Thinking smaller, the core elements of what we got could have made for a perfectly solid ST with a few tweaks. For instance…
EPISODE VII: A SHATTERED BALANCE
30 years after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic is established and a free galaxy has fallen into complacency. Leia Organa-Solo serves in the Galactic Senate, Han Solo adjusts to retirement as well as can be expected, and Luke Skywalker trains their son Ben along with a handful of students in the Jedi arts—with the help of Snoke, a surviving Jedi Master from the days of the Old Republic.
But when the deserting ex-stormtrooper Finn arrives to warn the Senate that an Imperial remnant calling itself the First Order is gathering strength in the Unknown Regions, Snoke—secretly a darksider in league with the First Order—reveals himself and accelerates his plans to retake the galaxy.
Responding to a distress call from the Jedi Temple, Han finds that Snoke has completed his seduction of Ben Solo, and in doing so decimated the Academy. The newly-christened Kylo Ren murders his father in a tense confrontation, and Chewbacca rescues the only two Jedi who haven’t been killed or captured—Luke and one student, a young orphan named Rey.
With Finn’s help, the grief-stricken heroes organize a plan of attack, infiltrating and destroying the First Order superweapon Starkiller Base…but not before it obliterates the New Republic’s capital. Leia assumes command of the New Republic’s surviving military forces, while Luke takes Rey to complete her training on the remote Jedi world of Ahch-To, just as Yoda had trained him on Dagobah decades before.
This would allow us to spend time with the heroes at peace and show a glimpse of the free galaxy they fought for in the OT. It would eliminate Han and Leia’s estrangement, give Luke a similar struggle with guilt without having to explain why he tapped out of the galaxy for years, introduce us to Ben Solo before things go to hell, and eliminate the controversy over Rey being skilled without Jedi training, all while preserving the good elements the ST gave us.
In particular, having Kylo’s turn, Han’s death (which, let’s face it, would probably be a Harrison Ford requirement no matter what), and the fall of Luke’s academy all happen simultaneously onscreen, as the immediate precursors to the trilogy’s central war, alleviates The Force Awakens’ implication that Luke, Han, and Leia’s lives all sucked before we see them again. Having characters meet tragic ends in the course of facing a new crisis is a lot easier to swallow than having them suffer losses, withdraw from their loved ones for years, regress to old habits, AND THEN meet tragic ends.
EPISODE VIII: THE LEGEND OF SKYWALKER
The broad strokes could be similar to The Last Jedi, especially the exploration on Luke’s mythic status (hence the new title). The above outline for A Shattered Balance leaves the exact circumstances of Kylo’s turn somewhat ambiguous, so there would still be room for a similar set of flashbacks as in the official TLJ. I don’t have strong feelings about whether Rey should be Luke’s daughter or remain a nobody, but this basic idea could work with either decision. Another possibility might be that Rey is the daughter of a darksider Luke was forced to kill years ago. [EDIT] I’d be fine with a version of the Canto Bight subplot pruned like Hal’s version, but for the sake of the trilogy as a whole perhaps it would be better if Finn and Rose’s mission was instead focused on finding allies to help what’s left of the New Republic regroup in the wake of the Starkiller disaster. [END EDIT]
EPISODE IX: POWER OF THE FORCE
😃 Maybe a little something like this:
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/THE-RISE-OF-SKYWALKER-THE-TEAM-DALE-REWRITE-AVAILABLE-NOW/id/85493