In 1999, Star Wars returned to cinemas, taking fans from grimy locations and civil war to gleaming metal and trade negotiations. While the start of the prequel trilogy has its merits and defenders today, many still do not grasp the meaning of its central dispute.
Reddit is burning up with discourse about the franchise rookie’s confusion over why the Trade Federation had it out for the planet of Jar Jar Binks and the funky bunch. One user says when you consider it is all a product of Palpatine’s manipulation, it makes much more sense with his ultimate goals in mind, and for another, it’s simply because Star Wars always has to fill in the gaps later, the best way to color in movie confusion is via some book tie-ins.
Elsewhere in the replies, people say the writing for these films is a mess, and they are better if you shut your mind off and just enjoy some of the action scenes. A different user says the Trade Federation did nothing wrong and (from a capitalist perspective) free trade is the best trade and, another says what ultimately launches the entire franchise boils down to some racism.
Whether any of this will be explored or fleshed out in a future Star Wars project remains to be seen. In the meantime, all of the films and projects released in the series to date are available to watch on Disney Plus, and more like Ahsoka are coming soon.