A character trait is later recontextualized into something bad/tragic, it's always been there, we just never paid attention

[u/RedNUGGETLORD]

Deku's self sacrifice - My Hero Academia

Initially portrayed as purely heroic, it's later shown to be extremely detrimental when he refuses any aid from his friends, abandoning them to "protect them"(of course, leaving them also puts them in danger since he can no longer be there to save them if something goes wrong

The same quality that makes him a great hero, also leads him to nearly lose everything and get EVERYONE killed(since if this tired, weakened Deku did encounter AFO/Shigaraki, he would almost certainly die and have his powers taken)

Seiya Ryuuguuin's cautiousness - Overly Cautious Hero

The whole series is about how the main character is prepared for any circumstance to an insane degree(being the highest level half-way through, perfectly predicting that an ally would betray them through ridiculous jumps in logic, etc)

It turns out that the reason for this was that in a past life(unknown to him) he was extremely easy-going and unprepared for everything, always winning due to luck and skill, however, one day he ends up losing due to not finding out about a bosses weakness, this leads to the demon king murdering his friend, eating his Goddess, and then devouring his girlfriend and the child inside of her right in front of him. The Demon King then takes over the world and basically turns it into Berserk on steroids

Erens entire character - Attack on Titan

He hates the titans not because of what they've done(though that's a part of it), but because they've stolen his freedom, so when he learns that in reality, the Marleyans are the true enemies, the ones who have taken his and everyone elses freedom away, he does exactly what he said he was going to do, just to a different enemy

Erens philosophy is that anyone that tries to take his freedom deserves to have theirs taken away, Zeke becomes a slave because he tried to take away the Eldians ability to breed, the Marleyans lose the freedom of living because they tried to take his, it's always been a core character trait, but when he becomes to antagonist of the story in the last parts, this character trait of his is front and center

[u/StableSlight9168]

Prequels were a first draft of an amazing story, they desperately needed refinement and pushback , like the o.g trilogy has, but at the core, the movies had a soul.

The sequels are the opposite, a much better made series of movies but there is no core or cohesive story throughout. They just don't have a soul.

This is why the prequels still have a fandom, get TV shows made about the stories and a very vibrant community the sequels don't have.

[u/not_your_avg_blow → u/StableSlight9168]

The prequels also came out in 1999. The kids who watched it then, are the people making movies/tv now.

Give it 10 years and you're going to have a bunch of people romanticizing the Star Wars sequels.

[u/Ws6fiend → u/not_your_avg_blow]

I don't think you'll find people romanticizing it like the originals or the prequels though. Critical analysis of the prequels revealed things to me that I never would have thought about that.

Like the joke about the duel on mustafar where both are twirling thier blades while never connecting. It's pointed out that Anakin is attempting an attack that Obi-Wan is already positioning to block leading to both halting their positions.

The dual of fates being about the light(Qui-Gon Jinn) and dark side(Maul/Sidious) fighting over Anakin's soul. How if Qui-Gon wouldn't have died he might have properly trained Anakin vs the inexperienced Obi-Wan.

The move Anakin attempts to pull on Obi-Wan mirroring the move he successfully pulled on Maul. He even tells Anakin not to because he won't win and Anakin being arrogant enough to believe he will.

As far as I can see none of the sequel films have as layered or dense meaning behind them. That 100% could be a thing of me not being smart enough or watching them enough to catch the little details. You are right that if that is there, people will eventually decode all the little nuances.

[u/actorsAllusion → u/Ws6fiend]

There's an interesting story thread there that probably ended up in by accident that could've tied in with the eventual reveal that Rey is a Palpatine. In both The Force Awakens and during her training in The Last Jedi, Rey is shown as an incredibly aggressive fighter, almost like she's tapping into her rage to fight. And I think the suggesting that through her family she is a light side user being pulled toward the dark would be an interesting juxtaposition to Kylo Ren being a dark side user being pulled to the light.

Unfortunately, Disney really just HAD to get TRoS out by Christmas, so first draft of the script for your trilogy capstone it is!