Whether you love them or you hate them, there’s no denying that Disney’s Star Wars has gotten fans more passionate than ever. Even at the height of George Lucas’ reign over the series, the fandom have never been as energized as it currently is. With the entire Extended Universe relabeled “Legends” so that Disney can push their new canon, and the Sequel Trilogy itself reinventing any notion of where the series was headed after the Original Trilogy, longtime fans are more than likely to be a bit salty with Disney’s decisions. At the same time, Disney is also a breath of fresh air for the franchise.

When it comes down to it, though, love or hate, Disney has blatantly broken the series’ established continuity many times in order to forge their vision for the franchise. Some breaks have been intentional while others not so much. Some are actually quite justifiable where some will leave you scratching your head wondering how Disney could ever be so careless with their intellectual property. It’s important to recognize that despite Disney breaking continuity so much, this isn’t a new trend for the series. George Lucas consistently broke his own canon. A fragile continuity is just a key part of Star Wars’ identity at this point.

25 Poe Should Not Have Survived

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The original drafts for The Force Awakens had Poe losing his life rather early in the script. Roughly twenty minutes into the film and Poe would have failed to survive his initial crash, leaving Finn alone and alive with only Rey to guide him for the rest of the movie. Honestly? It kind of shows.

Considering Poe’s role in the seventh film, it’s quite obvious that Poe should not have survived that crash. The very logistics make little sense. Did he wake up early and leave Finn behind? Did he wake up late and somehow make it out of the sinkhole his shop was in? Either way, both solutions makes next to no sense, relying on a considering amount of suspension of disbelief.

24 Han Went Back On All His Character Development

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By the end of the Original Trilogy, Han has more or less grown out of his old smuggler self. Not only has he thrown his more selfish side down the gutter, he’s actively fighting on behalf of Leia, working to take down the Empire with every breath. By the end of the sixth film, Han has become a man worthy of Leia- someone who can be depended on.

From reckless outlaw to reckless outlaw. An arc for the ages. 

Then we get to the Sequel Trilogy where Han is not only a smuggler yet again, but he’s gone back on all his development. He’s Han from Episodes IV and V, not VI. Granted, this depiction of Han is infinitely more interesting than the Han he ended up becoming, but it’s nonetheless a shame the sequels chose to take a safe step back rather than boldly attempt to reinvent an older Han Solo.

23 Darth Maul Already Had A Full Arc

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For as blatantly pandering as it was, Disney knew exactly what it was doing by shoving Darth Maul into the end of Solo with little to no consideration for canon. Considering how much fans ate up the cameo, Disney made quite the smart call. Of course, appreciated or not, Darth Maul's return isn’t going to mean much for most super fans.

Why? Because Darth Maul already came back. Not only did he return canonically, but he also had a full arc in The Clone Wars that was resolved in one of Rebels’ strongest episodes. Shoving Darth Maul into a prequel is just old hat at this point. There’s no ground left to tread and his cameo works under the pretense that fans will be unfamiliar with the very much canon animated sub-series.

22 Kylo Ren And Poe Must Have Grown Up Together

via Future of the Force

As Leia’s son, it goes without saying that Kylo Ren grew up around the Resistance. His relationship with Han clearly suggests that he was not raised with a fairly active father, but it’s obvious that his mother played a big role in his life. Which was actually the same case with Poe. Leia knew him since he was a boy.

Pretty obvious Poe wasn't meant to stick around, right? 

As a result, Poe and Kylo Ren not only must have grown up together, they also must have been quite familiar with one another before the proper start of the Sequel Trilogy. Of course, you wouldn’t tell considering how little they seem to regard each other. In their few scenes in VII, it’s as if they’re complete strangers.

21 Finn Wakes Up From His Coma Too Soon

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Kylo Ren slicing Finn into a coma is one of those moments in the series where you can really see the inherent brutality of the franchise. With no discrimination, Episode VII’s deuteragonist is left incapacitated with Rey totally alone. It makes for a great hook for the sequel, but a sleepy Finn is a Finn who can’t be active.

Naturally, Episode VIII very quickly woke Finn up for the sequel. It does make sense narratively, as he needs to play a role given his status in the series, but it does undermine just how much weight his coma at the end of the previous movie had. Sometimes you do need to break continuity for story purposes, though.

20 Why Isn’t Chewie First Mate?

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Han making Rey first mate in Episode VII is one of those moments meant to make the audience feel good, and it genuinely reflects well on both characters. Rey is given a surrogate home through Han, and Han demonstrates that he’s still the good-hearted man he was by the end of the OT.

The Sequel Trilogy is not kind to Chewbacca. 

Logically, though, this does raise a much more pressing concern: why the heck isn’t Chewie first mate? Chewbacca is Han’s best friend and only consistent companion, yet he refuses to given him the title he so rightly deserves. This is not about Rey not “deserving” the title- she does narratively- but Han basically doing his closest friend wrong for no reason.

19 Anyone Can Use The Force

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Not all continuity breaking moments are bad, far from it actually. Sometimes, you genuinely do need to break continuity in order to fix a story. This goes doubly so for Star Wars, a franchise unfortunately plagued by the Prequel Trilogy. In it, it was more or less established that the Force was genetic, but the sequels downplay that.

Rather than accepting George Lucas’ biology mumbo jumbo, the entire Sequel Trilogy embraces the idea that the Force is inherent. Not just the sequels either, though, both Rogue One and Solo help reinforce the Force as more spiritual than scientific. Considering how bland the concept was becoming, this was for the best.

18 Snoke Rose In A Time With No Siths

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Snoke is an odd character. Along with having no backstory whatsoever, he meets his end by the halfway point of the Sequel Trilogy. Of course, this is done deliberately to deconstruct the idea that the franchise needs a larger than life antagonist to function, but while it may work narratively, it leaves some important questions unanswered.

Don't expect an explanation in Episode IX. 

For starters, how did Snoke, a Sith, rise to power in a time period with no Siths? This is very much established as a fact in the series. Naturally, this is sadly a result of Snoke simply lacking a proper motivation, but that doesn’t exactly excuse his bizarre existence. Story is always more important than lore, but you need to keep lore functioning properly as well.

17 The First Order Mimics The Empire To A Fault

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JJ Abrams quite frankly does not get enough flak for just how safe he played things with Episode VII. At its best, it’s a fantastic reminder of what Star Wars is capable of being while moving the franchise forward. At its worst, it's hopelessly derivative to the point of breaking continuity.

Take the First Order for instance. Rather than charging forward with their own plan of action, they more or less copy the Empire the whole film. Snoke is Palpatine, Kylo Ren acts as their Darth Vader, and they even build another Death Star. In universe, they should know that this did not work for the Empire so why would it work for them?

16 Snoke Is Needlessly Cruel To Hux

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On one hand, it makes sense to have Snoke effectively spend more of their time together berating Hux. After all, Snoke is not a good man. What better way to demonstrate that than by showing how cruel he is to his subordinates? On the other hand, Hux never really does anything deserving of cruelty.

Hux kind of deserves it, but still. 

Although it does still work to further characterize Snoke, it is perhaps taken one step too far. When it comes down to it, Snoke is still trying to run a successful regime and that requires being a compelling leader. Kylo Ren even implies that this is what Snoke was for him and the Supreme Leader’s interactions with Hux contradict that quite a bit.

15 Leia’s Complete Indifference Towards Chewbacca

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Episode VII’s ending is a moment of high tension and drama for the Sequel Trilogy. Kylo Ren has felled his own father; Finn is in a coma; and Rey is at her lowest point, heading off to search for Luke Skywalker. When she returns to the resistance base, it only makes sense that Leia welcomes her with open arms.

What does not make sense, however, is Leia more or less ignoring Chewbacca completely. Not only was Chewie there with Han, he and Leia simply have a more meaningful relationship than Leia and Rey. Leia hasn’t known Rey for long. Why would she console her, but now Chewbacca? She wouldn’t.

14 Han Gives Up On Ben Too Soon

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If you’ve ever needed further proof that Kylo Ren was in the right to resent his father as much as he did, simply look at how Han talks about Ben in passing throughout the seventh film. When Leia confronts him about their son, Han disregards Ben, heavily implying that the boy they raised is long gone.

Arguably a worse father than Anakin. 

Considering how much Han grew by the end of the Original Trilogy, this is genuinely heartbreaking. He has no faith whatsoever in his only son and seems perfectly content in accepting the boy’s fate. It is another regression made to Han’s character. While it works narratively, it is at the expense of his original arc.

13 Kylo Ren Being Named After Ben Skywalker Doesn’t Make Sense

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Leia honoring Obi-Wan by naming her son “Ben” is one of those tender moments that just pulls at your heartstrings. While that old wizard is long gone, he still plays a pivotal role in the lives of those he touched. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make much sense. Luke knew Obi-Wan as Ben Kenobi, but Leia didn’t.

“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” At no point in the Original Trilogy does Leia recognize Obi-Wan as “Ben.” This isn’t even his real name when it comes down to it, just a pseudonym. It makes sense for fans of the original series, but only in an out of universe perspective. It’s a nice homage, but fairly thoughtless coming from Leia.

12 How Was Luke’s Lightsaber Retrieved?

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Luke’s lightsaber, and by extension Anakin’s, becomes quite the major plot point in the Sequel Trilogy. Considering the journey it’s been on throughout the series, it does make sense. It certainly helps that the ST is being billed as the end of the Skywalker saga more or less. Narratively, it’s sound.

The series was better off forgetting it existed. 

Logistically, though? Not so much. It’s so convoluted that Maz, the character who manages to actually find the lightsaber, completely hand-waves its retrieval, strongly implying that no in-universe reasoning actually existed at the time of Episode VII’s release. It’s a fine idea in theory, but that doesn’t make it any less utterly impractical from a storytelling perspective.

11 Jyn Gets Over Saw Too Quickly

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Rogue One has a lot of problems, and most of them center around its main cast. When it comes down to it, the main characters of Rogue One are flat and bland protagonists who exist as scenery dressing rather than legitimate human beings with fleshed out character arcs or development.

Just look at Jyn if you need further proof. Upon being confronted with her man who raised her, Saw, Jyn is in turn forced to leave him behind as he accepts his fate. She’s sad for a bit, but she bounces back like nothing happened incredibly fast since the movie dedicates no time to anything other than its inconsequential plot.

10 Solo Infers Very Little Of Han’s Actual Character

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Star Wars Han Solo

For a movie about Han Solo’s backstory, Solo struggles quite a bit to actually tell its story in a way that both feels meaningful and true to the character. While the movie itself isn’t as bad as detractors make it out to be —it actually has arcs and themes unlike Rogue One— it gives us nothing to chew on in regards to who Han is.

Origin stories typically develop their characters into who they're meant to be. 

More specifically, Han isn’t the Han we know by the end of Solo. This is a coming of age movie where Han never comes of age. He is betrayed by the end of the film, but we never see him undergo a shift. It’s as if Han’s arc lacks a resolution. Which makes sense considering Disney was clearly banking on more Han-centric film.

9 Storm Troopers Are Too Weak In Rogue One

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Storm Troopers have always been a bit of a joke in Star Wars, but Rogue One perhaps takes it one step too far. While they’re very rarely threatening, the whole caveat of Rogue One is to be the dark, gritty Star Wars we all know the series can be. This doesn’t exactly work when Storm Troopers are still fodder, though.

It takes almost nothing for the main cast to take Storm Troopers down. Jyn is able to fight fully armored soldiers with a weapon that may as well just be a stick. If anything, Storm Troopers come off way worse in Rogue One than they do in any other movie. It’s a massive inconsistency in terms of storytelling that hurts an already uneven film.

8 The Droid Uprising

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Conceptually, there is nothing intrinsically wrong or out of place with the droid uprising in Solo. Star Wars has always been an inherently political series, so this side plot does actually work in the context of the franchise’s greater narrative. Of course, the series has never tackled politics so… briskly before.

The issue with the droid uprising is that it is an event with very little build up that is never properly referenced in later episodes. This could be justified as simply this one little area of the galaxy finding liberation, but that defeats the whole purpose of the plot. You can’t write in an entire uprising in a prequel for a series that never seems to recognize droid rights.

7 Solo Only Furthers The Idea That The Millennium Falcon Should Be Lando’s

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Across both the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy, it was conveyed quite clearly that the Millennium Falcon, although originally owned by Lando, was ultimately Han’s ship. It was embedded with his personality, represented who he was as a character, and was a very clear icon in the series.

Millennium Falcon: A Lando Story

In many ways, Solo is more the Falcon’s origin story than Han’s. Which makes it all the weirder when the film named after Han only reinforces the Falcon as Lando’s ship. Lando cares for it; Lando loves the ship; and Lando’s droid merges itself into the ship. The Falcon is recontextualized to be intimately Lando’s, stolen by Han in the movie’s last minutes.

6 Lando In Solo Differs Greatly From Lando In The OT

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Speaking of Lando, as good as Donald Glover’s portrayal is, it isn’t exactly true to the character. OT Lando is a suave, collected man who knows how to talk himself out of any situation without revealing his hand. Disney Lando is suave as well, but in a considerably different way. He’s much less in control and level-headed.

This can be attributed to Lando simply being younger, but Lando has no real arc in Solo to convey that he’ll grow into OT Lando. Many of his features are exaggerated for the audience as well (like his love for capes.) Lando is a free lover, which also makes a deal of sense, but there’s certainly a bit of disconnect in both depictions of the character.