thats it. They're still so seething about how it 'destroyed the canon' or whatever. Its got to be some of the most weird form of movie brain worms that they just hated that movie instead of Revenge of Skywalker or whatever it was called, which was one of the worst movies of all time.
I am not saying that that was good storytelling, but I bet you did not expect that, and in the end, that's what counts.
… is it though?
of course, the only thing that matters in making a good story is the subversion of expectations.
The overall value of "gotcha" in a movie where I didn't ask for or want "gotcha" to begin with isn't very high for me, and is less than that for any possible rewatching.
Okay but how crazy would it have been if during the scene on the salt planet an asteroid hit the planet and killed everyone I bet you wouldn't have expected that at all