I think there was a very clear and obvious idea in George Lucas' head for Episode IV, and then very good continuity with V-VI. When he decided to do I-III, he sat down and wrote out a brief outline for all three movies, then basic scripts for all three, and then a very polished script for Episode I. He had those things nailed down inside his head. Episode IV was very stressful for him, so he hired very good writers and directors for V and VI to help him nail down what he wanted to do. The result was a nearly perfect string of three movies. I say "nearly" because all three films have flaws, but I give them the benefit of the doubt for the effects and editing tools available at the time. With I-III, he had everything settled in his head, but failed to return to those very good writers and directors, thus leaving the emotional holes in his head scattered throughout the prequels.
Episodes VII-IX were left to Disney to solve, and they didn't want Lucas mucking things up so they basically ignored his input. That left Kathleen Kennedy to try and figure out what to do, and she was clearly clueless, especially as far as mapping out all three films to be a clear and concise continuation of the saga. Sure, they wanted to let go of the past, but that did not prevent them from sitting down in a group to write out a brief outline for all three movies, then basic scripts for all three, and then a very polished script for Episode VII. Something, anything, to make all three stick together as one cohesive unit. Then, even if the unit as a whole was bad, at least it would make sense. I mean, VII-IX are all good movies when taken alone and outside of the SW universe. The cinematography is exceptional, the sound amazing, the effects are crisp and engaging. They're all very good on their own.
But!
None of them truly work as an extension of the SW universe in and of themselves. Episode VII is a remake, Episode VIII is a departure, Episode IX is a bandaid. Each serves it's purpose and, successively, each serves to correct mistakes made in the prior film. If I were to sit down tonight and watch all three, the unit would make almost no sense. It's just weird.
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As far as the future of the franchise is concerned, I disagree that Disney should take time off from the theater. I think they have an excellent formula for the spinoff characters and can do a lot with that world. As long as they avoid the original saga (other than telling backstories, etc.) they will be fine. But if they try to plug in beyond that I think it's going to fail, because the ideas Lucas had in his head are clearly of no concern to Kathleen Kennedy or any of her cohorts. They don't care, that much is clear.
Rogue One, Solo, and The Mandalorian have shown me that when the right writer/director are involved there are endless possibilities. And, now that the saga is completed, it can be left to lie where it is, to smolder, stew, wax nostalgic, blah, blah, blah.
Gimme my Star Wars, just please, please
hire me to help you plan this crap out! because you people haven't the foggiest clue what you're doing!
