- Story issue: I think Hal’s opening crawl actually works a lot better unfortunately, for two main reasons: A) The second paragraph of Starlight’s is a run-on sentence, which makes it difficult to read (especially in the brief time before it “crawls” away), and B) The third paragraph, outlining that the Republic created the Resistance - that doesn’t mesh with the later scene of Leia complaining that the Republic isn’t taking the threat of the First Order seriously. I’m pretty sure Hal’s crawl clarifies that the Republic wasn’t doing anything, which is why Leia herself had to form the Resistance.
I agree with a lot of what Sherlock and others have said on here, and especially this. One of the common criticisms of the sequel trilogy is that there is no reason for the Resistance to even be called the Resistance. I liked how Hal’s edit corrects this issue. Since the New Republic wasn’t doing anything about the First Order because they didn’t want another war, there are people like Leia that are “resisting” against the Republic’s consensus. The name takes on another meaning once the First Order becomes the main power in the galaxy in TLJ, but up until then it’s important to make this distinction.
Also, when Hux says that the New Republic secretly supports the Resistance, it can be rationalized that he’s referring to the senators and people that are going against the Republic’s decision.