Echo of Navigation

The Echo of Navigation in Resile

This article is about the artifact. For a Taken projection of Oryx, see Echo of Oryx.

"Heir-presumptive, I make you sharp so that you may continue my logic and uphold my law. You will take up my mantle and become me. You will remove everything that can be removed. And you will bring extinction to your enemies, as I brought extinction to mine."

— The Echo of Navigation speaking to the Guardian

The Echo of Navigation, also known as the Echo of the Navigator is one of several paracausal artifacts known as Echoes that were released from within the Traveler following the destruction of the Witness. It was created from the memories of the Witness that would take the form of Oryx, the Taken King following his slaying of Akka, his communion with the Deep, and the creation of his Dreadnaught.

Description

Like the Echoes of Command and Riis, the Echo of Navigation was created when the Witness was destroyed, and its darkness fused with the Traveler's light during the final events of Operation Ahamkara. The Echo contained the memories of Oryx, the Taken King, shortly after slaying Akka and using the Worm God's corpse to reshape his Throne World into the Dreadnaught.

The Echo vaguely resembles a north star or compass rose, with eight blade-like points joined at the center. Whenever the Echo appears in a mission, it usually shrouds itself in a visage of Oryx.

Unlike the other two previous Echoes, which were both wielded by powerful enemies, the Echo of Navigation instead acted as its own entity. While many characters believed that the Echo was Oryx resurrected into a new form, the Echo of Navigation serves as nothing more than an imitation of the Taken King. Being made up of a younger Oryx's memories, the Echo adopts Oryx's nature of navigating and understanding the universe, as well as following the principles of the Sword Logic. Upon learning about Oryx's death, the Echo states that it should not, and does not, deserve to exist, since Oryx had already been slain by the Guardian years ago. The Echo also voices its disappointment at how weak and hollow Oryx's sisters had become after Oryx's death, even calling them heretics once it finds out what became of them.

History

Created shortly after the destruction of the Witness, the Echoes, including the Echo of Navigation, would break away from the Traveler and drift far out into the Sol System. The Echo of Navigation would arrive in Saturn's orbit and crash into the derelict Dreadnaught, taking up residence within its hull. When it initially arrived on the Dreadnaught, it sought to reclaim control over its systems, reactivating them after being dormant since Oryx's death. The Echo of Navigation's power would also draw in the attention of the Dread. Seeking new power and leadership after the death of their master, the Dread would ultimately end up working with the Echo to achieve its goals.

The Echo would use the Dreadnaught's weapon systems to launch Eversion Anchors all across the solar system. One would touch down in the European Dead Zone, prompting the Vanguard to send in the Guardian to investigate. Meanwhile, Eris Morn and the Drifter would launch their own investigation as they made their way towards the Dreadnaught to find out why the ship had suddenly come back to life. Unfortunately, this investigation would result in Eris's death at the hands of the Resonant Knife, a Taken Subjugator that serves as the Echo's sentry and the leading commander of the Dread and Dire Taken aboard the Dreadnaught.

Aboard the Dreadnaught, while the Guardian was disabling the ship's weapon systems to prevent the launch of more Eversion Anchors, the Echo of Navigation finally acknowledged the Guardian's presence and spoke. The Guardian was drawn to the Hall of Souls, where the Echo of Navigation revealed itself before them. At the same time, Savathûn, the Witch Queen and the Voice of Xivu Arath, a knight avatar representing Xivu Arath, appeared to reunite with their brother. The Echo asked Xivu Arath what had become of their war, to which the God of War responded by saying that Oryx had been slain and that his killer stood before him. This information caught the Echo off guard, as it had no idea that the real Oryx was dead. Xivu Arath then stated that Oryx shall rise again once the Guardian is killed. However, the memory of Oryx dismissed the idea, stating that he deserves extinction if he truly is destroyed. Impressed by his killer's triumph, the Echo then asked the Guardian to step forward and claim their rightful place as Oryx's heir. Savathûn then told Xivu Arath and the Echo to stop acting like children and tried to convince her siblings that, without the Witness, they were finally free to create their own paths. However, Xivu Arath failed to listen to reason and left, vowing to avenge her brother and stating that she would not allow her sister to abandon them again. Savathûn would also leave as the Echo summoned a large attack force of Dire Taken led by The Resonant Knife to attack the Guardian, forcing them to retreat to their ship.

After this encounter and a quick briefing from Sloane, the Guardian would return to the Dreadnaught to continue battling against the Taken and Dread. As they did so, the Echo of Navigation would watch and admire the Guardian as they defeated every challenge the Dreadnaught had to offer them, impressed by their strength and claiming that their destiny was to take up Oryx's mantle. Xivu Arath, meanwhile, would brief the Echo about events that happened in Oryx's life and events that happened after his death, including the death of the Witness and his quest for vengeance for the death of his son, Crota. However, the memory of Oryx would voice its disappointment at how his former self was driven here by sentimental revenge, thus defying his own logic. The Echo would also voice even greater disappointment to Xivu Arath for following The Witness and losing her edge by not accepting Oryx's logic, even saying that Xivu Arath's actions were heresy.

The Echo of Navigation within the High Heresy

After gaining evidence of Eris Morn's survival and finding a way to reach her within her new Throne World, the High Heresy, the Guardian would work with Eris in preparing her dimension to serve as the Echo's prison. Sloane, however, wished to destroy the Echo rather than seal it away, but Eris argued that the memory of Oryx within the Echo possessed valuable insight and knowledge that would serve them well against Oryx's sisters. While not entirely convinced, Sloane allowed Eris to precede. Meanwhile, when the Guardian was sent on a mission to investigate Taken energy spikes at the Shrine of Oryx, they found a remnant hive memory depicting a recent conversation between the Echo and Savathûn. The Witch Queen tried her best to convince her brother of the truth, that The Witness lied and robbed the Krill of their true destiny. However, the Echo refused to believe its sister, convinced that she was lying, as deception was Savathûn's nature. Savathûn then decided to reveal her Ghost, Immaru, to the Echo, to show that the Hive could embrace the light and become more than what they already were. But at the sight of this revelation, the Echo became furious, claiming that the Savathûn it knew would never allow this kind of heresy. Savathûn retaliated by stating the Echo was Oryx resurrected as an inanimate object, which, by Oryx's logic, would also be considered heresy. Refusing to accept Savathûn's words, the Echo vowed to divine the truth on its own, by planning to take control of the Dreadnaught and using it to return to Fundament. However, Eris was unwilling to allow the Echo to escape. Using collected pieces of Akka's flesh, Eris and the Guardian conducted a ritual at the Hall of Souls to bind the Echo to the High Heresy. As the ritual commenced, the Echo would summon the Resonant Knife to battle the Guardian and thwart Eris's plan. Despite the Taken Subjugator's best efforts, the ritual was a success, and the Echo became trapped within the High Heresy, much to Eris's satisfaction.

With the Echo bound to Eris's Throne World, Eris began to interrogate the memory of Oryx, mostly in regards to the hive siblings who sought to reclaim him, as they were both galvanized by Eris's actions. The Echo, in turn, would taunt Eris on how her Throne World wasn't as strong as Eris believed it was, mentioning that it was taking all of her focus just to keep it secure. But Eris remained undeterred. She would accept the challenge and dared the Echo to test her strength. Impressed by Eris's resolve, the Echo promised that it would do so in due time.

Xivu Arath would strike first by attempting to tear into Eris's Throne World and steal the Echo of Navigation away from her, by conducting a ritual using the hilt of Oryx's sword, Willbreaker. Eris would send in the Guardian to disrupt the ritual before it could finish. Despite now being a prisoner, the Echo of Navigation would continue to observe the Guardian's efforts aboard the Dreadnaught. When the Guardian finally arrived at the ritual sight, they battled against the Darkblade Obak-Hul, Imprisoned, who would become Taken by an unknown force during Xivu Arath's ritual, much to the Echo's surprise. Regardless, the Guardian managed to defeat the Knight and reclaimed Willbreaker's hilt. After forcing Xivu Arath's forces to retreat, the Echo of Navigation would invite the Guardian to speak with them directly. It would congratulate them on their triumph, stating that they showed their sharpness well. But it would also voice its disappointment at how Oryx's sisters had been reduced to children throwing a tantrum. The Echo would even go as far as blaming Oryx himself, calling him a betrayer for giving Savathûn and Xivu Arath their lives back after slaying them to gain the power he needed to kill Akka. And because of Oryx's mercy, his sister had become hollow and barely recognizable.

Savathûn would attempt to perform a similar ritual to pull the Echo of Navigation into her High Coven, this time by using the severed head of her Taken son, Malok, as a relic. However, upon learning from Eris that Savathûn's Throne World had been recreated with Light, the Echo proclaimed that it would not trade one jailer for another and demanded that the Guardian stop Savathûn's ritual. The Guardian would oblige and venture to the Temple of the Navigator and disrupt Savathûn's ritual by slaying all of the Disciples of Malok and stealing Malok's head, much to Savathûn's annoyance.

After collecting the remaining shards of Willbreaker and helping Sloane reforge Oryx's Sword into a new fashion, Eris revealed that both Savathûn and Xivu Arath have resorted to fighting amongst themselves, meaning that the Echo of Navigation will soon take advantage of the chaos and attempted to break free of Eris's Throne world. Eris feared that while she may be able to hold the Echo, she can't win against it. Sloane suggests using Willbreaker to destroy the Echo while it was still contained, but Eris refused, stating that they would lose the means to remove the Taken from the Sol System forever. Unfortunately, Eris wouldn't have enough time to think about other options, as The Dread, led by The Resonant Knife, would congregate to claim the Dreadnaught for themselves. As chaos erupted all across the Dreadnaught, Eris sent the Guardian over to the High War with a plan in mind. If she could claim The Dread's power for her own, then she may be able to keep the Echo of Navigation bound to her Throne World. But as the Guardian arrived on the Dreadnaught and once again battled against The Resonant Knife across the vessel, Eris's strength failed, and she could no longer hold onto the Echo anymore, setting it loose aboard the Dreadnaught once more.

Now free from its prison, the Echo of Navigation scurried its way across the Dreadnaught, with the Guardian in hot pursuit. However, the Echo suddenly stopped along the outskirts of the Trenchway. As the Guardian finally caught up with the Echo, they were suddenly ambushed by two of Savathûn's Projections. The Witch Queen proclaimed that this time, they were no longer friends and attacked with full force. The Guardian destroyed Savathûn's projections, but soon found themselves trapped in a Darkness dimension. There, the Echo of Navigation itself would face the Guardian by conjuring up a Shade of Oryx. As the Guardian and the Shade fought, the Echo spoke with Eris Morn, claiming that it would not yield against her power, but it also expressed that it had nowhere else to go. After defeating the Shade of Oryx, the Guardian would summon Willbreaker and use its power on the Echo, damaging it. Not long after, Xivu Arath would summon her champion, the Voice of Xivu Arath, to face the Guardian next, only for the Knight to be defeated as well. Like last time, the Guardian was teleported into the Darkness dimension again and faced off against the Shade of Oryx again. As they did so, the Echo proclaimed that every vow Oryx had made was empty. As he did not understand everything as he was supposed to. Vanquishing the Shade of Oryx once more, the guardian repeated the same actions they did before, by damaging the Echo of Navigation further with Willbreaker. As a final defense, the Resonant Knife showed up to protect the Echo of Navigation, entering their enraged state before sending the Guardian back into the Darkness dimension to battle the Shade of Oryx one last time. As they fought, the Echo expressed that it had already failed and finally accepted that it had become a heretic like Oryx's sisters. It stated that whether it was truly Oryx or not, it did not deserve to live either way. After slaying the Shade of Oryx for the final time, the Resonant Knife appeared before the Guardian as they took up Willbreaker once more. They battled each other one last time, where the Taken Subjugator would finally meet its demise.

With all enemy forces eliminated, the Echo of Navigation was left at the Guardian's mercy. Sloane then stated that it was time to make the call, as they could not risk losing the Echo for good. Though she was deeply disappointed that she failed to cage the Echo again, Eris agreed with Sloane and gave the order to destroy the Echo. With Willbreaker in hand, the Guardian unleashed the sword's true power upon the Echo. Upon striking the final blow, the Echo's energy became unstable as it flew far out into Saturn's rings, where it finally exploded and shattered into numerous fragments. In the Echo's final moments, it was at least glad to know that the stars would forever remember the shape Oryx gave them.

Trivia

• The Echo of Navigation is voiced by Joshua David King.
• The Echo of Navigation is so far the only Echo that has been destroyed.

Gallery

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  Art of Guardians chasing down the Echo of Navigation seen within the season tab

List of appearances

• Destiny 2: The Final Shape (First appearance)
  • Episode: Heresy (First identified as Echo of Navigation)
  • Reclamation (Mentioned only)