This video explores so much of why I love the parallels between the PT and OT. Honestly it’s one of the aspects I enjoy about Star Wars the most. I don’t think these things are accidental. I truly do think it’s intentional. The parallels are in there I feel to show how history repeats itself and it’s about overcoming the sins of what came before us. I personally think also the PT did a great job at showing how society evolves and changes. That’s exactly what we got. We saw the corruption in the Senate in TPM, division and war begin in AOTC, and the rise in ROTS. It builds to the darkness and doesn’t happen all at once.
George said as much:
" If the first trilogy is social and political and talks about how society evolves, Star Wars is more about personal growth and self realization, and the third deals with moral and philosophical problems. The sequel is about Jedi Knighthood, justice, confrontation, and passing on what you have learned."
My only major criticism for the ST is how the story sometimes feels so tied to the OT and doesn’t fully acknowledge what occurred in the PT. I truly believe that if we had answers to why Sifo-Dyas ordered the Clone Army and Anakin’s origins it would go a long way towards bridging the gap between the trilogies of trilogies and interconnect them as a nine part saga. One unpopular opinion I have is I also wouldn’t have been opposed to George’s microworld he spoke to James Cameron about. I feel it would’ve at least brought clarity and understanding. There’s a quote from Steven Spielberg from the 90’s where he said part of George’s concept for the PT involved the ST. I think the PT was very much an introduction that was going to be told in his ST story but instead it appears as of TFA and TLJ we are getting familiar in terms of look, feel, and certain storybeats. I love everything to do with Rey and Kylo, Luke, and nearly every character but I wish the other subplots could’ve been developed more into something that doesn’t so closely resemble that of the OT. I would rather see the full Jedi Knighthood theme and rebuilding of the New Republic. This isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the subplots but the one thing the PT has going for it that the ST doesn’t is it tells a story that is new and fresh within the parallels. It doesn’t feel entirely like the same exact cycle again but an extension and expanding of. We shall see though as maybe TROS will bring clarity in the form of Palpatine and show some of these themes.