Love the look Poppa! You did a great job. Box is simple and more elegant that way. The DVD especially looks real nice too.
The only thing I notice is a lot of empty space in the top left corner of the back of the box, but normally I could see the barcode going there so I would leave it as is and call it a day.
But within the Star Wars universe, Luke Skywalker still is a Jedi in TLJ, and has all of the powers a Jedi has within that universe.
Luke appearing on Crait was an illusion, but that is still very much a real power. Probably one of the most powerful uses of the Force we’ve ever seen. One that succeeds in its goal of saving the Resistance, but also not allowing his nephew to get more blood on his hands.
So the projection might be some kind of metaphor, but it is not a metaphor in-universe. He very much performed a heroic feat that is worthy of the Jedi legend.
Within universe, Luke had began to doubt the function of the Jedi. He believes that since he has failed like the Jedi before him, that the very existence of the Jedi as they are now are just a part of the problem. That light begets dark. So he has begun to believe that the Jedi need to end in order to stop the cycle, and for something better to start from scratch and take its place.
But in the end, he sees the value of the Jedi, and instead of throwing it all away and starting over, like Kylo Ren wants to, he sees the merit in accepting those mistakes and learning from them in order to grow.
So just because Luke questions that nature in TLJ, doesn’t undo himself as a real person or his very real powers. Because a meta-commentary exists within the film doesn’t necessarily mean that the meta-commentary exists in the universe the characters occupy.
The legend of Luke, in-universe, is an idealized, unchanging version of Luke that doesn’t exist, but Luke Skywalker still very much exists.
The Last Jedi actually still fulfills the latter steps of the Hero’s Journey as well, keeping in line with Luke’s Journey in the OT:
Rescue from Without
Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience.
The hero may have to be brought back from his supernatural adventure by assistance from without. That is to say, the world may have to come and get him. And yet, in so far as one is alive, life will call. >Society is jealous of those who remain away from it, and will come knocking at the door. If the hero. . . is unwilling, the disturber suffers an ugly shock.The Crossing of the Return Threshold
The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom and share it with the world.
The easy thing is to commit the whole community to the devil and retire again into the heavenly rock dwelling, close the door, and make it fast. But if some spiritual obstetrician has drawn the shimenawa across the retreat, then the work of representing eternity in time, and perceiving in time eternity, cannot be avoided" The hero returns to the world of common day and accepts it as real and worthy of salvation.Master of Two Worlds
This step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Gautama Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.
Campbell: "Freedom to pass back and forth across the world division, from the perspective of the apparitions of time to that of the causal deep and back—not contaminating the principles of the one with those of the other, yet permitting the mind to know the one by virtue of the other—is the talent of the master. The Cosmic Dancer, declares Nietzsche, does not rest heavily in a single spot, but gaily, lightly, turns and leaps from one position to another.Freedom to Live (for an eternity) Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live (for an eternity)
This is a part of what I love about it. It can carry these messages that might seem contradictory, but they’re not. It’s gets closer to true understanding, like the Force representing the eternal Tao, which is in itself shows balance in contradictions.
The Last Jedi deconstructs the hero, while still following the hero’s journey. It deconstructs legend, but still shows that there is truth to legends. You just can’t confuse deconstruction with destruction. To me, the film simply asks, what makes a hero a hero, and what makes a legend a legend?
While the Last Jedi has post-modern ideas, it doesn’t conclude in nihilism like a lot of post-modernist thought does, saying none of it matters. By deconstructing certain ideas, it does shows their flaws, but also their crucial value.
From a more personal perspective though, I do really appreciate Luke’s story in VIII.
Luke was always my favorite character growing up. He was my hero. But as I’ve grown up I’ve realized that we can’t always stand up to that heroism. We make mistakes, we hurt people we care about, we fail people sometimes. But just because we fail doesn’t mean we should give up on trying to be better. It’s the constant struggle of self improvement that allows for us to be better. It is not a place you reach, but something that must be maintained.
Which also makes me think of Luke. Even though he overcame the dark side in Return of the Jedi doesn’t mean he gets a key to never struggle with the dark side again. The constant struggle is much more appropriate to what the dark side represents.
While not my situation, one example I see a clear parallel to is raising kids. Kids often idealize their parents and as they grow up, eventually see that their parents aren’t perfect people. They have flaws, and probably those flaws will reflect on their children in someway, for better or worse. Eventually parents will slip up, say something that hurts their kids feelings, takes a punishment too far. Being imperfect, failing your kid sometimes, can feel horrible, but eventually you have to accept that you’re going to make mistakes, and despite them you have to learn from those mistakes and be the best parent you can possibly be, because that’s all you really can do.
Since Luke has gone through his own failure, and even gone as far as isolating himself because he thinks he will only makes things worse, gives me hope that even if I feel like I’m at my lowest point in my life, like Luke, that I still have a chance at bouncing back and becoming closer to that idealized version of myself than I ever thought possible.
For me, this makes Luke my hero even more than he was before.
Definitely not trying to say your opinion is wrong. It doesn’t work for you, and that’s totally fine! This movie isn’t a masterpiece, but it isn’t a disaster either. And I do disagree that The Last Jedi contradicts the mythology set up by the rest of the saga. To me, it is a great defense of that mythology, showing us why it is so important. All these movies carry life lessons within a fantastical setting, including this one, and that’s what makes these movies fairy tales.
EDIT: I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind and I know it probably isn’t going to, but I just want to ask others who might disagree with me to stay open-minded about what I said. I love Star Wars, and I just want others to love it to. Like them or not, the Prequels and Sequels are a part of the Saga. You can choose to ignore them, but I just want others to try accept them and find meaning in their stories so people can enjoy them and have fun with the whole saga. That’s all I want! You guys are great, thanks for all of the interesting discussions.
Check that out, it’s called Balance in the Force. I think it’s just like 11 minutes.
Do you mean it seem like the documentary focused more on the aspect of “We’re doing this!” and “Can we live up to the legacy?” rather than really going into them really getting into the nitty gritty of the, like you said writing and execution itself? I totally get what you’re saying though.
Have you also watched the shorter Behind the Scenes videos as well, like the one’s on Luke, Snoke, Crait? I feel like the Luke one goes more into that.
When I first saw it in Ady’s original Revisited, I just imagined how thousands of Battle droids must’ve been left lying around after the Clone Wars. I wouldn’t be surprised if criminals reprogrammed them and sold them as security droids. This just happens to be one that met its fate on Tatooine. It must not have done a very good job of protecting its master.
But that’s another reason I like it. It sparked my imagination.
Unrelated, but another thought I wanted to share.
I know Hal’s version of the scene where Anakin returns to Tatooine and speaks to Watto has subtitles, but did the theatrical version have subtitles too?
I was thinking, what if Anakin’s Huttese dialogue was changed from “I’m looking for Shmi Skywalker” to “I’ve come to free/purchase Shmi Skywalker.” Don’t know if it would be any better or worse, just a thought.
Also if it was implied that Luke has Force-enhanced memories, basically sensing that he had been there before, during his birth basically, it would help justify how Leia remembers her mother even though she died in childbirth. They just “remembered” different aspects of their birth.
I had been hoping someone would do some vfx work to fix it, but you’re right. Honestly just some trimming should do the trick.
I went back and watched it, and basically you have these three shots.
If you just cut out that second shot of the turret getting torn off the Falcon, then it should fix that problem. I don’t think it would mess up the flow of the music too much either.
Okay, I understand now! Very interested in these! Didn’t know you had been working on this too for so long.
I’ll get started with two of the most controversial storylines.
Idea to improve Dornish subplot:
Can’t really cut it out, so how can we make it more bearable? Obviously Ellaria is driven by revenge, but it would be nice if it could be made clearer that Ellaria is going to make one of the Sand Snakes the Princess of Dorne. So instead of her actions being just purely revenge it is also a power move, and it won’t seem like a blatant betrayal of Oberyn to destroy his house, since the implication would be that his eldest daughter, Tyene, would be legitimized and made the Princess of Dorne.
Maybe cut their first failed conspiracy plan to kidnap Myrcella. Trim it so the Sand Snakes just seem like Myrcella and Trystane’s bodyguards when Jaime and Bronn try to “rescue” Myrcella. We don’t see them in jail with Bronn, nor any of the conspiracy moments with Ellaria before that.
We know Ellaria is upset, but it isn’t until Myrcella starts dying of poison do we realize what Ellaria has done. It makes both Doran and Ellaria look a lot less stupid. Then when Ellaria kills Doran (maybe hear Doran’s bodyguard getting stabbed multiple times in the background), we then either see a trimmed version of Trystane getting killed, or when Ellaria says Trystane is weak and weak men will never rule Dorne again, we see a quick shot of the boat, and Trystane lying on the ground dead. We could even spread out the intercutting so we see the boat, Trystane at the desk, the Sand Snakes enter, then Trystane dead on the floor.
When Olenna later comes to Dorne, maybe try to have Olenna call Tyene “Princess” off-screen to establish that Ellaria put Oberyn’s daughter on the Dornish throne and technically continuing the Martell line through her.
Idea to improve the Wight mission:
It seems like most people think that it was out of character for Tyrion to suggest such a plan, and it has been one of the most controversial plot elements in the show so far. We can’t remove the plan, so how can we make it work?
Instead of Bran warging into crows and seeing the wight army, he has a “green sight” vision, edited to be a little vague and dreamlike, but he has a vision of Jon getting a wight, showing it to Cersei, and their armies marching together to defeat the white walkers.
He has the maester to send a raven to tell Jon about this vision.
So now, Bran has a vision that this how they can defeat the white walkers instead of Tyrion. Jon knows the odds are stacked against them, so this could be enough to encourage Jon to do it.
You can heavily alter the scene where Tyrion suggests the idea. Possibly use new VO for the characters if it helps make this work.
Not exactly certain how it can be cut, but luckily there is mostly no music in the background, which will make it easier to cut. But they begin talking about the feasibility of the idea more immediately.The twist is, though, that instead of this being a true vision, but it turns out it is a false vision given to Bran by the Night King. Since the Night King touched Bran, they are connected in a way, which is could make this possible, especially since there has been an implication that the Night King is also a greenseer.
You have to think of it this way, who gains the most from the wight mission? The mission didn’t really seem to unite the Seven Kingdoms. The Night King, on the other hand, got exactly what he needed to get past the wall: a dragon.
I’m also thinking a second vision could be invented that Bran will have after Jon is already Beyond the Wall, that shows that he will be trapped and possibly die. This causes him to send a raven to Dragonstone, to tell Daenerys that she must rescue him.
Alternatively, a short scene could possibly be constructed where Daenerys is looking out toward the ocean, maybe using a shot from the Danny/Tyrion conversation scene, maybe find an ocean insert shot, and play their love motif subtly to show she is thinking about Jon. This way, Dany decides to go on her own.
But, for the Night King trap idea to work, the Night King’s idea sort of necessitates that a dragon comes beyond the wall, which is why the two visions idea might be necessary. This would also explain why it seems that the White Walkers wait until the last minute to try and kill them all. It really seems like a trap, especially if we can decontextualize it.
I still need ideas to make these changes work, so if anyone has some thoughts I would love to hear them. Also feel free to share your own ideas. I think it would be cool if once Season 8 is finished, to eventually make an edit of the series that makes changes like these to help make the improve the series overall.
This thread might already exist, but I wanted to start a thread to share ideas for ways of editing Game of Thrones. I know some exist already, like condensing each season into a movie, or making edits to only show one character’s POV. People are welcome to share more of those ideas as well.
I am particularly interested in more general ideas to improve some of the weaker plot elements of the show, like the Dornish plot and the mission to capture a Wight in season 7. I already have some ideas I can share, but I also would love to hear any other ideas people might have to execute these kind of changes or improve the plot in general.
I’m sure this thread will be Season 7 changes heavy, but this thread is open to ideas for changes throughout the entire show. I see a ton of YouTube videos or reddit threads suggesting ways to rewrite the plot, but obviously most of those ideas are not really doable. I know a site like this might encourage more feasible ideas with what we have to work with.
This is really cool. So, as a total layman to these edits, Kerr has been working on edits of the Extended Editions, which you have also been collaborating on, right? So this is a version with your additional tweaks that can be considered somewhat like an initial release to Kerr’s edits later down the road? Sorry if I misunderstood. Regardless, I am interested.
I know Ady has already said he was not going to use any prequel references he had in ANH:R for ANH:R HD, but I wanted to make a brief case for one of them.
I might be the only person in the world who even cares about this, but I would love for you to keep the battle droid in the sand crawler.
To me, it’s the perfect Easter egg. It’s very brief, easy to miss. It doesn’t call attention to itself, but simply rests in the foreground of one very short shot.
It’s an Easter egg that can work for both people who like and dislike the prequels. It presents a small element that connects the trilogies in a way that’s really natural, but it also pokes fun at them by being a metaphor for the prequels like you meant it to be (garbage).
It’s brilliant, really.
I generally preferred the Purist edition over the original Revisited, but that was one thing I loved from it. I grew up in the prequel era, so I know I’m biased. I just thought it was a very clever way to, at the very least, acknowledge their existence.
It’s so quick, so out of the way. I don’t think it would hurt anyone if it stayed. I think it works in the same way Chopper works in ESB:R. But, I understand why you might not want to reuse it and I totally respect that. I at least appreciate you doing it in the first place.
Just some food for thought. There are bigger things to worry about than this. That’ll be all, your honor.
To me it just built up anticipation to see him in the flesh. I also wonder if the juxtaposition of him being cordial in the message and then threatening in person made work for a lot of people regardless of that.
I think you kind of know he is up to something when he offers the droids as a gift. So maybe it is less about what he looks like and more about what he is going to do. Good point though!
The defense I’ve heard for Han’s characterization in ROTJ is that it shows how Han progression in becoming a more selfless person. Yeah, he’s initially jealous of Luke, but when he snaps at Leia out of that insecurity, he then gives her a sincere apology, something old Han would have never done.
And at the end of the film he tells Leia he’s okay if she has chosen Luke over him, basically wanting her to be happy.
I mean it makes sense, it does show Han becoming less self-centered. I just think where its effectiveness gets brought into question is the fact that we don’t get any of this jealousy stuff until, ironically enough, after we have already found out that Luke and Leia are twins. So you could argue Han’s growth is sincere, but it feels like it is meant to be played for laughs rather than taken seriously partly because of this.
I also feel like Leia’s affirmation of her love when she rescues him (“Someone who loves you” and the subsequent kiss) should quell Han’s doubts that she no longer loves him, which might be adding to why Han’s jealousy doesn’t work for many. Though to be honest, there is not a lot of it, just the scene where Luke leaves the Ewok village and after the Death Star blows up.
So I guess for fan editors, it comes down to cutting this stuff out, but having even less of Han in the movie than there already is, or keeping it to give Han that extra bit of growth despite the silliness of it. I think the issue with keeping it is that it feels a little tacked on, rather than being thought-out character development for Han. I don’t think Ady mentioned if he was doing anything rergarding this in his ROTJ: Revisited thread but I’m curious about it.
John_ is definitely right though, the personality traits that made Han and Leia so compelling are pretty much nonexistent in ROTJ, and there’s not much that can be done to improve it unfortunately. Just feels like everyone is happy too soon in this movie, no one argues anymore. I’m sure it has a lot to do with Lucas wanting this film to be the happy ending to the trilogy, but one could also argue that after what they went through and finally being reunited, they are just happy to be together again.
Regarding Luke, I get what you’re saying Snooker and do like Ray’s approach. Having the Dagobah stuff before the rest has been a change suggested by others for several reasons in the past.
I think the major thing you would lose from this change is the mystery and build up you get by having Luke be a reveal in the film. That, and seeing Luke’s saber during the Sarlacc battle for the first time are great moments. To me, Luke has grown a lot, but I think a lot of his confidence is partly show in front of his enemies, like Jabba and the Emperor, but I also think it is partly him displaying his faith in the Force. There are moments when we see the old Luke though, like him being afraid of the Rancor, hiding from Vader during their duel, getting caught in the Ewok net, and his conversations with Yoda and Obi-Wan.
I think there are also pros and cons to implying he has trained more with Yoda in the interim. As presented in the films, Luke didn’t train anymore with Yoda, but did a lot of learning on his own between films. To me, I think it makes sense that he would try to learn on his own for awhile after feeling lied to by Obi and Yoda. Also, the way Luke acts through a lot of the film, especially the Jabba sequence, feels very dark side of Luke. Force choking, threats, killing dozens of people. It would make sense that these are things Luke would’ve learned on his own rather than being taught these things by Yoda.
Though I think what Ash said, and at least mention how Luke has continued his training during the crawl, or has gone to “find himself” or whatever could help just give the audience a little more context.
Anyway, I can see the arguments to have it the other way though too.
A little off topic, but I went back and watched through a little of the Jabba sequence while writing this up and I noticed a few other things. Awhile back I suggested that the plan to rescue Han was to actually get everyone to the Sarlacc in order to get out of Jabba’s palace and escape on a skiff. While watching the film again I noticed that when 3PO is telling them their punishment, after Luke kills the Rancor, and as soon as 3PO mentions the Sarlacc, Luke clearly nods his head. To me, this is another indication that this is what Luke wanted to happen.
This, plus ignoring 3PO’s warning about the trap door, Lando giving Leia a reassuring look after Luke falls into the pit, and Luke’s continued confidence and threats toward Jabba really seem to point in that direction.
I wanted to layout an idea for some changes to the Sail Barge Assault in Return of the Jedi.
Mostly, the point is to make Boba Fett’s last appearance do a little more justice to the bounty hunter.
While Ady has hinted at a more definitive death for Boba in his own edit, I wanted to suggest some ideas that don’t radically change his fate.
I’ve mentioned some of this before in his ROTJ: Revisited thread, but I wanted to reiterate those ideas here as well as add a few others.
First of all, I think something that I hope Ady might add, and would make an awesome general addition, would be to add some saber cuts and possibly dismemberment to the guards Luke wildly swings at during the fight. The whole scene is still great fun, but when you watch it, Luke might as well just be swinging a bat at them!
Moving onto Boba, I think a few changes could really make this scene more tense, as well as make Boba look a bit more competent.
Starting off, as soon as Boba lands, a new blaster shot should be added right as he lands, which Luke barely manages to avoid before cutting Boba’s blaster. A quick shot and close call.
Next, while not exactly necessary, I think it could be effective to add some yellow energy to the rope Boba shoots at Luke in an attempt to disable him. As is, a thin rope seems pretty ineffective against someone wielding a lightsaber, so adding that little effect could make it seem a little more dangerous.
Here’s an example of what I’m suggesting, seen in this clip from Rebels, around the 1:25 mark. (Hoping the link works!)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iI-5belUgQ0
Third suggestion I wanted to throw out here is to reuse the shots of Luke’s hand getting shot on the sail barge to when Boba shoots at him right before Han hits his jet pack.
I feel like if anyone can get a shot off a Jedi, it should be Boba rather than a random thug. Just think it would be nice if Boba “almost” got him.
So basically, Boba shoots at Luke from the other skiff, you would rotoscope the close-up of Luke’s hand getting shot to match, then rotoscope the quick reaction shot of Luke reacting to it, then cut back to Han swinging the axe at Boba. Or something along those lines.
I feel like this way, it feels a lot more like a close call, Boba seems more competent and it feels more satisfying when Han takes him out. Speaking of which, I would also suggesting adding a bit more of a gap between Han saying “Where?” and hitting Boba, maybe adding a Chewbacca growl inbetween. This makes it a little more open to interpretation whether it was an accident, or Han asked “Where?”, Chewbacca said, “Behind you!”, then Han swings behind him. Not a big difference, but small enough to where people can interpret whichever way they prefer.
The only issue you’d run into with this idea would be that you wouldn’t see Luke’s damaged hand for the next several shots, it would take some work but you could add the damage to moments where that hand is in clear view.
But even in the theatrical version, you don’t really see the damage in any further shots after his hand gets damaged either, so I don’t think continuity should make or break this idea.
Beyond that, I think removing Boba’s screams and the Sarlaac burp would help too.
I think these changes would give us a little bit more cool Boba action that people back in ‘83 might have hoped for originally.
The biggest change would be having Luke getting shot by Boba, but I honestly think it would work in that moment.
Great work! Also wanted to say I liked the fun rewind effect you added to it. Would enjoy seeing more of that sort of thing in your videos!
Appreciate the positivity, Noah! I’m looking forward to it too!
I think you might get away with shots of vehicles rather than people with the right color grading and maybe adding grain, but I think any shots with character avatars wouldn’t really work. And it probably would be hard to get away with having a real forest shot next to a digital shot. Though you’re right, simulating the more stationary camera shots does help.
I think the best thing we’ll be getting is Ady’s eventually physical shoot in California. That, plus the recent mock-ups of Ewoks with blasters from the Battle for Endor, are probably be the best “extra footage” will have for the battle of Endor.
I think both of these ideas have been suggested on here forever ago. There was a mock-up of adding the blockade runner corridors to the background of Obi, Bail and Yoda while Padmé’s in labor. And another of the blockade runner on Dagobah.
Interested in seeing your take on these ideas!
I do agree the political context is something that could’ve been handled a little better in these films. Honestly, all I think it could have taken were rewritten opening crawls and maybe an extra scene or two. I think the prequel backlash made them feel like “politics=bad”, but having it could make the stakes a little clearer. I think Hal’s Restructured edit helps with TFA, and Nev and I have gone back and forth on opening crawls for quite some time on his edit threads, so I do think future edits could help make these things a little clearer.
But I do think the political situation in the build up to The Force Awakens is super interesting, and is fertile ground for fun storytelling in future content that deals with espionage and political backstabbing. I understand that they have probably been avoiding this area until the trilogy is over as to avoid contradicting it as it is being written/produced, but now that it is drawing to a close, I am hoping we get more of it, the new Resistance show being a good example. We get a taste of this in Bloodline, but I would love a series of novels in the vein of the EU Rogue/Wraith Squadron books that cover more of this time period. I think the whole gap between ROTJ and TFA is full of storytelling possibilities. I think it is just a matter of time until we get more content set during it, The Mandalorian being another such example.
I believe that once we get the first trailer to Episode IX, everything crazy may be put to rest. We may get it this December, despite that the film wraps production in February.
I have a feeling that if some of the leaks are true, then it will only add fuel to those who are hoping JJ retcons The Last Jedi, even though I think it is the opposite. But hey, if we get stuff that both sides can interpret in satisfying ways, then I guess it works in a weird way, right?
But I’m optimistic that the new shows will be able to to tell stories pretty independent of the films, which will allow them to take us in new directions for the franchise.
I think you’re on the right track. Rose mentions that her home world was stripped of its natural resources, and she implies those resources were either used to rebuild their navy or used to pay for it. There does seem to be an implication that the First Order was able to strip planets of their resources throughout the Unknown Regions unopposed once they learned how to navigate it (with the help of Snoke apparently).
Also, as Dom mentioned, there were those in the Republic that also supported a First Order-coup. Either they believed in the cause or financially benefited from the Old Imperial status quo, so they also were possibly helping fund the First Order.
I believe the novel Bloodline also mentions that the First Order was being funneled money from crime syndicates through various shadow corporations as well, possibly because they believe the First Order would allow them to operate with more freedom than the Republic does, much like the Empire did before it.
The New Republic did have a Fleet, but a large chunk of their fleet were stationed at Hosnian Prime. I’m sure some New Republic forces exist throughout the galaxy but they’re all spread thin. So by destroying Hosnian Prime, it would be like if the attack at Pearl Harbor had destroyed the carriers and oil facilities like the Japanese had hoped for. It would have been a major setback for the United States.
At this time, I think the New Republic relied on the defense forces of their member worlds to be called to action in a situation where a large defense force was necessary. I believe the NR’s primary defense fleet was large enough to handle any large scale conflicts itself, but I imagine in this time they only dealt with intervening skirmishes involving their members, or fighting off pirates/criminals.
The New Republic demilitarizing to me wasn’t about having no military, but downsizing their military to pre-Clone War levels. Basically to the scale that the Republic Navy was at probably for most of its history. Many people didn’t want a large national military so the central government wouldn’t have too much power over its member worlds, leading to an abuse of power that led to the Empire in the first place.
I also like to think that between ROTJ and TFA, the New Republic did deal with some Imperial holdouts, but their threat to the Republic was small enough for their Fleet, and units like Rogue/Wraith Squadron from the EU, to take care of. While not really necessary, this would also help explain why they never consider an Imperial resurgence a major threat.
But we do know that First Order sympathizers within the Senate did help downplay the threat of the First Order enough to make the majority of the Republic feel like a large-scale intervention wouldn’t be necessary. And it did seem the First Order kept hidden enough to help with that narrative.
But once the First Order destroyed the Defense Fleet and the Senate in one move, it was basically cutting off the head of the Republic. The member worlds no longer had any leadership or unity. Maybe under some common leadership they could’ve held back the First Order, but without it they’re all probably bunkering down in an attempt to defend their own worlds. It’s a very precise divide and conquer-like strategy, a strategy which smaller armies can use to defeat forces larger than itself.
So my guess for the First Order’s strategy (which they’ve had 30 years to perfect) could be to occupy planets at important hyperspace junctures, thereby having control of trade and the galactic economy within a month or two.
Which in my mind is why Leia’s survival in TLJ was so important. She might be the last figure that can truly unite what is left of any resistance in the galaxy together, which we will hopefully see in Episode IX.
To me, Luke’s death was less of a physical one. Not just simply death, but the moment Luke achieved nirvana. But to reach “Force nirvana”, you literally become one with Force, meaning no physical body necessary.
FMA, if you’re referring to why the Resistance is so shabby compared to the First Order, then my guess is that it is because the Resistance isn’t really being funded by the Republic as a whole. Maybe a few sympathetic senators are helping support them, but financing a private militia is $$$ and I like to imagine that by the beginning TFA, that Leia is already broke funding it herself. All she has now is 3PO and the clout her name holds, which by the end of TLJ doesn’t seem to be much.