a little bit of breathing room for that information was allowed. I don’t blame the filmmakers, I’m sure the response from the prequels was a loud and clear “NO politics” to them, but even a little bit more context could’ve gone a long way.

I think how Hal’s Restructured and other edits add the brief conversation between Leia and her envoy helps, but I think even a brief, 1-minute scene with her envoy at the Senate with senators arguing about what to do would’ve been nice. It would’ve been nice to have briefly seen Hosnian Prime and the New Republic before it was destroyed, so we could get a better glimpse at what was actually lost.

And as others have said, I think it would’ve been nice to have briefly seen the New Republic in some capacity. It is easy to forget that Luke, Han and Leia helped create an era of piece that lasted even longer than the Empire, and even a short look at that society might’ve reminded the audience of that.

But really the theatrical version of the movie doesn’t allow for this, since the New Republic is destroyed halfway through the movie. But, edits that push the destruction to the climax do allow for that, if people can come up with ways this can actually be seen.