All of this relentless back and forth doesn’t get us anywhere. It is fine and encouraged to state your opinions, but we’ll rarely, if ever, argue someone to our side. Nothing anyone is saying is wrong, it’s just that different story elements speak to each of us differently based on our own experiences. We have to accept that the story elements that we value most may not be as important to someone else. There is no “true” interpretation of the story or characters, just what they speak to us and our lives. Probably the best we can say is that a better developed and written trilogy might have had fewer offending elements to the fandom in general. Getting off my horse now.
I agree with this.
Although I will say that whatever George said in the past about Star Wars should be taken seriously at the very least. Unfortunately, he never really has commented on things such as Palpatine’s overarching role in the saga (as far as I’m aware).
I don’t think I’ve read/heard anything, just that he represents the “pure evil” kind of thing. But did Lucas have a role for him past 6 … Nope.