Arguably, the only beacons of hope for Disney were the standalone 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Season 1 of Andor in 2022, which presented an expanded origin story for Rogue One's lead hero Cassian Andor (Diego Luna).

Self-centred lone wolf protagonist develops sympathy for the rebellion while taking care of business for volatile spymaster Luthen Rael

We know Cassian Andor is doomed. 2016's Rogue One makes clear he will meet an untimely death in a massive explosion. That sense of inevitable destruction lingered in the background of the first season of Andor,