Maybe. But since the entire debate--whether it's good, bad, or a non-issue--is never brought up, discussed, or even alluded to, it really just feels like the script failed to pick up on a serious thematic issue inherant in the film. In other words, it's a bit of a plot hole. To me, it doesn't seem deliberate design. It seems the same reason that the entire central mystery of Attack of the Clones--who ordered the clones, and who Sifo-dyas was and what he was doing--was simply ignored in the sequel. Which is to say....who the fuck knows. It was simply dropped.

...what the hell!? How can you have a sequel that does that?? But Lucas went that far. I'm not sure what he was thinking. But basically the effect is that he pretended Episode II didn't exist. Which is awesome, because that movie is terrible. But it's just one more nail in the coffin for why the prequel trilogy was an epic failure of sometimes embarassing preportions. Can you think of another trilogy that simply jettisons the entire plot 2/3 of the way through? Well, maybe that is why Revenge of the SIth is so watchable, so I don't regret it, but it's certainly an indictment against George Lucas from his own self.