Thus illustrating the Vader/Palpatine inverse awesomeness principle:
During the timeframe of the original trilogy, Darth Vader is fucking badass and the Emperor is ultimately self-defeating.
During the timeframe of the prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker is a punk-ass bitch and Palpatine is terrifyingly hyper-competent.
This kind of catches these two characters at the cusp - Vader is becoming badass, but is still able to be punked out, which is why the Emperor is still adept at spinning to his advantage.