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Kuzco: Okay, I admit it. Maybe I wasn't as nice as I should have been; but Yzma, you really wanna kill me?!
Yzma: Just think of it as... you're being let go. That your life's going in a different direction. That your body is part of a permanent outplacement!
Kronk: Hey, that's kinda like what he said to you when you got fired!
Yzma: I know. It's called a "cruel irony", like my dependence on you.

Bob makes a comment in the presence of Alice. Much later on, Alice makes the same comment in a different situation, often giving it an unexpected meaning in the new context.

There are two common situations where this is used:
  • If Bob's original line was meant maliciously, Alice's Ironic Echo will be twice as cruel, as she throws the attack back in his face.
  • If Bob was trying to convince Alice of a way of thinking, Alice will quote it to signify that she now agrees with the idea. This sometimes happens after Bob himself has abandoned the idea (or has shown he never believed in it in the first place).

However, this will also crop up with lines that were first made idly, innocently, and perhaps not even directed at Alice; in those cases the echo will simply be unexpected, and can be used for humor, shock value, or anything in between.

Compare Flashback To Catchphrase, Exact Words, Book Ends, and Dialogue Reversal. Subtrope of Meaningful Echo. Ironic Echo Cut is when the echo comes immediately and the second speaker has not heard the first.


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Weirdness CensorNarrative DevicesIronic Inversion
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