[slver]

The thing I can't seem to get across to you, is that you don't query a graph by specifying a join expression. Graph databases aren't built for that. So no, SQL is not "capable of querying a graph". It's capable of deriving a graph out of relational data. Two completely different things. It's a bit like confusing a restaurant's chef with the restaurant's customer. They both have a meal in common, but one is consuming what the other is producing.

And no, arbitrary join expressions are not a feature that "haunts" SQL databases, because unlike graph databases, relational databases ARE built for that, and it's one of the primary reasons SQL databases are very resilient to change in face of constantly changing ad-hoc query requirements. And it's an important feature of relational algebra that is used every day by countless applications.

SQL and GraphQL serve different purposes at different application layers. Both do precisely what they have to do. The fact they're a bit similar is not coincidental, but also they're not mutually replaceable.