- "Mmm, Kanan, I don't see your friend. Oh! Oh, but I do see crawlers! Lots of 'em! Hey, where's our thumper?"
- ―Ezra Bridger to Kanan Jarrus
A sensor beacon, or a sensor marker, was a type of sensor that was designed to transmit its exact position. Sensor beacons were attached to people, vehicles or objects, often discreetly, in order to track them. Some sensor beacons could also scan the individuals in their vicinity.[2] On the planet Barton IV, a perimeter of sensors were used to keep wildlife away from the Imperial Depot.[3] They were also used to mark the perimeters of planetary facilities. When establishing Chopper Base on the planet Atollon, members of the Phoenix Cell, such as Lieutenant Dicer, placed sensor markers around the base in order to detect incoming vehicles. After their encounter with the spidery krykna, the rebels discovered the sensors repelled the creatures, and used the sensors to keep them away from the base.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
- "Describing the signal beacon that repels the Atollon spiders as a "thumper" is a reference to the Dune series of novels, where a similar device is used to attract sand worms."
- ―StarWars.com Trivia Gallery for "The Holocrons of Fate"
In "The Holocrons of Fate," Ezra Bridger refers to the sensor beacon as a "thumper," a reference to the device used to summon sandworms in Frank Herbert's Dune novels.[5] It has been posited that Herbert's classic 1965 science fiction novel Dune had a heavy influence upon Star Wars.[6]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Trespass" (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Outpost"
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Return"
- Star Wars Rebels — "The Mystery of Chopper Base" (First appearance)
- Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
- Star Wars Rebels — "The Holocrons of Fate"
- Star Wars Rebels — "The Antilles Extraction"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Iron Squadron"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Visions and Voices"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Warhead"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Twin Suns"
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (First mentioned)
- Bloodline
- Bloodline audiobook
Sources[]
- "The Holocrons of Fate" Episode Guide | Star Wars Rebels on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 34 (Helmets: Death Star Trooper)
- Dawn of Rebellion
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 57 (Weapons & Uniforms: Chopper Base–Atollon)
- Atollon in the Databank (backup link)
- Lieutenant Dicer in the Databank (backup link) (Picture only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "The Holocrons of Fate"
- ↑ Bloodline
- ↑ Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Return"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "The Mystery of Chopper Base"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Holocrons of Fate" Trivia Gallery on StarWars.com (backup link) (Slide 2)
- ↑ Everything Star Wars Took From Dune by Thomas Lethbridge on Screen Rant (October 20, 2021): "However, perhaps because of its shared genre, the book's most obvious descendent is probably the Star Wars universe. In fact, in the 2003 Herbert biography Dreamer of Dune, written by his son Brian, it is claimed that "(Herbert) & the other science fiction writers who thought they saw their work in Lucas's movie formed a loose organization that my father called, with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek, the We're Too Big to Sue George Lucas Society." This demonstrates the clear parallels that Herbert himself saw between his work and the Star Wars movies. Upon closer inspection, it's clear that he may have had a claim. Here is everything that Star Wars took from Dune. (...)" (archived from the original on October 29, 2021)