The Climactic Moment...

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by ScottWashburn

Every Marine I know (and I know a few) would tell you to kill your enemy as quickly and easily as you can and never give him a chance to kill you back if you can help it

Yeah, this. So very, very, very much this. And Jake's not a nobleman fighting a duel here - he's a soldier. Very different mindset.

(Uh, minus the actually KNOWING Marines, I just read a lot about them)

As to the original question, I got the impression that Jake was actually in a large amount of pain when Quaritch was hauling him up BY HIS HAIR AND NEURAL WHIP. Maybe the queue itself doesn't nerves (the brain doesn't), but OW that has got to hurt. And then you add in the concentration it was taking him to stay conscious, and I'm not sure he was able to process enough to do much.