Wanted to spur a little bit of discussion.
I feel like the ways both the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy end feels sort of inevitable. Perhaps time has added to this feeling, but Anakin falling to the dark side, and then him being redeemed by his son, feel like these are the only ways these stories could’ve gone.
When it comes to the story of the sequel trilogy and the way they end, I feel like those are harder to pin down. I know George said the sequels were about the “grandchildren” and the torch being passed to them, per se, but I can understand the struggle the writers had when trying to figure this out.
I guess I am curious to hear if people feel like the ending of TROS felt like the right or inevitable ending to them. And if not, what do you think that ending should have been? Could you potentially edit TROS to get closer to that ending you imagined?
Might as well announce it to the public here. I’m actually writing a version of the novelization that does just this - change the ending of the story in a significant way while also providing my interpretation of events in the story. Thanks to Capatain Faraday for the inspiration.
Anyways, to answer your question directly, I believe that the writers really missed the mark by having Ben Solo die in the end. It would have been much more compelling for Ben’s character arc in the sequels to be a foil (opposite) of Anakin’s in the prequels - beginning in darkness, rising above it, and living on after his transformation to restore light to the galaxy with a certain Palpatine by his side, if you know what I mean.
It would have allowed Anakin to have an indirect but crucial role in the storyline, and we all know this saga is supposed to be about him. His legacy being something Kylo revered in TFA was a good decision. Unfortunate that it was sidelined afterwards. Of course, in this novelization I am reconciling both his Vader worship and past killing together as the same aspiration.