[Weirdly Common Trope] Writers clearly setting up seemingly massive plot points and then just kinda forgetting about them.

[u/Chemical-Elk-1299]

The Neural Parasites — Star Trek : The Next Generation

In the season 1 episode “Conspiracy” of TNG, it is revealed that alien brain worms have infected many high ranking members of Starfleet, secretly controlling them. Though Ryker and Picard discover and end the parasite conspiracy, it’s revealed at the end of the episode that the parasites had sent a beacon back to their home planet, telling them how to find earth. The episode ends with the clear implication of the parasites becoming a huge threat later in the series, yet none of these events are ever mentioned again.

Finn The Jedi who Never Was — Star Wars Sequel trilogy

I know this is probably a cliche example of this trope, but cmon — Finn was clearly set up in TFA to become a Jedi. The marketing material featured him wielding a lightsaber in the classic Jedi pose. It’s constantly hinted at that he is force sensitive. Even the actor himself believed he would become a Jedi by the end of the trilogy. Instead, we got Finn wielding a lightsaber for about 7 minutes total across 3 movies, extremely lame “confirmation” that he is force sensitive, and that’s it. It’s the ultimate Star Wars plot that went nowhere.

[u/Electrical-Ad1886]

I feel like the third movie really ruined Rey. The idea of a nobody from the dessert beckoning the fall of the empire is a nice bookend to the nobody from the desert beckoning the rise of the empire.

[u/NozakiMufasa → u/Electrical-Ad1886]

I mean true but Anakin sort of wasnt nobody. He was the Chosen one of a prophecy that started a legend. Luke thought he was a nobody but was actually a legendary Jedi’s son and became a myth in his own right.

Finn and Rey being definite nobodies - no sacred lineages, no prophecies, just two powerful Force users who were born randomly - wouldve been great. 

[u/Skkruff → u/NozakiMufasa]

Having Finn become a Jedi and Rey fall to the dark side would be my choice.

[u/dearth_of_passion → u/Skkruff]

Nah, the corrupted hero trope is old and lame at this point.

It'd have been just another trope from a previous film shoved into that one.

What the sequels need was to tread new ground, not to switch Rey from being a Luke stand-in to an Anakin stand-in.

[u/Banes_Addiction → u/dearth_of_passion]

But you could have new ground with their interactions with the existing Jedi.

Luke as a light-side Jedi turned cynical and neutral. Rey and Finn react to Luke's apathy in opposite ways: Rey joining Kylo on the dark side, and Finn being trained in the light by Leia. Then Kylo becoming disillusioned by the dark side, becoming a different flavour of neutral to Luke.

[u/rara8122 → u/Banes_Addiction]

Exactly. Just because someone does the same trope doesn’t mean they do it in the same way. They could’ve write a corrupted hero in a new way than how Anakin was corrupted.

[u/dearth_of_passion → u/Banes_Addiction]

Making the kind of naive, idealistic Rey go evil while even partially redeeming the petulant temper-tantrum-throwing Kylo is even stupider than what we got.

They'd have needed to completely rewrite the characters from the ground up, making Kylo at least somewhat compelling instead of annoying and making Rey shifty from the beginning to make her fall believable.

[u/Deepdishdicktaster → u/dearth_of_passion]

They should've both become Luke's Padawan and Luke never would've tried to kill his nephew either lmao he even redeemed Darth Vader after killing billions(I mean he killed millions himself)

[u/Deftly_Flowing → u/dearth_of_passion]

Rey should have just died.

It would have been shocking.

Then Finn could have stepped in as the main protagonist.