I disagree that it was a fitting end for her character. I don’t think it was that at all. I don’t think it could have been with what was left over, and the decision to go forward with this idea was a bad one, made for well-intentioned-but-ultimately-bad reasons. It was absolutely forced because Abrams had already decided he was going to put her in there before he had ANY story in place.
Carrie Fisher’s death was a tragedy. It was too soon, it was unfair, and I, like millions of others, wish it hadn’t happened. But whatever this was in Rise of Skywalker, it wasn’t a tribute. It was childish. It was refusal to accept that she was gone, and they used her image and her presence as maybe the ultimate act of “fan-service” in a movie packed full of it. “There’s no way we could make this movie without Carrie” is a noble sentiment. It’s also an untrue statement. They could have, and looking at the results, they should have.
They did her and her memory no real favors with this, and they certainly didn’t help their story out any, either.
I completely disagree. I think keeping her as the leader and having her play a part in Kylo’s redemption was very powerful. I think it worked very well. I think having her as Rey’s teacher worked as well. I would agree that a couple of the scenes could have been left out, but overall I think it worked very well and so did her daughter. It wasn’t just fan service, it was in service to the larger themes and story.