“Star Wars” is one of the most iconic film franchises, spanning from the late ’70s to now.

With spin-off films including “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” there are plenty of Star Wars universe branches.

However, the most recent trilogy, which followed characters Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron, was the best trilogy in the franchise.

Although the sequel trilogy has its issues and criticisms, Star Wars fans have to appreciate the combination of nostalgic elements and new story lines to form a new chapter. 

The prequel’s issue was its slow moving pace. “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” involved various scenes of political dialogue and not enough action until the third act of the film.

As for “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,” it suffered from bad dialogue and awful lines from Anakin Skywalker, ‘The Chosen One’, including “I don’t like sand, it’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.”

Yes, the original films were groundbreaking and set in an unconventional order to build upon in the future but not everyone thought the franchise would be a hit.

In fact, the very creator of the Star Wars universe, George Lucas himself, said, “I didn’t think the film was going to be successful,” according to a May 4, 2021 Insider article. 

The best part about the sequel trilogy is that it ties into all aspects of the other two generations of Star Wars characters. 

The first film brings back its original characters including Han Solo, Princess Leia and, of course, Luke. 

All of this is being shown with a few dashes of the evil Darth Vader as a nod to the new apprentice of The First Order, Kylo Ren. 

As the films progress, it shows protagonist Rey’s development as someone facing a similar path as her master Luke Skywalker, who took his journey to become a Jedi knight. 

With twists and turns throughout the film, we learn that Emperor Palpatine, who has been the main recurring source of evil throughout all 9 films, is secretly leading The First Order from afar. 

To top it all off, viewers are left stunned as Palpatine reveals he’s Rey’s grandfather and lured her to his lair on Exegol to strike him down and absorb all the spirits of the Sith. 

The issue I had with this trilogy was the character Finn not being given a true character arc and becoming a Jedi himself as it was slightly implied throughout each film. 

Although this can be an issue, it could be flipped to something greater such as a possible origin story in the future where Finn discovers his powers and becomes a Jedi knight.

This is another reason why these sequels are so great; because they open up a whole new batch of ideas to expand the Star Wars universe. 

The sequel trilogy checked every box, providing nostalgia by bringing back old characters and tying in new characters with a storyline to bring it full circle.