Emulation is only an implementation of the ISA. The x86 ISA is hardly "as great as possible". In fact, it's downright crummy: x86-64 is as bloated as RISC architectures usually are without any of RISC's benefits. At best you can make the argument that x86 has done well in spite of the ISA, not because of it.
The silicon-level implementation is another matter entirely, of course--but emulation has nothing to do with that. In fact, that's the definition of emulation--using a completely different implementation to offer a compatible interface.
The silicon-level implementation is another matter entirely, of course--but emulation has nothing to do with that. In fact, that's the definition of emulation--using a completely different implementation to offer a compatible interface.