Electro capsule

"Did you extract the device?"
"The electro capsule was implanted in one of his teeth. Just like you said."

―Rex and Howzer discuss the capsule removed from a captured CX trooper^[3]

The electro capsule or suicide shocker was a suicide-assisting weapon that could be implanted inside an individual's mouth. It consisted of a triangular tooth implant that was activated by biting down, resulting in an electric shock that killed the user.

Description

The suicide shocker^[4] was a small triangular electric device that could be implanted and hidden in an individual's tooth.^[3] The device was activated by biting down on the tooth containing it, which released an electric charge that killed the wearer.^[1] When not worn,^[3] the electro-capsule^[5] could be stored in a liquid-filled canister.^[3]

It was intended to be a last-resort measure to prevent agents from having information recovered from them through interrogation, allowing them to kill themselves before they could be questioned.^[2] However, the device could be discovered and removed by an interrogator aware of its existence.^[3]

History

"Not long after the Clone Wars ended, I encountered a handful of specialized clone assassins who operated in total secrecy. […] They called themselves "believers" and were willing to take their own lives to protect the truth about their missions"

―Rex, The Secrets of the Clone Troopers^[6]

In 18 BBY,^[7] Clone X,^[8] a Clone X trooper of the Galactic Empire, used the device when Clone Captain Rex interrogated him on^[2] the planet^[9] Coruscant.^[2] Around 18 BBY,^[10] Captain Pearce killed himself^[11] by using a suicide shocker after the Clone Underground took over his Gozanti-class cruiser over^[12] the planet^[9] Balmorra.^[12] Sometime later in the same year,^[13] another Clone X trooper, CX-1 was captured by the Clone Underground when he attempted to kill fugitive Separatist Senator Avi Singh during his secret meeting on^[3] the moon^[9] Pantora with Imperial Senator Riyo Chuchi. CX-1 was prevented from using his shocker when Rex had Captain Howzer remove it from his mouth while stunned.^[3]

An Imperial Remnant captain dies by suicide using an electro capsule.

Rex indirectly referenced electro capsules in^[6] his^[9] book—The Secrets of the Clone Troopers—which was published at some point following^[6] the 5 ABY^[14] end of the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Republic's successor state, the Empire, and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He noted that the Empire's Clone X troopers were often willing to end their own lives to keep the details of their missions secret,^[6] which they sometimes did by using the devices to escape interrogation.^[2] On^[1] the moon^[9] Trask, a captain serving an Imperial remnant also used a suicide shocker^[1] in 9 ABY^[15] when^[1] he^[4] was being interrogated by Mandalorian Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, who took over his Gozanti-class Assault cruiser.^[1]

Behind the scenes

The electro capsule first appeared, albeit unidentified, in "Chapter 11: The Heiress,"^[1] the third episode in the second season of the Disney+ live-action series Star Wars: The Mandalorian, which aired on November 13, 2020.^[16] The episode's audio description identified it as the suicide shocker.^[4] The episode guide of "Tipping Point," the fourteenth episode of the animated television series Star Wars: The Bad Batch's second season that aired on March 22, 2023, later identified it as the electro capsule.^[17]