@fan_of_films said:

If Ep 9 sees the defeat of Ren and the First Order but ep 10 sees the First Order return (yes, we're back!) - groan! Not a good idea.

I'd rather see a new Republic established with bases/cities across the galaxy and the 'cult of the Darkside' - some aliens or humanoids - pledge to revive the Sith and destroy the Republic. But the big difference is the Darksiders don't have huge battlecruisers or stormtroopers or Death Stars! The Darksiders are more like the underworld or terrorists. I think this will put a different spin on the franchise. You can still have big battles but no more of the Empire/First Order. I'm sure some fans would hate the idea but a Star Wars episode without any space battles might be a way to reinvent the franchise. It would require the writers to come up with new ideas, perhaps.

This was my point with TFA in the first place. Why go back to the tired old plot of Empire vs. Rebels? There is no need for it. The Star Wars universe is vast as it is. The possibility for a fresh and exciting plot is quite literally, endless.

And you can still have space battles without needing a balls out war behind it.

One way to do ep 10 is to start out with peace in the galaxy. Ep 9 did make a difference, the Resistance won. At some point in ep 10 the peace is shattered by the darksiders or whoever it is. Ep 7 gave us no sense anything had changed so no point repeating that at the start of ep 10.

@fan_of_films said:

One way to do ep 10 is to start out with peace in the galaxy. Ep 9 did make a difference, the Resistance won. At some point in ep 10 the peace is shattered by the darksiders or whoever it is. Ep 7 gave us no sense anything had changed so no point repeating that at the start of ep 10.

I thought a good plot for 7,8,9 trilogy could have been that the galaxy after the events of episode 6 has been living in relative peace. But unknown to most, an evil has been brooding for the last 30 years. A secret sect of Sith that has gone back to the old ways and scrapped the old "rule of two" has begun training a whole host of Sith warriors and also taking advice from a force Emperor image. They were able to mask their presence but no longer. Meanwhile, Luke is now the Yoda, so to speak, of the Jedi order. The Jedi is well on its way of regaining its place in the galaxy as it had pre-clone war era. His star pupils being his NIECES (for the sjw crowd) and he must now prep them to do battle with the emerging Sith.

That is the main bones of the story. There is plenty you can fill in with sub plots with that to keep it interesting. Also the deaths of Han and Luke do occur in this trilogy but more meaningful and closer to the end of the trilogy.

I am just hoping that episode 9 starts out with Rey and Luke passing the lightsaber and coming out of a force like dream trance and saying wow thank goodness we were shown that path wow that was stupid and continue on after episode 7 without even acknowledging the mess that happened previously because it didnt exist and was recognized for the stupidity that path would show.

@mcse2000ca said:

I am just hoping that episode 9 starts out with Rey and Luke passing the lightsaber and coming out of a force like dream trance and saying wow thank goodness we were shown that path wow that was stupid and continue on after episode 7 without even acknowledging the mess that happened previously because it didnt exist and was recognized for the stupidity that path would show.

I am usually dead set against the "It was all a dream" trope but in this case, it would be a blessing. Or they can come out and say Rey is a goddess to explain how she can do EVERYTHING.