Hot Star Wars take. The sequal trilogy failed as a direct result of JJ Abrams being a terrible story teller and not working with the Lucas Story Group, and blaming Disney and/or the LSG is unfair when they have given us great content like Rogue One, Rebels, and Jedi Fallen Order.

JJ has never been able to finish a 3rd act. Examples: Lost becomes incoherent, Super 8 falls apart, did anyone even finish Fringe? The man can ONLY start things. He has good ideas but can't follow through.

TFA was an acceptable jumping off point despite it's obvious reskining of ANH, but JJ put his own stylistic choices over in universe continuity and integrity. He left 99% of the dramatic questions open for answering in subsequent films.

TLJ in my opinion attempted to focus and enhance the important themes of TFA. Who are Rey's parents? Is Ben redeemable? Is Luke the Jedi we want him to be?And the questions SW has always asked, what is the Force and what is our relationship to it?

All the while introducing new themes such as war benefitting the rich, failure as an opportunity for growth, and violence as the only answer to violence is unsustainable.
Only for the whole thing to be essentially retconned by TROS.

JJ refusing to use an ounce of Trevorrows script is nothing but arrogance. Instead he brought back a villain from the OT with a half-assed vague explaination, disregarded the revelations made by the previous film, and generally treated the plot like a a mission impossible film.

He made Poe a negative latino stereotypical drug runner after Oscar Isaac dropped Hernandez Estrada from his screen name to avoid being type cast that way. He did Kelly Marie Tran dirty by caving to racist toxic fans. He destroyed Rey's agency by making a Palpatine prone to

The dark side. Not to mention all of the in film and in universe continuity errors of which here are a few. Hyperspace doesn't work next to gravity wells, so no "hyperspace skipping" https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Gravity_well
The wayfinders are simultaneous the only way to get to Exegol and

Useless considering the whole Resistance Fleet to could there without one.
They blow up Kylo's Tie fighter twice. As a plot point. Both times.

The Death Star II blew up into so many small pieces that there is no way sections that large survived to fall to a planet. Not to

Mention that if it did, there odds of it staying in the same place after years of tidal currents would make that Goonies Dagger nonsense impossible.

Imperial Tie fighters DON'T HAVE HYPERDRIVES!

Palpatine wants Rey to kill him so he can ?possess her? Tbh that part unclear

To be begin with. Then she *checks notes* kills him. So did he possess her or naw?

THEN we had to retconned most of that in a novel just as confusing. Rey is no longer Palpatines direct descendant, she is the daughter of a failed, not quite identical clone... Huh?

That kiss which robs Ben of any consequences for his actions was a "thank you kiss" which whatever. The romantic chemistry wasn't there to begin with. But stilll. Huh??

We've established that First Order storm troopers are brain washed kids so you would think the good guys would try to save... Oh no they killed them all? Cool.

Finally, Rey ends up alone on a desert planet with no purpose, much like she began the trilogy having nothing to show

For this journey except she has a new name now.

I know no one has asked for this thread. But this trilogy could have been sooo good. And it just makes me sad that it was treated in a way that validated toxic, racist, misogynist fans, and generally has made no social impact whatsoever.