I see the supposed rejection of ROTJ’s ‘happily ever after’ as more of a reaction to ROTJ than anything else. People seem to have forgotten what a disappointment that film was, not just to many fans but to folks who were involved in the films. I’m pretty sure that’s why the comics had Luke turn to the Dark Side in the 90s, or why we have a ‘disillusioned Luke in exile’ in TFA with Han having his long overdue death scene. Not everyone left the 1983 Ewok party feeling satisfied. I’m more than happy to see ROTJ as ‘a’ victory and not necessarily ‘the’ victory.
But at least ROTJ had some powerful themes at its core, even if everything ended a bit too neatly. TROS essentially redoes this ending only much bigger, and louder, but ultimately much less effective imo.
Yes, ROTJ had the themes but for me this film really does them better. Of course it will only ever be a copy, since ROTJ already happened, but here’s what I loved…
No Death Star. While a fleet of planet-smashing Star Destroyers isn’t the greatest idea in the world, it is infinitely better than DS II.
Rey was actually tempted to turn to the Dark Side for a legitimately compelling reason - give up your soul to save your friends. Luke’s temptation was simply “go on, get mad 'cos that’s bad!”.
Rey’s temptation and how she dealt with it actually had a bearing on the battle. Luke’s scenario on DS II was irrelevant to the war.
I liked the movie in general, but the above really made it for me.