Between DJ’s “they blow you up today, you blow them up tomorrow” speech and Rose’s bit about saving what we love instead of fighting what we hate, The Last Jedi seemed to suggest that there would need to be some different sort of reckoning in the final film that would bust the galaxy out of this cycle of violence and bring about a new era. Instead, we got another big battle and we re-killed the Emperor with his own lightning or something. I know we’re supposed to feel like he’s dead for real this time, but how is this any different from ROTJ? If he can come back from falling down a pit and then blowing up, surely he can reconstitute himself after melting like a Nazi. I dunno, I’m just left feeling like nothing has changed fundamentally beyond a few pieces being knocked off the board. The grand finale that the film was billed as really ought to have had more far-reaching repercussions.