In the ancient myth of Perseus, the hero acquires the winged horse Pegasus so that he can fly to the lair of the deadly gorgon, Medusa. After slaying Medusa, he keeps her head- which retains its magical properties- and uses it to slay the giant sea-monster Cetis and save the princess Andromeda.
This is history's first recorded Metroidvania1.
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Of course, metroidvania is the Latin term. The ancient Greeks referred to this as δράση αναζήτησης.
I think-- remember we only talk about Star Wars here-- I think a thing that gets lost in the truism that "Star Wars is modern myth" is that Star Wars, as myth, is then in conversation with myth; and that a more critical juxtaposition of it with ancient stories can yield interesting results.
Take Princesses Leia and Andromeda, for example. Both are beautiful royal daughters whose imprisonment was explicitly tied to the surivival of their kingdoms, and whose rescue marks a major development for another, high-flying male hero.
Both Andromeda and Leia are brave heroines who risk certain death to try and save their homelands. Andromeda even begs Perseus to leave at first, because to deny Cetis his sacrifice would be to doo her beloved kingdom. When Luke opens Leia's cell door, she rolls her eyes at the misguided heroism. Saving Leia isn't the point-- delivering General Kenobi and the Death Star plans is. What are you doing here, hero, didn't you get the message?
But while Perseus can slay Cetis and save her kingdom, when Leia is chained to the rock, it's without hope. She is imprisoned and her kingdom is destroyed anyway; by the time her hero arrives, its too late. The monster moves on, hungry for nee kingdoms to devour.
What do you do when your sacrifice fails? When the gods, or fate, or the Force, demand your life, but refuse the payment?
I suppose you keep on fighting.