He established strong new voices, sacrificed important characters, painted himself into a bit of an unexpected corner with Leia (given the passing of Carrie Fisher), and spread the seeds of rebellion to the next generation of Star Wars fans — both on the screen and off — knowing that it’s them, not us, who will carry the baton of Star Wars fandom for years to come.
On a first pass, I also was so caught up in the seemingly important “answers” in Star Wars: The Last Jedi that I totally missed so many of the BOLD and sweeping choices that Rian Johnson made to this mythology.
He gave Luke the heroic sendoff that the iconic character deserved, able to assist the Rebels one last time as he confronted his one mistake, the disappointed Ben Solo.