I really like this Jolee Bindo quote from Knights of the Old Republic.
“Malak is a tyrant who should be stopped. If he conquers the galaxy, we’re in for a couple of rough centuries. Eventually it’ll come around again, but I’d rather not wait that long. So we do what we have to do and we try to stop the Sith. But don’t start thinking this war, your war, is more important than any other war just because you’re in it.“
I do think the Skywalker Saga is the definitive conclusion of the war with Palpatine, but I think it is naive to think that future stories won’t deal with conflicts between good and evil, good guys and bad guys, the dark side and the light. Hopefully they take a different form than the Sith, but I’m sure the new Rey movie will deal with the New Jedi Order addressing some new type of conflict or enemy, and that’s what I’m talking about.
A franchise called “Star Wars” is likely never going to have a happily ever after that is permanent. There’s always going to be some conflict or war that has to be fought. I mean, you say, “ there should really be another sequel trilogy if that is the case, and on and on into infinity.” That’s sort of what is happening though. We’re getting at least one movie that is forward in time that is 100% going to deal with some type of conflict or dilemma. And, the franchise is already going back in time to show countless other wars and conflicts that happened before the Skywalker Saga. 25,000 years cycling through war and peace. And even if Episode IX is the end of that and there is never a dark side wielding enemy ever again, there clearly has been a cycle of war between the Jedi and the Sith for literally a thousand generations. You can’t argue that. But maybe it is over now, but the point that I would suggest trying to make in this hypothetical type of edit is that regardless of whether or not the cycle is broken with Palpatine’s death, that peace and balance is worth fighting for even if it isn’t permanent. But maybe it is!
At one point in time I was really hoping that there would be some kind of resolution to the flaws of the Jedi Order, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Rey movie addresses that in some way, but I think from both an in-universe and narrative standpoint it’s unlikely the Jedi will make some fundamental philosophical change that avoids Jedi from falling to the dark side. Even in Legends, where Luke more clearly shook up the old Jedi ways and made it something grayer, plenty of Jedi still fell to the dark side. And good guys being corrupted or bad guys being redeemed is such a huge theme in Star Wars that making some big storytelling decision that the Jedi are “fixed” now and no Jedi will ever fall again just is unlikely. Where’s the fun in that? The Jedi can be better but that internal conflict will always exist and need to be confronted by future Jedi.
It also speaks to reality as well. Sure, we don’t have Jedi/Sith, the Force, galactic wars, but humans are imperfect, and so is civilization. We’re always fighting for peace in our communities and also within ourselves, and it is a constant struggle. Just because those things aren’t permanent doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight for those things. That’s just what I’m speaking to. Star Wars might not have a happily forever after, but there’s plenty of happily afters for every new adventure they decide to tell.