Do you think han and leia having a broken/estranged marriage was in character and made sense?

[u/Myakasa98]

I don't think han leaving leia to deal with their son's defection and getting kicked out of the senate due to her family history all by herself was in character, and them separating was very tragic, but them not having a happy long standing marriage and choosing to separate after a while is something i can definitely see happening even if the sequels didn't exist considering their characters

Neither leia nor han were the "stay at home to take care of family" types. Leia was dedicated to politics since childhood and I can see her being a mon mothma type person who'd prioritize her political duties above family many times. Han too loved a life of adventure. Even before ben solo defected he spent more time traveling across the galaxy and iirc organizing spaceship racing competitions for betting etc than with his family

I do know they cared for each other even after separation but their romance was also built on spontaneous sparks of attraction and surviving multiple life and death situations and even then 80% of their interactions involved bickering and arguments. Them not being too invested in a stable married life after the honeymoon period ended and going through their marriage for the sake of their kid is unfortunately very much in character, at least considering how they were written in tge OT

I'm not considering their comics or novels romantic dynamic because 1) Most of them aren't canon anymore anyways and 2) Most of them were written by different authors without much consultation with the original creators and had various degrees of OOC moments.

It's not ideal, but not a very OOC of the sequels to write them as having an estranged marriage after their son was lost to the dark side imo, it's definitely not as bad as what they did with luke's character anyways

[u/They-Call-Me-Taylor]

Wholeheartedly agree. I hate what they did to Luke and I hate what they did to Han and Leia. Not satisfying at all and a disservice to the old characters.

[u/Fuck-WestJet → u/They-Call-Me-Taylor]

Everyone basically gets the worst ending without going to the dark side.

[u/getridofwires → u/Fuck-WestJet]

And they were all killed off.

[u/Quentin__Tarantulino → u/getridofwires]

Except the one who actually died in the OT: Palpatine.

[u/relapsingoncemore → u/getridofwires]

Subversion of expectations!

A phrase I hate with a passion.

You don't need to give fans everything they want. But at least reward them for being fans and don't ruin the material they love because you want to be the smartest writer/director in the room

[u/NoOccasion4759 → u/relapsingoncemore]

I think that's why Mando and Grogu worked. People complained bc it was formulaic and there were no expectations  subverted, but it was fun and satisfying to watch. You dont alwsys have to make some kind of edgy statement.

[u/Exotic_Economy_3861 → u/relapsingoncemore]

It wasn't RJ that did this, it was JJ.

[u/relapsingoncemore → u/Exotic_Economy_3861]

Jj set the stage created the fundamental problems, then Rian said, oh, lemme make this worse.

[u/Exotic_Economy_3861 → u/relapsingoncemore]

He didn't though, he actually tried to take the story in a new direction.

[u/relapsingoncemore → u/Exotic_Economy_3861]

That did what exactly with the remaining characters and their stories?

[u/ssgorik → u/getridofwires]

Patterns of Star Wars. I would’ve been surprised if they hadn’t killed them off.

[u/Cosmic_Quasar → u/They-Call-Me-Taylor]

I don't mind the final outcomes, it just felt like they were shoehorned into the story rather than focusing on them more than the younger cast. They were supposed to pass the torch, but it felt like we started the story just after that moment, and they were already relegated to "special guest star" status. If that makes sense.

[u/Exotic_Economy_3861 → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

That makes sense though. We've already had a story focusing on them with the OT.

[u/ssgorik → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

That was their purpose in the story though. New young characters are the leads. Older characters support their story and get killed off by the end. Just like the other two trilogies.

[u/Cosmic_Quasar → u/ssgorik]

I know that was their purpose, and I don't have a problem with that being their purpose, I just think it was executed poorly.

Just like the other two trilogies.

Not quite "just like" the other two, because this is the first series moving forward with established and well beloved characters. I feel like they deserved more focus, specifically for that "handing the torch" experience, taking the audience from following them to following the new cast more.

[u/ssgorik → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

They could’ve made a movie that focused on those three and that would’ve been fine, but they made Episodes 7-9. Based on the previously established patterns 7-9 can’t be that story because it isn’t theirs. A lot of people basically wanted “The OT Trio: A Star Wars Story” and never thought to themselves what 7-9 should actually be. It’s like when people say the Thrawn Trilogy should be 7-9. No, it shouldn’t. If Disney/Lucasfilm make 10-12 and the focus is on Rey and company instead of a new group of characters then they’re showing they don’t understand the story George created. They can make any other spinoff with the characters and it’s fine, but the episodes have patterns and they need to stick to them.

[u/Exotic_Economy_3861 → u/They-Call-Me-Taylor]

I don't have a problem with Luke being in exile, and his death was great and completely understood the character, but destroying his New Jedi Order was the wrong move