The relationship between Rick and George reminds me of that between Jesse and Walt on the tv show Breaking Bad.

If you were to ask, "George, why? Why Rick?" George would respond, "Because he does what I say. Because I can trust him."

I have nothing against Rick. Seems like a good guy but at the end of the day he has to serve the dark lord. If nobody has changed George's mind thus far about the UOT, I doubt it will happen anytime soon.

Just look at the back of the 1995 VHS release. It mentions something about that being the final home video release of the original versions of Star Wars. George has viewed the UOT as imperfect and incongruent with his vision of SW for quite a long time (as most directors view their works incomplete or having flaws). I don't think much will change.

Never say never, but I'd caution people from becoming too optimistic about seeing a proper UOT release.