I hope he doesn't mind (he doesn't come here much anymore) but I was in conversation with SSWR back in 2009 regarding the "Chosen One" prophecy and the Sith.
Here were some of my thoughts back then.
LPSDRIYDW2
Bingowings said :
One of the few EU ideas I really like is the holocron.
We know nothing about the Sith and what they want revenge for, the tax explanation for the Naboo crisis is frankly dull, there is an important prophecy motivating much of how the Jedi treat Anakin which adds to his fall and their role in the greater galaxy is limited to a Republic that doesn't cover the entire area.
I've thought about this in regards to my linear approach to Episode One but it could applied either way.
Think of the PT as the foreseen approach of an end of times scenerio.
People who believe prophecies about the end of the world usually look for the signs and those who are more skeptical dismiss those same events as being just coincedences.
The Temple could be seen as being like the Vatican, with some bishops and cardinals waiting for the coming of the apocalypse, the rise of the Antichrist, the return of Christ and seeing portents in current events while the majority preach caution.
Some Jedi (like Qui-Gon and Dooku) believe that the Sith are returning, the chosen one is coming and an apocalypse of galactic proportions is on the horizon, while others like Yoda and Mace are being cautious.
Qui-Gon sees the Naboo crisis as a sign that the prophecy is about to be fulfilled, he is already on the look out for the chosen one and if he is around the Sith are around too.
Having a holographic representation of the prophecy which either the council or Qui-Gon could review would help the audience understand something of the nature and limitation of and divisions between the Sith and Jedi ranks as well as the importance of the chosen one legend (which is key to why they are so crappy to Anakin most of the time).
The OT had a rich backstory which propelled and added flavour to the main story.
The PT is that backstory gone into detail so it needs a replacement backstory to serve the same purpose.
The Holocron recording need not be seen in one viewing.
Qui-Gon might view a bit about a conflict on a small world in relation to the Naboo crisis, and later watch another bit later to match some other development in the plot but it would add weight to why Qui-Gon is so adamant that Anakin should be trained and Mace and Yoda don't want him to be while giving us subtle exposition on the background picture.
The idea of having a tour around the building doesn't really appeal as a story telling device.
All those tours of Hogwarts bogged down the early Potter films for me, the later ones which took it for granted showed the building off better and served as an interesting backdrop without getting in the way.
I think that the reason 'the chosen one' aspect of the story doesn't currently work is because it's just dropped in and not backed up.
Clearly like so much in Star Wars it's part ripped off from Dune where the whole prophecy thing is explored from lot's of different angles, some of which contradict each other but also backs up the story rather than trips up the story.
Yoda in ESB warns Luke about the dangers of predicting the future, that it's in motion and open to mis-interpretation, it would be interesting if that was a lesson he himself had to learn the hard way rather than some empty Jedi catechism.
It would be fun to try and design some ancient Jedi Oracle to deliver the prophecy.
It would also be fun seeing the Sith with the same prediction reading it the other way around and that both things come true in a way that neither side understood until it was too late.
There is a tradition in stories of this kind of foretold events that everyone knows about but only a few people believe in anymore.
The return of Sauron in LOTR, the return of the Shadows in B5, the coming of the Antichrist/return of Christ in Christian based horror films like The Omen, the return of King Arthur.
So all Jedi would know about the prophecy but some would see it as just a legend or maybe a prediction of some long off event.
Qui-Gon and Dooku both believe it about to happen as does Palpatine but everyone has a different take on what it actually means.
While we are talking about the temple what do you think happened to it during the years of the Empire?
Did Palpatine destroy it? Defile it by turning into a palace or a fortress for his secret police?
I mentioned in my comments on your mockup of the end of ROTJ that it might be interesting to see it covered in scaffolding being restored for Luke and Leia to use (I don't like the EU Yavin IV thing).
It's always been assumed that the Sith are an off-shoot of the Jedi.
Even the official EU takes this line.
What if it was the other way around?
What if the Sith ran things in the dark days of Galactic civilisation and the Jedi emerged when Force sensitive people started to learn their tricks and turn them against them.
If the Sith were once the masters of the universe and the Jedi sent them back into the shadows for a thousand generations they would have a big enough beef to warrant revenge, especially if the earliest Jedi were just as ruthless as the Sith and only mellowed with all those years of peace and respect on the side.
It would tie in with Mace saying, "The oppression of the Sith will never return!".
It would be more interesting if there was a rebellion and the rebels learned the secrets of the Force from interogating Sith and capturing their archives (the Jedi archives could be built upon the much older Sith archives).
Force sensitive children would then be taken from their families and trained to serve what would later become the Republic instead of the Sith Empire.
These would later become the Jedi.
Your guide could dress this up using euphemistic language but basically the first Jedi were kidnapped, indoctrinated freedom-fighters (much like radicalised terrorists).
Something that could stick in Anakin's mind and turn around as he got older into a further and reasonable excuse to change sides.
Christianity was born during a time of occupation. Jesus' teachings are all about forgiveness and non-violence but the religions that recognise him as a teacher historically have proved to be very violent and vindictive.
The Jedi may be the same but in reverse.
An aggressive martial religion that mellowed into being more peaceful and restrained as the original threat that formed them slid into the shadows and hid in the background.