When I watched TCW for the first time, we did the chronological order, and it really helped my enjoyment of things. I can't imagine watching things all out of order and being confused on why things are happening and when. It definitely helped my love of Anakin and Obi-Wan that the films didn't bother to fill in, but moreso than that, it helped me feel a little better for loving all the side characters I do like Plo Koon and such because, you know, they actually had a character for once.
Same as Rebels; I totally get the kid-focused presentation of things, but if you can get past the moments that are clearly aimed at kids (which become fewer and farther between as the seasons go on), it's really a great watch with so many memorable characters.
I'll die on the hill that TLJ is a damn good movie- both story-wise and aesthetically (the marketing campaign might very well be my favorite in all the saga). I do think, despite what many would say, it feels like a (mostly) natural continuation of TFA and takes things in arguably a more interesting direction than I was expecting. But my distaste and loathing of TROS is strong and unyielding. It just feels like they completely chickened out on doing anything interesting. Instead of honoring what came before and running with it, they undid it almost immediately. Instead of trying to silence the toxic fanboys who ran Kelly Marie Tran off the internet, they just wrote her out. They completely caved to the complaining of the fans, which I feel was the complete wrong thing to do. They went for quick, easy shock value like Chewbacca's fake-out death, and didn't even have the guts to stick with it for more than, what, 90 seconds? Just felt like a timid movie, if that makes sense.
nd sure, Carrie's death, I'm sure, threw a huge wrench into things, but I really think they should've kept the bones of Trevorrow's script, Duel of the Fates, and ran with it. Was it perfect? Not at all, but like TLJ, felt like it honored what came before instead of just saying "psych!" and doing their own thing. Yeah, Leia was a big part of it, but they could've either rewritten her role for someone else, or just deepfaked her. Would've been a controversial choice, I'm sure, but they seem to have had Billie's blessing, and I can get over some shoddy CGI, if it works for the story. Tarkin doesn't really bother me that much in Rogue One. It would've at least, to me, felt more natural than shoehorning in unused dialogue and reaction shots, which looked kinda off anyway, into the film.
Anyway. That's enough from me. I could be here all day discussing my dislike of TROS. It's the only piece of Star Wars media that I have no real interest in rewatching. I've seen it a handful of times, and that's plenty for me.
