I've been sitting for a couple of minutes trying to think about what they could do in Episode 9 to make this story into something worthy of the originals.
Essentially the First Order now controls the whole galaxy, headed by Kylo Ren. The resistance is a group of people small enough to fit into the Falcon. (I can't believe I'm using joke terms like "The First Order" or "The Resistance" but that's where we are right now.)
So first off we shouldn't be seeing any large space battles. This is extra true because when Princess Leia tried to call in favors no one showed up.
Second we will have to get Kylo vs Rey lightsaber battle round 3. This is probably the only thing to look forward to in Episode 9 and we've more or less seen it twice already.
After those two the strongest characters they have left are actually R2-D2, C3PO, and Chewbacca. Unfortunately, they've spent the past two movies following Finn and Poe who both had their character development stall out and die in TLJ.
So my original thought was it would be interesting to see Kylo Ren win. It would be fun to watch him hunt down terrible characters like Finn and Poe. There's also still some emotional connections to characters like Chewie or the droids that could be exploited.
But the goal of Kylo Ren is essentially this:
- "The Empire, your parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi... let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That's the only way to become what you are meant to be.
The realization of that goal would leave the audience with... Kylo Ren. That's it. I don't think there would be a single person satisfied with the ending of the Star Wars saga being "Here's Kylo Ren! He did the thing!"
So the good guys have to win correct? Let's end the Skywalker storyline with Rey. She can connect to it if we want or she could just be the one to end it. It's somewhat satisfying since we were really rooting for her in TFA. The problem is where the rest of the galaxy goes. Rey isn't a princess that can help restart a republic. She's a survivor. She frees the galaxy from tyranny and does what? I don't know. It's likely we get some form of Rey winning in another overall terrible movie.
But I'd rather they do this. Kill Kylo. Kill Rey. End the Sith, end the Jedi. We know the force has ruled the galaxy for millennia. But it could end in Episode 9. The Skywalker prophecy is completed and the force is balanced. The audience is left with an actual end to something. No Ewok dance party this time. No celebration. We can leave out the superweapons and the space battles since they don't fit with the story. Just have Kylo hunt the resistance down brutally one by one until Rey and have them battle to the death. Simple, i know, but I think it's our best bet for a solid ending to this terrible trilogy.