I could be missing something, but can anyone actually argue that the new Star Wars are better than the old ones? OK, so they might have better effects, but the movies themselves (especially episode II) are terrible. But when it comes to the argument over Vader vs. Luke, you could say that Luke was getting beaten until Vader says that line "if you cannot be turned, then perhaps she will," that Luke goes off and starts kicking Vader's tail. So you could argue that it was Luke's passion, more than his skill, that let him win over an obviously better-trained Sith. The emporer, on the other hand, wanted Luke to win and kill Vader, thus turning him to the dark side and replacing an aging, mechanically dependant Dark lord with a young and powerful one. It is only when Luke refuses to strike the death-dealing blow on Vader that Palepatine tried to kill him. But chalk up another inconsistancy for the prequils, I guess...