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- "You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port."
- ―Alliance General Jan Dodonna
The meridian trench,[3] sometimes called the Polar Trench, was a trench situated near the north pole of the Galactic Empire's Death Star battle station.[4] It contained its only weakness, the thermal exhaust port. After the Alliance to Restore the Republic managed to steal the plans to the Death Star, they discovered that fatal flaw. Consequently, the Alliance decided to send an attack run of starfighters down the meridian trench in order to fire a proton torpedo into the exhaust port, triggering a chain reaction that would cause the Death Star's main reactor to explode. After navigating his T-65B X-wing starfighter through the meridian trench, Luke Skywalker managed to destroy the battle station as planned.[2]
Appearances
- Tarkin
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novelization (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (First appearance)
- Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures — "Han Solo – Taking Flight for his Friends"
- Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures — "Luke vs. the Death Star - X-wing Assault"
- A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy
- Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization
- "Sparks" — From a Certain Point of View
- "Duty Roster" — From a Certain Point of View (Mentioned only)
- "Desert Son" — From a Certain Point of View
- "Grounded" — From a Certain Point of View (Mentioned only)
- "The Angle" — From a Certain Point of View (Appears in hologram)
- Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
- Darth Vader 1: Vader (In flashback(s))
- Darth Vader 6: Vader, Part VI (In flashback(s))
- "All Creatures Great and Small" — Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens: Volume I (Mentioned only)
Sources
- Biggs Darklighter in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link) (as "Death Star trench")
- Ultimate Star Wars (First identified as meridian trench)
- Star Wars: Card Trader (First identified as Polar Trench)
- Star Wars: The Rebel Files
- Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy From A To Z
- Biggs Darklighter Biography Slideshow in the Databank (backup link); images #9, 10 (of 10) (Indirect mention only)
- Rebel Pilots biography gallery in the Databank (backup link); images #2, 5, 6, 9 (of 15) (as "Death Star trench")
- Wedge Antilles in the Databank (backup link)
- X-wing Starfighter in the Databank (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
- Y-wing Starfighter in the Databank (backup link) (as "Death Star trench")