Bingowings said:

There must be a way of altering the PT to keep all the surprises intact (do we even need to see Yoda in the PT? He could be an oft mentioned but never seen Jedi master of great power so when we see him ESB it intensifies the physical incongruity).

This would be best done by completely remaking the PT, in my opinion. And in such a remake (if I were to write it), Yoda would never be seen, Palpatine would never be seen with a lightsaber, and Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters would be two different things, not different ranks of the same thing.

Among a great many other differences, such as there being more than one Clone War.