I felt like what made Return of the Jedi’s ending special was, when you boiled it down, it is about the atonement between a father and a son. This big, epic legend of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader made it fun to watch, but the father-son dynamic made it personal and relatable by the end of it.
So, if you try to boil down the sequel trilogy and TROS, I think you have to ask yourself what it’s trying to say about family. What lessons does it have that can be applied to our own families?
I think a big thing is the idea that family can be more than blood, and how Rey was kind of adopted into the Skywalker family.
At the same time, we see a reversal of the Luke-Vader dynamic with Ben and his parents. Vader didn’t necessarily deserve Luke’s love and forgiveness, but he still gave it to him. Ben didn’t necessarily deserve his parents love and forgiveness, but they still gave it to him. I think there is a nice message there, where parents and children can make amends despite the mistakes they’ve made, whether they hurt each other or something else.
On the other hand, I can see the value in wanting a story where you have Kylo die not redeemed, with the message that it’s okay to not try to help someone anymore after a certain point if they’re being toxic. As a parent, I don’t know if George would’ve gone that route had he done the Sequel Trilogy, but it definitely comes down to one’s own personal values and philosophy. With Kylo’s story being a reverse Vader story, where he starts conflicted and becomes full-blown villain, it does make sense that he wouldn’t be redeemed in the end. But I also like the idea of a villain having to live and atone of his sins, fighting his wrongs, or living in exile.
To me, the Skywalker Saga isn’t a story about some epic, godlike bloodline. It’s about our own families. And they’re lessons that should be applicable to our own family relationships.
EDIT: With all that said, I think edits with different endings would be cool to see. I’d love to see an edit where Kylo dies without redemption, or one where he lives. I even like Acbagel’s ending, where Rey dies and Ben lives.