I'm not the first person to bring up that force users in the era of the Old Republic are significantly stronger than anything we ever see in the prequels or the original trilogy. Darth Sideous was supposedly the strongest Sith Sorcerer to ever come about in that era, and the most impressive thing he does in canon is shoot lightning. If you count legends then his power is much more obvious and extraordinary, achieving feats that are close to what Sorcerers can do in TOR, however we never see him devouring planets like Valkorian or chaining Force Ghosts like the Sith Sorcerer. Vader was killed by lightning and Sideous was killed by falling down an elevator shaft, things that would have been easily survivable for the most powerful Sith in TOR. And that's just on the Sith side of things. Beyond special effects and powers, the Jedi and Sith of the previous era seem to just have a deeper understanding of the nature of the Force. Sith Sorcerer's have such a fundamental understanding of the Force that they're able to manipulate the very fabric of it through their rituals. Unlike in the prequels, texts and artifacts containing ancient knowledge are studied much more frequently, rather than just when they're needed. And on these planets where the Force is strong, you can certainly feel it, even those who aren't Force Sensitive can tell when they're in a place of high concentration. Lots of people have pointed these things out, but a question I'm seeing a lot less of is why this has been happening. Have the Jedi simply lost most of their knowledge of the Force? Admittedly, this was my first idea, and it made a bit of sense: After the fall of the Sith, the Jedi would be the only ones with any interest in the Force. And to be honest, while they are definitely more in tune with it, they don't know as much about is as the Sith do. The Sith are experimenters, they're the ones who manipulate the Force, dig deep, find out what makes it tick. Usually with horrific results, true, but with those horrific results comes with it a more scientific understanding of the Force, rather than the Jedi's mere spiritual understanding. Most in-depth knowledge of the Force comes as a result of their experiments. After their fall as a major religious faction, and as the Jedi became increasingly a branch of the Republic rather than a religion dedicated to study, it makes sense that they would let various things about the subject of their study be forgotten. However, that doesn't account for the fact that places of Force power seem to be flat out missing. There's places like Dagobah, sure, but even those places require prior Force Sensitivity in order to feel its presence, whereas ages ago there were places with so much concentration that even those with no sensitivity could tell that there was definitely something powerful about it Not to mention Force Ghosts, while before they came about whenever a powerful Force user died rather they were trying to or not, now they require special training. As if the Force is somehow harder to reach that it requires more effort. Another piece of evidence is Darth Plagius, the guy who could probably be considered the Valkorian of his time. This was a guy who probably had a better understanding of the Force than even Sith Sorcerers of old, that's how deeply he studied it. It makes sense that he would have studied texts and techniques from the ages of the Old Republic, yet even with the knowledge available to him, he's still not able to achieve feats like devouring the Force itself and leaving planets completely dead. The best explanation for that would be that things that ordinarily would have worked back then can't work anymore, because it drawed on parts of the Force that no longer existed or were much harder to reach due to a diminished presence. Then there's testimony from George Lucas himself. According to him, Darth Sideous was supposedly the most powerful and talented Sith Sorcerer to ever live. Him and the Skywalkers are supposed to live and breath the Force, yet again, in terms of destructive power or spiritual understanding, they're far from impressive. But what if George is telling the truth: they are more attuned to the Force than anyone before them, it's the Force that is weaker. For perspective, compare two landmasses. Say one of them is the size of a planet, the other is a small island. Cut out 10% of the planet and it will still be larger than the entirety of that island, even though it's a lower percentage. In the same way, while the Skywalkers and Sideous have more access to the Force, there is less Force to draw from which would explain why they're comparatively weaker. So what's this mean for Star Wars as a whole? Well, actually, it probably bodes pretty well. Look at how society has been taking it. Things have been mostly unchanged for the past 5000 years. If anything, technology is actually improving, to the point where people can use it to do things that even the Force has lost the ability to do. Destroying planets is no longer possible for the Force, but with enough lasers, anything is possible. It looks like Kreia might actually get her wish. The Force is finally being taken out of our lives, and like the Exile, life is persevering and growing stronger as a result. By the twelfth or so movie, the Star Wars series will probably look more like Star Trek, with more focus on technology and culture rather than an uncaring energy made out of vagueness. "The Force Awakens"? More like "The Force Taking One Last Yawn Before Finally Going To Sleep, Forever." But hey, that's just a theory...A GAME THEORY!