I always loved Star Wars. And when the remasters came out, my buddy, Adam and I waited in line to get the best seats in the house. We were finally getting the chance to see the original on the big screen in surround sound.

And it was worth it.

After that, like millions raised on Star Wars, I found the prequels were beyond disappointing.

Star Wars as a trilogy was brilliant and inspiring. Star Wars as a franchise had become less so.

Now, more than twenty years later, I’m reading novels, watching the shows, and consuming more Star Wars than ever. And I have finally realized what has been bothering me the whole time.

Star Wars is functioning like dystopian fiction.

The original trilogy (and The Mandelorian too) are like space-age westerns. Founded on the hero’s journey myth, the beating heart of the Star Wars universe is that good strives against all odds to overcome and change, not only his destiny, but the galaxy’s.

The prequel trilogy couldn’t offer the same. There was no way to tell the hero’s journey if the hero was going to become the galaxy’s worst villain.

While he could have made the prequels about the hero’s journey of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lucas chose to make them into a tragedy.

This meant that the universe created by the prequels and novels would not contain a rich embodiment of that original magic. In fact, the lore and mythology that Lucas expanded on did quite the opposite: it created a dystopia of inevitable ruin.

Everywhere, across the galaxy, the politics, and even the nature of the Force itself: everything became certain and destined for darkness.

A prophecy of bringing balance to the Force became the vehicle of ensuring the Dark Side’s century’s long victory and the inevitable corruption of the whole galaxy.

The corruption of the Empire was preceded by the corruption of the Republic time. So, of course, there would be corruption in the New Republic time as well. Always corruption.

These stories reflected our pessimism.

The unsettled 1970s reflected in the original trilogy led to the fear of rising fascism in the prequels in the 2000s. So the return of fascism in the 2010s was inevitable in the sequels as well.

As for the universe these stories created?

It was a universe that always needed heroes because the heroes never really make a difference. Because evil is not only permanent and inevitable. It just keeps winning. Even when the rebels win, they will soon lose. They always inevitably lose.

The Star Wars of the last two decades is more like The Walking Dead than A New Hope.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be dystopian.

The Mandalorian has proven that. As have many inventive novels and the Rebels animated series.

So much of what made fans love Rogue One was that it was clearly a different genre. Not just from the original trilogy, but everything else. And one that should give us “new hope”.

Rogue One was a war movie. It also had much in common with a different genre: the procedural. The most common form found on TV. Shows about doctors or cops or lawyers or any other plucky person trying hard to do the right thing each week.

In other words, a genre about heroes who keep trying to make a difference.

What separates the dystopian from virtually any other genre is its fatalism. It creates a nihilistic inevitability that things will keep being bad. Like corrupt smugglers will keep smuggling and the Republic will always fail.

What has dragged Star Wars down for the last two decades is its pessimistic affect. In the Star Wars Universe, the Force is useless and ultimately both predictable and powerless.

Sure, Jedi can jump high. But they also always lose. Rebels can beat empires. But then corruption will bring them down for their futility.

There may be hope, but it will always bring a new misery.

The new stuff proves Star Wars isn’t supposed to be dystopian.

And it doesn’t have to be stuck in pessimism.

I haven’t read much of The High Republic books yet, but these are the first to reveal a positive example in the universe. And I suspect that the plan for the world after the Skywalkers is likely to be less dystopic.

As it is, such entries into the canon are not only welcome, but a long time coming.

And for the first time in a long time, I have hope.