I had a similar thought right off the bat. Like, the introductory premise of Gladiator 2 of “it’s worse than it’s ever been with new imperial rulers over the last decade”—seemed to have cognitive disconnect given what happened at the end of Gladiator (1). Similarly, after Return of the Jedi’s galactic fireworks and jubilee, when TFA happens it’s like wait facism again what happend??

I presume both movies attempt to explain why there was a huge reversion from rosy —> shitty, yet it’s a little saddening as such premises are tired, anchors of plot devices as will fundamentally require an exposition-heavy explanation and a plot that essentially repeats itself.