The Ellimist
How important do you think numbers are in a confrontation between Force users? The impression I get is that they are usually not as valuable as people think, and thus the chances a team of relative weaklings have of taking down a powerful opponent is frequently overestimated.
A few examples:
1. Dooku vs. Anakin and Obi Wan. This is a particularly apt example given that Anakin and Obi Wan would be an especially well coordinated pair. Here, a restrained Anakin is still pushing Tyranus to his limits, and Dooku isn't faring well against the two at the same time, but he isn't quickly dying like people would predict. Rather, he manages to take out the weaker combatant, Obi Wan, while simultaneously kicking Anakin away. And yet Dooku seems to have more trouble with Anakin alone than the two of them together.
2. Bane and Zannah vs. Rastka Lsu and co. This is an example that is actually stated by the narrator - the other Jedi comment that they're getting in Rastka Lsu's way, and mainly help by providing her with battle meditation and protection from Force attacks. Up close they don't really contribute anything except for when they're facing a separate opponent (.ie Zannah).
3. Sidious vs. Anakin and Yoda. This was just a vision but the tactical progression of the fight probably isn't super fantastical for Yoda to take seriously; TCW Anakin and Yoda together would destroy Sidious if numbers mattered a great deal, but instead Sidious can just take out Skywalker quickly and not really lose out on that much. Indeed, it actually hinders Yoda, who must protect him.
4. Revan vs. the strike team and similar examples. Before SoR, few people would seriously argue that Revan could take on the entire strike team that faces him in SoR, but that's precisely what he does. It turns out that when his telekinesis is that far beyond anyone's defenses, it doesn't matter all that much how many of them there are; until his power is dispersed so much that they can resist it, he can just toss them around at all. This is likewise true in other instances of a single powerful combatant tooling multiple weaker ones.
5. Luke, Jaina and Ben vs. some sith in one of the FotJ books. Literally here the sith end up hitting one another.
There are counterexamples, like Revan, Scourge and Meetra challenging novel Vitiate or the strike team somewhat challenging Caedus, although in the latter case Caedus explicitly notes that they were well coordinated. A bunch of randoms facing a character far more powerful than them are just as likely to get in one another's way as they are to add their abilities, particularly in melee, for a few reasons:
1. Lack of coordination. This is clear; they'll likely conflict with one another in their movements.
2. The exponential differences in Force ability. Sidioius's feats in the Force are literally orders of magnitude beyond Dooku's, so having three Dooku's try to Force push him probably won't work, not unless if they can somehow add their powers in a way.
3. Speed. Speed doesn't really add up; the faster combatant and often blitz opponents pretty quickly and it doesn't help them to have lots of people.
4. There's a limit to how many can attack the one opponent at once; at some point, Sidious vs. 50 Agen Kolar's in close quarters might not look that differently if Sidious could maintain his speed because they can't just all hit him at the same time anyway.
Meanwhile, numbers seem to be most important when the team can coordinate, somehow combine their abilities, surround the opponent, or do something else that maximizes the tactical advantages of having the numerical advantage.
What do you think?
A few examples:
1. Dooku vs. Anakin and Obi Wan. This is a particularly apt example given that Anakin and Obi Wan would be an especially well coordinated pair. Here, a restrained Anakin is still pushing Tyranus to his limits, and Dooku isn't faring well against the two at the same time, but he isn't quickly dying like people would predict. Rather, he manages to take out the weaker combatant, Obi Wan, while simultaneously kicking Anakin away. And yet Dooku seems to have more trouble with Anakin alone than the two of them together.
2. Bane and Zannah vs. Rastka Lsu and co. This is an example that is actually stated by the narrator - the other Jedi comment that they're getting in Rastka Lsu's way, and mainly help by providing her with battle meditation and protection from Force attacks. Up close they don't really contribute anything except for when they're facing a separate opponent (.ie Zannah).
3. Sidious vs. Anakin and Yoda. This was just a vision but the tactical progression of the fight probably isn't super fantastical for Yoda to take seriously; TCW Anakin and Yoda together would destroy Sidious if numbers mattered a great deal, but instead Sidious can just take out Skywalker quickly and not really lose out on that much. Indeed, it actually hinders Yoda, who must protect him.
4. Revan vs. the strike team and similar examples. Before SoR, few people would seriously argue that Revan could take on the entire strike team that faces him in SoR, but that's precisely what he does. It turns out that when his telekinesis is that far beyond anyone's defenses, it doesn't matter all that much how many of them there are; until his power is dispersed so much that they can resist it, he can just toss them around at all. This is likewise true in other instances of a single powerful combatant tooling multiple weaker ones.
5. Luke, Jaina and Ben vs. some sith in one of the FotJ books. Literally here the sith end up hitting one another.
There are counterexamples, like Revan, Scourge and Meetra challenging novel Vitiate or the strike team somewhat challenging Caedus, although in the latter case Caedus explicitly notes that they were well coordinated. A bunch of randoms facing a character far more powerful than them are just as likely to get in one another's way as they are to add their abilities, particularly in melee, for a few reasons:
1. Lack of coordination. This is clear; they'll likely conflict with one another in their movements.
2. The exponential differences in Force ability. Sidioius's feats in the Force are literally orders of magnitude beyond Dooku's, so having three Dooku's try to Force push him probably won't work, not unless if they can somehow add their powers in a way.
3. Speed. Speed doesn't really add up; the faster combatant and often blitz opponents pretty quickly and it doesn't help them to have lots of people.
4. There's a limit to how many can attack the one opponent at once; at some point, Sidious vs. 50 Agen Kolar's in close quarters might not look that differently if Sidious could maintain his speed because they can't just all hit him at the same time anyway.
Meanwhile, numbers seem to be most important when the team can coordinate, somehow combine their abilities, surround the opponent, or do something else that maximizes the tactical advantages of having the numerical advantage.
What do you think?