By the time audiences lined up for Episode VIII several story gaps between the events of Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Last Jedi had been filled in exciting ways.
The New Republic is born.
The Prophecy of the Chosen One spoken about in Episode I is seemingly fulfilled with the destruction of the Sith.
As every Star Wars fan knows, about four years after the Battle of Yavin depicted in A New Hope, the Rebel Alliance destroyed the second Death Star.