WheresBlackhawk said:
It all depends on how you develop the Sith idea.
When I was working on my NPT, the Sith were a proactive offshoot of the Jedi, who wore dark cloaks and masks to hide their identities from their brothers.
If you want the whole "force religion" to be concidered ancient by the OT, you can use the NPT to discredit the Jedi. Remember: the Jedi ONLY use the force for knowledge and defense. During the Clone Wars they would help with strategy, but I don't think they would lead assaults. This could lead to the general populace feeling the Jedi might be disloyal. They shouldn't be creeps like in the PT, but the other characters and the audience may see their traditions, beliefs and actions as ineffectual considering the darker times.
In my NPT EPI, Anakin inadvertantly inspires the creation of the Sith Order. This was revealed in my EPII, which was a mystery of who these dark clad warriors were. By EPIII, Palpatine is made Emperor and tells the Jedi that their assistance, lacking as it is, is no longer required. The Sith are greeted in the Senate chamber with cheers because they are willing to do what is necessary to end the Clone Wars.
My goal was to have the audience agree with the people of the republic and the sith up to EPIII where they would feel... oops, this has gone too far.
In my world you hit the nail on the head. With what I'm working on, these are the issues that I'm concerned with when it comes to the Republic part of the story. The Republic is really debating whether they should enter the war or not. Is it the right choice?
I don't have the Emperor as a Sith, but just a dark sorcerer who will later take control of the DLOS and the Sith to do his dirty work behind the scenes. I think the relationship between Jedi and Sith should really be a little more gray than black and white. That it shouldn't take too much of an imagination to see where the Sith are coming from, or at least how they could consider themselves not completely evil but doing something that is necessary, even if they have to "cut some corners". That depending on your point of view, the better way might be the Sith way because it seems stronger and more resolute. I think this is how societies or people turn to evil. They choose what they think is the lesser of two evils, it just doesn't end up being that way in the end. I think that's more of a plausible way that Anakin would turn. He sees the Jedi as weak, not willing to take enough action, and the toils of war have also gotten to him. He is tempted by the power of the Sith to resolve the conflict, but then it's just a slippery slope and by the end he embraces evil. I think by the end of the PT, he should really be straight up evil like he was in ANH. I don't have him starting the Sith Order, but I have him taking it over. Although, I think I have the Jedi vs. Sith thing more in the background than your version. I have that as more of an older conflict, with the Force already an "ancient religion". Ancient just doesn't equal 20 years to me.
My goal as far as the arc of the Republic turned Empire is for the audience to also think that the galaxy and that Anakin are making the right choices, and by the end to say, oops, I guess I would have went down that path too with the information I was given. Or at least the majority to feel that way.