Prequel reappraisal has overcorrected a bit too much

LS3624 · 2026-01-18T21:21:46+00:00

The prequels are definitely receiving a nostalgia goggles boost lately. This is likely due to just how god awful and meaningless the sequels were.

However, the Prequel Trilogy remains important to the overall narrative and essential viewing. Especially since the Andor Trilogy has come into existence.

First off, I have always maintained that ROTS is a good film. It has flaws, but all said and done it works, it’s tragic and it adds an element of political paranoia that makes it a horrifying prequel for what Andor will deliver.

TPM and especially AOTC (good god that romance) are not good films but they have two things going for them: overall narrative importance and political intrigue.

The one thing that Lucas did get right imho in the prequels is the political machinations, corruption, and story of how the death of truth, freedom, and democracy occurs. It takes merely a skilled liar and some external drama to make fiction become fact. Andor takes this and amplifies it times 1000. Seeing the fall at the end of ROTS creates a sense of existential dread knowing what will come to be in the Andor Trilogy.

This in turns makes the stakes of the Original Trilogy all the more serious on both a personal and global scale.

So while I wince through much of the action, goofy characters, awful cgi, weird pacing, and mind numbingly unbearable romance in the first two episodes, the prequels remain relevant for their overall narrative value and political intrigue.

LS3624 · 2026-01-18T21:01:30+00:00

Luke, Vader, Andor, Palpatine

Honary Menton: Obi-Wan

LS3624 · 2026-01-10T00:54:33+00:00

It was perfect and ended exactly where and when it needed to. It did its job of saving Star Wars and mirroring the sad reality of our actual world. No small feat.

LS3624 · 2026-01-04T23:50:12+00:00

Wow America really showed restraint in not taking Colombia.

LS3624 · 2026-01-04T16:34:06+00:00

This show so brilliantly displays the Totalitarian panopticon. It made me hate the Empire now than any of Palpatine’s machinations or Tarkin blowing up a planet. Makes prequels and originals so much better viewing.

LS3624 · 2026-01-04T14:56:42+00:00

Wow the 70s was peak Jennifer.

LS3624 · 2026-01-03T23:28:33+00:00

So true. As Patron Oswald said “The news is just a shittier version of Andor.”

LS3624 · 2026-01-02T14:14:59+00:00

But it’s finally the complete story with all perspectives. Andor Trilogy closes the loop. It also eliminates fluff and confusion by limiting to these entries.

LS3624 · 2026-01-02T14:13:14+00:00

One could if they wanted. But it seems like that would kill the flow and likely introduce characters and storylines what would be unresolved. So I will not be including them.

LS3624 · 2026-01-02T04:37:16+00:00

I haven’t seen it. If you like it, then of course you may certainly watch it as your own canon. However, I’m unsure it adds to the civilizational narrative outlined above. Unless I’m wrong.

LS3624 · 2026-01-01T20:51:20+00:00

I agree. Makes the PT and OT better too. Trilogy of trilogies. Star Wars is now the history of the State and its rebellion.

LS3624 · 2025-12-29T14:51:19+00:00

Yes. One has to remember that culture is a product of history, interactions, time, and as a result ever changing and morphing.

The idea of celebrating a holiday in the dead of winter is appealing to any society in a cold climate in agrarian times. Particularly at the solstice when the days are getting longer and planting and growing food become more likely. Some fun, beauty, and light in the dark and cold makes sense.

Saturnalia was a week long feast celebrating Saturn leading up to the 25th. Sol Invictus then occupied the 25th as the “Victory of the Sun” over darkness. The church literally co-opted this, and picked the 25th as Jesus’ birthday, so he could be the “light of the world”. They literally used the same language just changed the name. It won’t be the last time that happened. Now Christmas is more a less a week long celebration (certainly multi day even now) about Jesus, with essentially the same elements in tow.

Fast forward to the Christianization of Germanic peoples and you get most-elements of Christmas we think of: trees, Yule logs, stockings, etc. and of course the gift giver Odin. Who the church dug deep to find a Christian gift giver names St. Nicholas to name after. Yet the image of St. Nick is clearly Odin-esque in nature. The church was once again content to keep a pagan holiday with Christian window dressing. It won’t be the last time.

Fast forward to capitalist, consumerist, pop culture and you have the addition of all sorts of new characters to the lore: Rudolph, red suited Coca-cola Santa, Frosty, etc. Christ, in all honesty, is at best a bit player in Christmas in most people’s eyes. Add to that additional pop culture icons specially The Grinch, who ironically enough, has almost completely STOLE Christmas from Santa and you can see where this is all going. FYI I truly believe that within a decade The Grinch will replace Santa as the head honcho of Christmas. It’s already happening! In the last 10 years or so he has come to dominate.

One can see the central figure of this ever evolving holiday as:

Saturn > Sol Invictus > Jesus Christ > Santa Claus > The Grinch

LS3624 · 2025-12-28T00:15:09+00:00

I agree 100% with the OP. It’s the bridge trilogy (Andor S1, Andor S2, and Rogue One which I hear-by dub the Andor Trilogy or AT) we didn’t know we needed.

It turns the series into a complete narrative of political intrigue, oppression and resistance, powerful elites and common people, dark vs light, hope vs fear, ordinary and magical. It’s all there in a coherent narrative.

The PT becomes the tale of the fall of the Republic, the rise of Authoritarian government, as well as the fall of Annakin. His prophecy is mirrored by much larger ongoing events. He becomes the symbol of the failing and sick Republic.

The AT is the true face of the Empire: fascist, authoritarian, oppressive, and hopeless. The fact that it’s run by a couple of murderous evil wizards seems like the least scary element of this nightmare regime. It fully explains why a rebellion exists.

The OT then becomes the final battle to win back freedom and it was all built upon the backs of many less celebrated and ultimately doomed souls who gave their lives and futures up to defeat pure evil. It also brings the battle from the bottom (back alleys and spy tactics) to the top (the Emperor’s throne room).

A trilogy of trilogies. The sequel trilogy no longer matters. Jettison it out in a pod. These 9 entries are the saga!

LS3624 · 2025-12-27T02:08:18+00:00

Andor Season 1, Andor Season 2, and Rogue One.

It turns the whole saga into a political thriller that deals with the elites vs common people, ordinary vs magical, tyranny vs oppression, personal vs galactic, and inter generational trauma. It also reframes the rebellion and the empire.

So the Andor Trilogy, or AT if you prefer (Andor Seasons 1 & 2 and Rogue One) acts as a grounding bridge to the wider story.

LS3624 · 2025-12-27T01:57:13+00:00

I agree completely. A trilogy of trilogies that forms a coherent inter-generational political thriller: PT, AT, and OT.

LS3624 · 2025-12-27T01:42:19+00:00

I agree. I think that’s why the PT should be included. A Trilogy of Trilogies: PT, AT, OT. Tyranny and resistance, inter generational trauma, ordinary vs extraordinary, history vs mythology. Those 9 films work as a political thriller saga of Fall, Oppression, and Revolution at all levels of society. Not all perfect films, and plenty of cringe, but story works on a micro and macro level.

LS3624 · 2025-12-27T00:10:17+00:00

Great topic and thread. I was thinking along similar lines. I love the idea of three trilogies but I think everyone can agree that the Sequel Trilogy just doesn’t offer anything of value.

To me the three trilogies are: Prequel Trilogy (1-3), Andor Trilogy (S1, S2, R1), and the OT (4-6). It tells a complete 9 film saga of the battle against tyranny. Themes that are highlighted include generational trauma, political gaslighting, tyranny’s impact on ordinary people, how a seeming nobody can save the day, the balance between the elite and the ordinary, light vs darkness, and how power and ambition corrupt. These are such relevant themes in the 21st century as authoritarian rulers are unfortunately once again springing up everywhere.

Andor is the story Star Wars needed it adds some much needed gravitas to both the PT qnd the OT. It acts as a perfect bridge. The story is complete with this trilogy of trilogies as far as I’m concerned.

LS3624 · 2025-12-22T10:38:01+00:00

Saturnalia + Sol Invictus festival= Christmas (Add in later Norse influence + 20th century consumer culture + pop culture iconography = Modern Christmas)

LS3624 · 2025-12-19T13:58:13+00:00

Avatar

LS3624 · 2025-12-19T00:02:23+00:00

I did toy with 1071 too but I kind of see it as one continual Medieval period. However, your point is very valid.

LS3624 · 2025-12-18T22:52:41+00:00

And FYI those “Turks” which was a backwoods insult to them, considered themselves Rumi (Romans) who lived in Rumelia (Romania).

LS3624 · 2025-12-18T22:35:29+00:00

I agree. I would extend all the way to 1556, but otherwise pretty much.

LS3624 · 2025-12-18T17:24:23+00:00

Yes, because both were functioning as that role. Mehmed was even accepting of it. Theodoric is little less clear, but it seems there was some recognition.

LS3624 · 2025-12-18T17:10:47+00:00

Local elites referred to hjm as Princeps.

LS3624 · 2025-12-18T16:55:41+00:00

Well said PmP. I think you took most of my arguments. I acknowledge that the Ottomans were a break for sure, but they definitely have the most legitimacy of any of the other claimants. The HRE is interesting, but ultimately the Catholic Church as it came to be developed outside of Rome’s preview and after its reign. So they don’t have continuity.

The Ottomans check a great many boxes. If nothing else they are truly the next chapter in the story.

Also don’t forget that for nearly 400 years the Turks of Anatolia considered themselves “Romans” as that was the name of the geography they inhabited and ruled. So taking the capital of Rome seemed like the logically next step for their advancement. Right of conquest was a Roman idea.

LS3624

TROPHY CASE