Force power called psychometry, but there's a catch; the idea has become increasingly common since.

George Mann's new Star Wars audiobook, Seeds of Starlight, finally gives a canon explanation for why these are becoming more common. It seems that certain events can create "echoes" in the Force, which can be detected by certain Force-sensitives. It takes training to learn how to interact with these echoes, and it's likely that Jedi with psychometry - a Force power attuned to sensing the past whenever they touch an object - have something of a head start when it comes to interpreting them.

The prequel era Jedi feared the power of psychometry, because a Jedi with this ability actually experiences the past when they touch an object - including emotions. In the same way, in Seeds of Starlight, a young Jedi who senses an echo of the dark side monster called the Drengir finds themselves immersed in the dark side. It's reasonable to assume this is why Force echoes haven't really been seen in the prequel era; because the Jedi came to discourage interacting with them.

What Force Echoes Mean For Star Wars

Great emotions are likely the key to Force Echoes

Until now, it had seemed as though the ability to sense echoes was much more directly related to psychometry; this had been becoming more than a little frustrating, because an increasing number of characters were demonstrating the power. Ahsoka Tano, for example, sensed what had happened to her Padawan Sabine in the Ahsoka Disney+ TV show, and she'd never shown any proficiency with psychometry before. Now, it seems, she simply didn't need it; she was sensitive enough with the Force to sense the echo.

It's long been known that certain events can leave a deep imprint in the Force

This idea fits perfectly with Star Wars lore. It's long been known that certain events can leave a deep imprint in the Force, even creating a Force vergence on occasion; in Legends, the death of an ancient Sith Lord led to the creation of the Dagobah cave seen in The Empire Strikes Back. An echo is essentially a step along the way to this kind of effect, and it's pleasing that an echo can be created by the experiences of a non-Force-sensitive too; all beings exist in the Force, after all.

Our Take On Sense Echo

I'm a huge fan of the Jedi games, and the "sense echo" ability had never really troubled me there; they allow for smart world-building. The main issue, though, had been that they'd become increasingly commonplace in modern Star Wars, and that hadn't quite made sense to me, because I'd associated with psychometry. This Force power was supposed to be rare, and yet it had been possessed by everyone from Ahsoka Tano to Vernestra Rwoh in The Acolyte.

Mann's tremendous story Seeds of Starlight subtly fixes this, because it provides an internal view of what it's like to sense an echo - and then sees a Jedi Master recognize what's there, pointing to it as a manifestation in the Force. It's just the detail I wanted to see, and it helps fix the lore of the Jedi games into the overarching Star Wars narrative. It helps that the audiobook is also thrilling, and so skillfully written; this fix is just the icing on the cake.