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star wars - Why didn't these characters use the Force?


After Supreme Leader Snoke gets Mauled by Kylo, his Praetorian Guard leap into action to avenge him. Rey and Kylo are heavily outnumbered and it's a tough fight for them since the Guard have weapons capable of withstanding light sabres.


My question is: why don't the pair use the Force (beyond innate usage in terms of improved reflexes etc) to give them an advantage? We later see Kylo Ren use Force-choke on Hux, so at the very least we know he has that ability in his arsenal. He also throws Rey with the Force in TFA. Rey is also later able to lift an impressive number of rocks simultaneously, so presumably she could muster a Force-lift/push to throw the Guard around. It's worth noting they both attempt a Force-pull moments later in their own duel.


I'm only familiar with the movies (although I've watched a little Clone Wars and SW Rebels animated series, but not much and certainly not enough to answer this). Is there any canon reason why people capable of using the Force would not do so, does it require special training, or maybe there's a particular reason they couldn't use it against the Guard (are the Praetorian Guard, or the Royal Guard they were based on, protected from Force usage in some way)?



Answer




I'm going to coin/abuse the term Force powers to mean things like chokes, pushes, lifts, etc., as opposed to merely channeling the Force, which would involve using the Force to see & anticipate and strengthen & quicken oneself.


If we consider all eight movies and the uses of the Force in all eight, three movies stand apart from the other five: Episodes 1, 2, and 3. Notice that primarily light-side Force users and Jedi do not use Force powers during fights in episodes 4 through 8. In episodes 5 and 6, we do see Luke Force pull his lightsaber multiple times, but that's it. Every other combat use of the Force by Luke or Obi-Wan in episodes 4, 5, and 6 could (and I argue should) be seen as channeling. Also note that the dark-side Force users in 4, 5, and 6 make liberal use of Force powers, and the ultimate Force power, Force lightning, used in those three is used by the most evil character.


So to my mind it makes more sense to wonder why the Jedi in episodes 1, 2, and 3 are suddenly throwing around Force powers during combat willy-nilly. Out of universe, I have always chalked that up to inconsistent lazy and/or patronizing writing. But maybe it was actually very good writing in the sense that in-universe it seems to me to be part of the decadence of the Jedi order prior to their failure and the fall of the Republic.


If there's any hierarchy of "Force canon", IMHO the ultimate source for how the Force works and is used by Jedi must be Yoda, particularly in episode 5, and it all boils down to:



A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.



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