There is technically a VFX shot at the opening of the ANH where the blast that cripples the Tantive IV actually is reflected by the shield in to the ship itself. Ok, it isn't in the original shot, but a shield effect was added in later.
Again, it depends on how you interpret the old VFX. Even in the pre-'97 cuts the there's a whole bunch of amorphous coloured gel flashes & cell animated elements in addition to the practical explosion on both the Blockade Runner and the Star Destroyer (though you have to run it a frame at a time to really pick a lot of it out.) Those could have been meant to represent the deflectors taking hits, or just as easily meant to punch up the intensity of the firefight a bit.
I really can't find the clip I want but there is a scene that is likely modified for the SE, in which an Imperial laser shot basically hooks "down" towards the ship and hits right above the "radar dish" if I recall correctly.
The green bolt that forks like lighting right before the explosion and cut-away to the droids? It's definitely in the original cut (and pretty clearly done with cell animation), though you'll have a hell of a time trying to freeze frame it on VHS.
I couldn't even it do it on Youtube, so yeah, it's tough to spot. I thought the SE cleaned it up but I don't have my copies handy.
There is also a split second glow around Alderaan when the super laser fires that some people like to think is a planetary shield in their head canon.
Rey is actually Palpatine's granddaughter. Palpatine was a very powerful force user and that might explain Rey's natural force ability which allowed her to even defeat Kylo Ren, who was trained. Plus the final scene of TFA, where Luke is confronted by Rey, Luke's face indicates trepidation on his part. He did leave Rey on Jakku after Kylo Ren had killed his Jedi trainees. He did so fearing Rey might also turn to the dark side just like Kylo Ren. Considering her pedigree, he had every reason to fear that possibility. If you rewatch the TFA, Kylo Ren and Snoke were interested in training Rey. A granddaughter of Palpatine is a great asset to the First Order. I also predict that Kylo Ren will turn to the light while Rey turns to the dark side eventually.
I rarely make predictions when it comes to future installments, because writers can do whatever they want, whether I think it makes sense or not. But I'm going to say that I seriously doubt that Rey will turn to the dark side. Of course she's going to get tempted.
I don't see Rey turning to The Dark Side either, but I do see Ben turning back to The Light. My theory for the end is that Rey and Ben end up both on the light side and get together, which then leads to the next Skywalker who will take over the lead role in the next trilogy.
Obi-Won's Delta-7 had some pretty impressive ones, considering how ferociously Jango Fett unloaded on him over Geonosis. For that matter, the SFX used to represent shields in Star Wars canon are rarely as explicit as they would be in Trek or other series. Even the "ray shielded" exhaust port over the death star appears to be just an ordinary hole in the side of the station. Only thing is, adding shields doesn't appear to compromise engine or weapon performance for the basic design of the TIE fighter. They've stripped out just about everything else -- life support systems, landing gear, long range communication systems, etc -- while also adding those big "solar wings" that supposedly help power the ship but, pound for pound, wouldn't actually provide more energy than whatever it is that originally powered the Delta-7 or the ETA-2. It just makes more sense for those huge pylon/wing configuration to be literally ANYTHING ELSE but a solar collector. Even an oversized generator would make more sense, since it would mean the TIE's blasters are ridiculously over-powered for a ship that size, but that would still give it the ability to transfer some power to a shield generator if it wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.
Not anymore, new-canon TIEs have life support The Delta-7 has shields, the ones from Episode 3 don't. Or at least didn't in the EU. No mention in the new canon yet
I would be very surprised if they didn't. They're comparable in size to the already-shielded and heavily armed N1.
One thing that contradicts the official (although not on-screen) material is, I interpret Empire to take place much sooner after ANH, at least three months later but at most a year later rather than 3 years later.
I also get the idea, from the first two movies, that the Rebels and Rebellion were pretty human-centric and I'm not sure how to balance that with the greater diversity in Jedi.
Ugh! I'm not a fan of Rey's, but the idea of her becoming romantically involved with a repulsive man child like Ben Solo is repugnant to me. He is such a nothing character.
Part of that seems to be fleshed out a little bit with RO, though that's still fairly human centric. The Scarif assault was a "major victory" for the Rebellion, so that may have swung more planets to their side, as well as the destruction of the first Death Star. Given that many seem to be from Bail's cell, which is primarily from Alderaan (or so it appears), as well as some Imperial defectors (who would be nearly all humans) it makes a little bit more sense.
Also any Republic Clone Wars military veterans would most likely be human, like the Imperial forces that came afterwards. Most of the non-human forces for the Republic were Jedi and allied planetary armies, system defenders, and resistance fighters.