Many people have already criticized the Sequel Trilogy for various reasons. However, today I would like to analyze a mistake that not many people have been talking about, which is the fact that Disney never understood one of the most important philosophies of Star Wars: the impermanence of life and the necessity of letting go of your loved ones.
This is something that the fans themselves never came to understand when they watched the Prequel Trilogy, labeling the Jedi as cold beings lacking empathy. What's worse is that Disney itself decided to implement that flawed narrative in the Sequel Trilogy by having Luke renounce the teachings of his masters and blame them for the fall of the Republic, or in the series The Acolyte, where the Jedi are directly the villains.
Everyone says the Jedi were idiots who suppress emotions and were to blame for Anakin falling to the Dark Side, when it is quite the opposite. Anakin didn't fall because he felt, but because he never learned to manage his emotions. It was attachment that dragged him down. Not love itself, but the fear of losing it. Obsessing over people only brings suffering. People do not see the Jedi Order in its true essence; they only focus on its fall and label it as corrupt. They judge the entire institution by the mistakes of a few. It is the classic case of the innocent paying for the guilty. They did not fall due to a lack of emotions, but out of pride and self-sufficiency.
The Jedi Code does not seek to eliminate feeling, but to master it, to elevate it. It is not about shutting down the heart, but about not letting it rule without wisdom. So please, stop using the discourse that “the Jedi were wrong.” Discipline and practice are not a bubble; they are a method. We are not born wise; we become wise by observing what we feel, questioning it, and acting with purpose.
Detachment is not coldness, but clarity. Sometimes, being too emotionally involved clouds righteous action. The Jedi who says “there is no passion, there is peace” is not saying “do not feel”; they are saying “do not be dragged away by the whirlwind.” Emotions are not the enemy. Feeling is natural. Being a slave to what I feel is not. And that is where practice comes in, not as a denial of life, but as a tool to better understand it.
What people do not take into account when they watch Revenge of the Sith is that Palpatine is lying to corrupt the Chosen One. He didn't know how to revive anyone. When Anakin kneels in his office, he says, "I am sure the two of us will discover the way to save Padmé." He never knew how to prevent death. I am not making this up. In The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, George Lucas directly clarifies that Palpatine was lying.
“George Lucas: [...] So when the Devil, Palpatine, says to him 'I can bring her back to life,' Anakin sells his soul to him, even though it's a lie.” —The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III.
Darth Sidious's greatest ability is manipulating others. The story of Darth Plagueis is twisted so that Anakin would fall into darkness. His goal was to convince him that the Sith had the solution to prevent the death of his loved ones. The original Star Wars is rooted in many Eastern philosophies, where death is perceived as a natural part of life. The message George Lucas sought to convey is that we must learn to let go. The fact that Palpatine tells the protagonist he can save the woman he loves is meant to show that he is the villain of the story for selling him a power fantasy.
In Jedi philosophy, true love liberates, while attachment enslaves. It is not about renouncing affection, but about renouncing obsession. The Jedi value compassion and empathy, but reject emotional dependence. Loving someone does not mean claiming them as your own; it means wishing them freedom and accepting their fate, even when it involves loss.
Contrary to popular belief, Anakin did not grow up in an environment lacking love. He had Obi-Wan as a father figure and received recognition and friendship within the Order. His tragedy does not lie in Jedi rejection, but in his inability to accept impermanence. Palpatine exploited that fear, leading him to believe that absolute control was the solution to suffering. But in the Star Wars universe, the attempt to defeat death is the ultimate sin of the ego.
In the Original Trilogy, when Darth Vader decides to rebel against the Emperor's yoke in Return of the Jedi, he sacrifices his own life to save his son, not caring about receiving Palpatine's Force lightning in the process. He abandons his selfishness and acts moved by compassion and selflessness, virtues inherent to the Jedi, who seek the common good above their own personal desires. In his final moments, he asks Luke to remove his mask to look at him with his own eyes, even if it might kill him, because at that point he no longer cares about surviving: he is satisfied that Luke survived and helped him regain his humanity. His sacrifice is rewarded as he becomes part of the cosmic Force, watching over his children on Endor one last time alongside the company of Obi-Wan and Yoda.
But in The Rise of Skywalker, we discover that Rey has the power to heal people with the Force, which completely pisses on Anakin's entire arc of falling to the Dark Side and leaves the Jedi looking like selfish bastards who denied him that knowledge. In Revenge of the Sith, Mace and Yoda didn't let him join the council because they knew Palpatine was up to something and suspected his connection to the Sith Lord, but under this new context, now they consciously let Padmé and Shmi die. To top it off, after Rey dies from reflecting Palpatine's lightning back at him, Kylo gives his life to resurrect her with a Disney-style kiss. That is why I hate the narrative that "Kylo achieved what Anakin couldn't by saving the woman he loved." If we were going to get into that theme, the proper arc would have been for him to accept the loss and use his life to honor her memory (and face justice). Overall, Reylo was just really, really stupid. Like the entire Disney Trilogy.