Here you go...
The second set of questions:
4. How does the emperor rise to power and how do we make him NOT seem evil?
I don’t want Palpatine to appear as a politian. To me that inherently makes the audience expect him to be a liar. I see him more as the ultimate diplomat. He is able to sway people to his way of thinking (maybe some of it is the force…but without the hand waving). Think of him as the kindly elder statesman that people listen to because they like AND respect him. I am sticking with the idea that the dark side of the force slowly eats away at your living body. You give up physical strength for the dark power. He is given the total control in the senate, because he is the one man everyone trusts to get the republic out of this mess. AND what could possible go wrong, since he is an elder man who is obviously getting weaker in twilight of his life (winkwink). I am looking to Obiwan to finally discover that Palpatine actually instigated Clone War II through the use of the Sith and some of the clones that have crept into the republic are HIS (leading to the Jedi pulling their support from the entire conflict).
5. If the emperor is willing to kill Anakin's children because they would be a threat to him, why does he keep Vader?
This may just be too simple. The Emperor is not threatened by Vader, because he can turn him off at any time. Vader only lives at the Emperors good graces. THAT is why Vader needs Luke to help him overthrow the emperor.
6. Who are the Sith and why aren't they in the OT?
Ok, The Sith. I was trying to avoid using them, but since many people thought they were necessary, here ya go. From my last post you probably figured that the Sith, for lack of a better term, are rogue Jedi. They have taken the quicker path, because they want results and want to bring an end to the conflict NOW. The Jedi way is not proactive enough. They are willing to kill. The reason there are none in the OT, is because when their usefulness is over (they’ve hunted and destroyed the Jedi) Vader kills them. The Emperor would never let these powerful dark jedi live. They could eventually be a threat to him. So, Like Captain Flint killing his crew to protect his treasure in Treasure Island (there, that’s all for pirates), Vader destroys the other Sith. That is why he is THE DARK LORD of the Sith. He brought death to his own kind. These guys have actually become pivotal to Ep2 and 3 so I am starting to dig them.