Rian didn’t throw out JJ’s story, that’s a myth made up by people who didn’t watch The Force Awakens. JJ put Luke hiding on the island while a war was on. Rian explained it. JJ created a plot of Rey and Kylo doing telepathy on each other. Rian expanded it. JJ introduced Kylo as the villain we care about. Rian developed Kylo’s villain arc and raised the stakes by giving him more power. JJ had the Resistance losing ground against the First Order for inexplicable reasons. Rian had the Resistance losing even harder for equally inexplicable reasons. Rian was 100% faithful to JJ’s setup. The only difference between the two is tonal, in that TFA cares about nostalgia and popcorn, while TLJ cares about philosophy and politics. There is no story dissonance between the two.
Rian didn’t throw out JJ’s story, that’s a myth made up by people who didn’t watch The Force Awakens. JJ put Luke hiding on the island while a war was on. Rian explained it. JJ created a plot of Rey and Kylo doing telepathy on each other. Rian expanded it. JJ introduced Kylo as the villain we care about. Rian developed Kylo’s villain arc and raised the stakes by giving him more power. JJ had the Resistance losing ground against the First Order for inexplicable reasons. Rian had the Resistance losing even harder for equally inexplicable reasons. Rian was 100% faithful to JJ’s setup. The only difference between the two is tonal, in that TFA cares about nostalgia and popcorn, while TLJ cares about philosophy and politics. There is no story dissonance between the two.