I stand by the fact that The Last Jedi could have been the final movie and it would have been a good send off – even better with a few minor tweaks. My biggest problem with this movie is Leia not dying. Otherwise it’s a great send off. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about this but I’ll try to explain: Finn becomes a complete hero, redeeming himself from his past character flaws. Poe learns the lesson of what it takes to be a leader and then is left with a rebellion that he can be the leader of after Laura Dern sacrifices herself. If Leo had died, the point would have resonated even more. Rey learns the ways of the Jedi, but with the caveat that the Jedi need not be held to the strict essentially religious rules of the past, but she also learns that her lineage is “nothing” which makes the point that anyone can be A hero, not just “chosen”. Ren double crosses his master, killing Snoke, but actually falls deeper into dark side corruption when Rey refuses his offers to take power together. Yoda and Luke destroy the remnants of the outdated Jedi order. Luke confronts Ren and allows himself to die, showing Ren that selflessness is the way, but also defeating him by destroying his ego, taking away his chance for “revenge” by proving that there is no value in revenge. If Leia died, Luke would have arrived at the cave to learn he would not see her again in this life and there would have been an extra twist of the knife in our hearts. We end on this: the original trio are all dead in meaningful ways. The new trio have all matured as characters and established a new order in their lives (Poe the military leader, Rey the Jedi, and Finn the scrappy hero). The villain has fallen and is on a path to potential redemption, and yet the conflict of the universe remains in place with a small faction of rebels left with new hope and the first order still established but without strong leadership.