But making Leia the Chosen One is an abomination in my opinion, and bringing Darth Maul back is a colossal idiocy, which I never liked even in TCW. I greatly prefer the Old Expanded Universe post-ROTJ stories over this.
With Leia I think it aligns with the arc in The Mortis Arc in The Clone Wars. I understand you don’t like it as you prefer the Expanded Universe. However in it you have a family in Balance with Father, Son, and Daughter in the spiritual world. It comes together in the material world where Leia becomes the Mother of the Galaxy in a general sense with being the Supreme Chancellor with her children or at least her daughter serving as the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order after Luke passes on in Episode IX to carry on his legacy. Just as it is very much carrying on Anakin’s legacy as the Chosen One and Ones but with a Mother instead of a Father. It also has a Daughter. It’s very much how the previous trilogy was Father and Son. It’s life returning to the feminine and coming full circle to the ideas set up in The Phantom Menace where Padme gives away democracy and the Jedi having lost their way to finding stability again after decades. It’s all about a family in the end.
I was a bit unsure about Darth Maul coming back at first too but upon reflection I think it really works as he would have a personal connection and natural rivalry with Luke and the Skywalker family as a whole as he’s what directly set in motion Anakin being led to being trained by Obi-Wan instead of Qui-Gon - arguably this had major consequences on Anakin and he would probably also know the inner workings of the Grand Plan. So he’d be the perfect candidate in a way to give context to the mystery of Sifo-Dyas in an organic way as George planned to explain he was a secret Sith. He’d also know the inner workings with the Crime Syndicates as it started being established in The Clone Wars before George left. It makes sense to have crime lords trying to overtake the New Republic with the power vacuum created by the demise of the Hutts and Empire. It benefits greatly I think having a main villain that has a direct connection to the conflicts of the entire saga instead of a random main villain as Snoke was at first or worse adding context with someone like Palpatine coming back who walks all over Anakin’s origins through Snoke being created in the way it’s implied he is in Palpatine’s wording, his legacy, and redemption.
I think his entire Sequel Trilogy treatment really works very well for me. They give fans some of what they’ve always wanted to see with Luke restoring the Jedi Order and have respect for the legacy characters as a whole by letting them continue to grow. They also ulimately give us something new instead of just pleasing us through nostalgia by bringing the story full circle by taking account the entire story instead of just the Original Trilogy as the source material. The Whills are my favourite part of it. They’re the last link between understanding Midi-Chlorians and the Force. These things combined connect to the biggest mystery of them all - Anakin’s origins.
It’s arguably the most important part of the story not answered in the Skywalker Saga…