I remember watching Episode 1 in 2000 or so and holding it to the quality of the other three movies that existed at the time. I was 13. Then Episode 2 came out and only then did I really start to feel like something felt off about Star Wars. I think it was the one-two punch of nonsense plot and bad CGI, which was noticeably off even at the time (Keep in mind that Gollum appeared on screen in the very same year).

I distinctly remember seeing a review for Episode 2 in the newspaper and reading that it was the weakest Star Wars movie to date, and that cemented the idea that just because it was a Star Wars movie doesn’t mean it would necessarily be good. Before that point I had bought into the idea that Star Wars was a monolithic entity leaping fully formed from George Lucas in 1977 and each movie was in fulfillment of an intricate, mythic tale. Episode 2 shattered that naive belief and made me realize that there likely never was a story for Episodes 1-3, and that George Lucas was just making it up as he went along.