Fans just couldn’t seem to make their minds up when it came to the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, with Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi being subjected to a huge wave of online backlash for daring to deviate from the established mythology, while J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker came under fire for doing the exact opposite and being too reverential to the originals.
The ninth and final chapter in The Skywalker Saga in particular was blasted for a lack of originality, with both Abrams and Lucasfilm guilty of trying too hard to erase the events of The Last Jedi in order to get the fans back on board, and the over-reliance on callbacks to the franchise’s history and blatant fan service ultimately hurt the quality of the movie itself.
Episodes VII, VIII and IX were already loaded with legacy characters before the decision was made to have Palpatine revealed as the villain for the third trilogy in a row, and having him outed as Rey’s grandfather fell flat for many people who strongly disagree with the idea that everything in the Star Wars universe has to be connected to the Skywalker family in some shape or form.
The same thing applied to Kylo Ren’s constant fanboying over his grandfather, which served as the driving force behind his entire arc and saw him turn his back on Han, Leia and Luke in favor of the Dark Side. Despite how prominently Darth Vader factored into Kylo’s story, and how the Sequel Trilogy as a whole leaned heavily on the first three movies for support though, at no point during The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi or The Rise of Skywalker is Anakin Skywalker’s name mentioned out loud by anyone.
There are frequent references to Darth Vader, and his charred helmet is basically what makes Kylo Ren who he is, so it seems a little odd that the three sequels that are often far too focused on the past wouldn’t even mention Anakin once. After all, he was the Chosen One, played a pivotal role in both the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies, and his rise, fall and redemption arc across those six movies clearly had a huge bearing on his grandson’s fate in The Rise of Skywalker.