abrams beat us over the head with all the plot points like that too. han kept on pointing out how powerful the bowcaster was, acting as if he never tried it before he was 70 years old. they didn't even need to say that it was an explosive bolt enveloped in energy (somehow) -- instead it was just bad ass, but it's basically a handheld railgun, only it's also an explosive that it is accelerating
so getting shot with a railgun would be devastating to any mere mortal (and it was repeatedly shown to be), thus showing kylo ren's strength of will
interesting factoid: the cover art for a GRRM story is what inspired the entire thing, all of it (wookies)
Americans learn only from catastrophe and not from experience. -- Theodore Roosevelt
My life has become a single, ongoing revelation that I haven’t been cynical enough.