The thing I really don’t get and totally disagree with is that TLJ undoes TFA and TROS undoes TLJ. I don’t see that and I don’t agree with it. What I do see is that TLJ is the middle act and like TESB, nothing seems to go right. We have Kylor Ren and his philosophy dominating the dialog, but in the end, what he had to say was not the message of the film. Countless people around here have claimed that “kill the past” was what Rian Johnson was trying to do when that was Kylo Ren and the Dark Side. What the Dark Side character has to say is never the point of a Star Wars film. Luke in Exile was decided before Rian was hired, or even JJ. Rey had to find a way to bring him back to the galaxy and in the end it took Yoda to do it. What Luke sarcastically said at the start becomes what he does at the end. Instead of killing the past, the movie embraces it to move forward. And I think the most brilliant thing about the ST is bringing Palpatine back. People think this was a last minute change, but I think JJ had this in mind from the beginning. It was pointed out before TLJ came out that musically Rey’s Theme was a variation on Palpatine’s theme. And Snoke’s rise to power was full of questions, until you find out Palpatine was behind him. Another puppet like Count Dooku, but this time a more mailable clone. I think that TLJ’s “anyone can be a Jedi” was not aimed at Rey, but at Finn and countless other. Rey was not a Skywalker and that fits in very well with the message. Her being a Palpatine makes that transition to central hero even more significant. Rather than being at odds, I see the three ST films and building on one another. I was disappointed in TFA, not because it was similar to ANH (something else I disagree with), but because it is a series of beautiful scenes that really didn’t form a full story. The film is charming in its own way, but it fails to have the impact that many other Star Wars films do. JJ was too concerned about his mystery box setups to craft a cohesive story.
I think the parallels to the OT and PT are to be appreciated and enjoyed. Lucas wanted the saga to have poetry and I feel that the ST we got gives it. Some fans complain about Han, Luke, and Leia dying, but that is what happens to the previous generation. That is what the OT does to the PT characters. They all die (except R2-D2, C-3PO, and Chewbacca). And I think many forget the inspirations behind Star Wars. Flash Gordon in 1980 ends with a closeup of Ming’s ring and Ming’s laugh ringing out indicating he isn’t really dead. That is exactly what we get in the ST, just without the foreshadowing. Palpatine is back like so many great villains (such as the Master in Doctor Who). So rather than any part of the ST ruining Star Wars, I feel that JJ and Rian really understood the saga and its roots and honored that with what they created. It has elements of the classic serials, the nearly unkillable villain, classic films, with a bit of comic relief in a glitzy package that pushes the movie making envelope of the time. It really is a better successor to the OT than the PT were.
Not that I expect everyone to agree. Just ponder the ideas I put forward and think about what George created and how it was born and where he expected it to go. Luke and Han were always going to die if Harrison and Mark came back. That was a given. Luke was supposed to die in Ep VII, but they couldn’t work him into the story so his death was moved to the climax of episode VIII and Han dies in VII, like Ben in IV and Qui-gon in I. Poetry, symmetry, myth and legend, part of the hero’s journey.