The new movies acknowledge the prequels. Kylo Ren mentions a clone army in the first one and Luke briefly recounts the rise of Darth Sidious in the new one. There’s not a lot of reason to dwell on those events 50something years later, honestly.

I wish I was lonely. That would mean I actually got time to myself. No sir, I live with my wife and THREE daughters.. All ages 10 and under. I’d KILL for loneliness. I get maybe a little time before work and everyone wakes up and that’s about it.

I’ve got bad news for you. It’s not that Episode VII is underwhelming. It’s that you are getting older and things you used to love tend to lose their sparkle as you age.