In Knights of the Old Republic II, a motif of echoes and vibrations is woven throughout the narrative, particularly with regard to the Force, and to the actions of an individual. Many of the characters, from the fallen Jedi Kreia to the adorably psychotic assassin droid HK-47 voice notice of how the actions of an individual, a group, or something more metaphysical can create a cascade of after-effects- ‘echoes’, or ‘resonance’, as they are termed in the game.
HK-47 comments upon how, by mistranslating a single word, an interstellar war between several insectoid species was instigated, and through this war the Republic was able to gain influence over an entire sector, shoring up the rapidly failing galactic government. Visas Marr, in her first scene with Darth Nihilus, mentions that she can “hear” the echoes of the Exile’s actions against the background noise of life in the universe. Kreia draws the Exile’s attention to the background hum of the Force itself on Nar Shaddaa, by listening with her heart- a method the Exile later uses to open the bounty hunter Mira to the Force. Many of Kreia’s lessons utilize the imagery of echoes and resonance to teach the Exile about the long-term, often unintended consequences of actions and ideas. Indeed, Kreia’s ultimate goal is to murder the Force itself through some complex utilization of echoes- to create an echo that would drown out the Force itself, to at last break its seemingly fickle will.
In last week’s new release Maul: Lockdown, Darth Maul is sent to uncover a reclusive and mysterious arms dealer hiding out in Cog Hive Seven, a space-based prison whose architecture is infinitely rearrangeable. This has two benefits: one, escape is much more complicated when the route out of your cell is constantly changing, and two, it allows Warden Sadiki Blirr to pick any two inmates and smack them together like action figures. The resulting deathmatches are then broadcast to the galaxy for gambling purposes, with Blirr herself collecting a healthy piece of the profits. This system of near-constant combat makes up the spine of Lockdown‘s bloody proceedings, and while the Rubix-Cube-like concept of Cog Hive Seven is a novel approach, the general premise of gladiatorial combat has a long and storied history in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, dating almost all the way to the beginning of the Expanded Universe.