That’s my thinking too jarbear, adding some anti-FO/Luke grafitti and changing some stormtrooper lines instantly alters the context of the FO troops raiding homes and holding people. Basically hinting that there are people out there that have hope and want to push back against the opression, but they’re not united (yet) and as such they’re caught in a constant struggle. That would still gel with the depressive state of Kijimi while offering another hint at what’s to come.
…There is enough of a backbone of elements like these that do seem thought out…
That’s pretty much the one thing I’ll flat-out disagree with you on, mate lol. I don’t think the story was well thought out at all; and one of the things I love about Ascendant is that it actually provides much of the backbone that was missing in the theatrical (like when it sets up the galaxy rising up in the crawl).
Like I said I don’t think the film is a secret masterpiece for this, it was clearly rushed out and mangled in development, with things shifting around in the middle of production, the end product is a garbled mess. I’m not saying it was well thought out, but to say it was not thought out at all would be disingenuous. There are clear throughlines and intentions within the story and characters, some we can disagree on, some are muddled or underdeveloped, but they’re there. It’s the reason Ascendant has been such a great project, because there’s stuff buried in the mud that can be drawn out and polished.