How Are Dune: Part Two's Sandworm Thumpers Retrieved? Here's A... Crappy Theory
06-03-2024
Denis Villeneueve’s sci-fi novel "Dune: Part Two" shows the Fremen, desert dwellers who have adapted to the harsh conditions of Arrakis. They are able to survive despite the destructive mile-long sandworms that burrow under their feet. They have learned that the sandworms like regular, steady groundbeats and so have changed their way of walking in order to attract them. They have learned to ride the sandworms' backs by using a dangerous and elaborate lassoing technique that took years to perfect.
The Fremen rider will then climb up to the top of the sand dunes and place a thumper, a forearm length device that is used in the ground. As its name suggests, a thumper regularly pounding on the ground to attract a sandworm. The Fremen will then fire hooks at the worm to open its creepy breathing holes. The rider can climb onto the worm, which is speeding along and hold its breathing flaps wide open. It's easy as pie.
The question is: What happens to the thumper then? The worm must have eaten it. Is the rider of Fremen grabbing it quickly and firing his grappling hooks before? The Fremen are limited in resources and would not want to waste their thumpers. The Fremen have probably limited supplies of thumpers, as it takes time and resources to create one.
Villeneuve, in a recent interview with Gizmodo was asked about thumpers and had a hypothesis as to how they are treated. The worm poop is involved.
The white worm's lair
Arrakis' ecology is strange. Arrakis, the desert planet, is home to sparse vegetation and animals. In Frank Herbert's novel "The Desert Hawk", Arrakis was described as having "saguaro [saguaro], burro (burro) bush, date palms, evening primroses, barrel cacti, incense trees, smoke trees, creosote Bush [...] kit-foxes, desert hawks and kangaroo mice." Herbert explores this in various "Dune' sequels. The sandworms feed on the sandplankton, and its more mature form called sandtrout. The story suggests that the sandtrout grow to become the giant worms. Sandworms are essentially self-feeders, producing their own food.
Many fans believe that the spicy melange found on Arrakis is really worm poop. The spores left by an organism that is basically eating itself. This theory has not been confirmed in any text. We know that worms leave behind the same spit as any other animal. Denis Villeneuve posited this theory when asked about the thumpers that the Fremen may have eaten.
You ask it yourself. Can they find anything in the digestive system? [...] We're trying our best to avoid sandworms in 'Part One.' You can see in 'Part Two' that Fremen use this creature to travel through the desert. It was brilliantly poetic, and I loved it. It does raise a question. "I'm sure that the Fremen have thought of it."
Villeneuve said that there aren't any scenes where Fremen dig through piles of worm waste like Laura Dern did in "Jurassic Park", but that is exactly what happens when it comes time to retrieve the thumper.
Annelid Antics
Villeneuve continues to theorize, having clearly given his film little thought prior to making it.
I'm certain that recycling is a part of the culture. This is a little like living in outer space. They live in a harsh environment and are very intelligent people. There's also a way to recycle those thumpers and find them again. "We should ask the Fremen."
The retrieval of the thumper didn't seem to be of prime importance for Villeneuve. The Fremen could easily build thumpers, as it is a simple process. They may have access to a storehouse of millions of thumpers in an abandoned Atreides and are not worried about running out. In "Dune: Part Two", the Fremen discover a forgotten Arteides nuclear bunker. The plot of the movie requires that they be watched more closely.
Villeneuve does not depict worm poop on the screen. Some fans of "Dune," however, have suggested that because the worms are not wholly organic they don't grow or digest food like normal animals. Other theories claim that the sandworms were ancient machines with internal furnaces. Leto II, Paul's child in Herbert's Children of Dune says that the worms were from another planet.
The sandtrout [...] came from somewhere else. The planet was wet at the time. The ecosystems were unable to cope with their proliferation. Sandtrouts encysted all the free water available, making this planet [...]. They did it for survival. They could then move on to the sandworm stage if their planet was sufficiently dry.
Leto II, the protagonist of "God-Emperor of Dune", becomes a monster that is half man and half sandworm for 3.5 centuries. The series is fascinating.