Well, had to admit I’m quite confused about this Echo/Athena thing; at the beginning I was sure she was Athena, but it’s quite strange she didn’t know about what had happened to McCree (and that she asked him about his arm…), so the only sensible theory I could think about (considering McCree even mentioned Winston in her presence) is that Echo is a sort of …material body? for Athena, but she doesn’t recollect all of Athena’s memory, probably because she’s actually been “in a chip” for so long…
Dunno guys, let me know if this could make any sense
I honestly hope Echo will be a support. I’m hoping she’ll fly like Pharah and her ult gives like 200 shields
My theory is Echo is a former top operative of Overwatch developed as a joint effort between humans and omnics, designed to bridge the gap between the two (hence the holo-face). When Overwatch went under, McCree absconded with her mind/datachip and her body was sealed and taken away. She likely has a great deal of information that will be useful to the new Overwatch. I also anticipate she will be a support hero, but likely not have much of Iris’s supposed kit because that looks like Lucio’s kit.
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Well I think that Echo is Athena, just a physical embodiment of her (what most of you guys have said). I would like her abilities/weapon to be as follows:
Primary fire - Symmetras old lock on fire
Ability 1 - super speed
Ability 2 - sheild bubble a teammate (heals them if they are less than full health but gives them a 200 hp bubble (like zarya)
Secondary fire - bubbles/heals herself
(Xbox controller) A button - fly (like pharah)
Ultimate - lifts herself up into the air and in a large A of E heal/bubbles teammates and locks on from any range to visible enemies and does damage
They have already confirmed that Echo is not Athena, and is not related to her in any way.
oh ok, in which case i have absolutely no idea because i am not a professional at all the lore
To me, Echo was probably created to be not just the strategic focalpoint of Overwatch operations (ECHO point, anyone?) but judging from what we’ve seen thus far, perhaps also the moral fulcrum. Jesse doesn’t simply want to arm Winston’s new Overwatch, but perhaps return what he sees as the purest distillation of what Overwatch could and SHOULD be.
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Nice idea, but is there possibly such thing as an objectively viable moral controller? (Sorry, bad terminology!)
Wouldn’t the members of Overwatch themselves have to be the balancing scales for such a thing?
Feels a bit reductive for one being to be able to say “This is objectively right/wrong.” compared to the entire cast that will have their own feelings on & motivations behind such.
However, the possibility of her being some kind of moral focus, or able to distil these ideas into understandable arguments could be very useful in order to actualise OW going forward; nice idea!
![:slight_smile:](https://d74zh8edaijub.cloudfront.net/en/overwatch/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=6" ":slight_smile:")
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It seems extremely simplistic, and obviously morality isn’t an objective thing. That said, her nature might not be as simple as we expect.
Consider the concept put forward in Evangelion (sorry to weeb out here for a bit). The S.C. Magi System were a trio of supercomputers with different aspects of essentially the same whole person. Unless at least two of the three parts agreed on a course of action, no action was taken. this is the concept of a gestalt mind, and such an idea is common in certain circles of science fiction. What if Echo was something similar? A grouping of simulated “echoes” of the greatest minds, the purest souls that Overwatch could offer?
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It’s still a good way to interpret the idea, despite the simplicity 
Haha the young boy becomes a legend! I am a huge weeb myself, having just taken my friend through Eva & End of Eva in the last few weeks xD.
The MAGI comparison is amazing especially if there is more than one personality chip? 
I assume current Echo is Echo as a mother, rather than a scientist or a woman?
Oh wow, you took her to Eleanor Lamb territory! Bioshock 2 is the best one, to be controversial!
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Echo could be made up of dozens of echoes of people, if not more! In fact, if the logic structure were to remain sound and harmonious, the more, the better.
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Yeah that’s the idea behind Eleanor Lamb or “The Utopian”
A being formed from the greatest minds & skills of the time, given the wisdom to use such skills properly.
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If I wanted to have a character from which to pivot Overwatch as a franchise that points at a far-off plot to one that actually has one, Echo as I have described her would be that character.
And Papa Jeff might want the same. Consider his statements about her thus far. He talks about her as being special, which is a tone he hasn’t really taken with an upcoming hero before.
Echo is going to change Overwatch as an experience. #FACT
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She’s definitely going to be important certainly it’s a shame to me that that’s been built up so much more out-of-world rather than in it, but that’s my problem xD.
I have an idea for how she could genuinely be important & useful going forward both in-world & as a narrative device - as essentially a speaker for the dead.
By installing other memory chips (the condensed memories / digitally replicated personality of a deceased person) she can give us access to perspectives & information that aren’t available anywhere else, give Overwatch greater understanding & drive to push forward sensibly & for Echo to grow as an individual character (incorporating the memories into herself).
But obviously, total speculation!
![:smiley:](https://d74zh8edaijub.cloudfront.net/en/overwatch/images/emoji/twitter/smiley.png?v=6" ":smiley:")
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I’d rather have her naturally reawaken parts of herself.
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Except they don’t. Athena is voiced by Evelyn Duah and Orisa is voiced by Cherelle Skeete.
I’ll be damned, thought I read somewhere that they were the same voice actor, but clearly I was wrong, I’ll fix my comment.
Maybe she’s an old clone/ghost image of Athena that Athena would use for missions when she couldn’t communicate with the team over a distance. But the clone became separated by time/conditions and was only just now recovered?
My question is why is the bot’s body so sexualized compared to most other bots that we’ve seen? It is not only an hour-glass shaped humanoid but also has an intergluteal cleft despite lacking glutes to cleave between. Just why?
It is possible she was designed to be a more “human” Omnic based off her also projecting a face and having hands which seem capable of simulating a sense of touch (based on how Echo was holding McCree’s hand).
Both Jeff Kaplan and Michael Chu have said Echo is not related to Athena in any way.