The original premise for the episode had Killun station be a revisit of Rishi Outpost, a listening base on the Rishi moon seen in the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
The listening ship design is an Imperial freighter with additional sensor and transmitter dishes, inspired by real-world AWACS planes used in air defense.
The staff aboard the controller and their operations center was very much inspired by the soulless control rooms seen in George Lucas’ first feature film, THX 1138.
Controller LT-319 was designed to resemble Pablo Hidalgo, Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive, who regularly fields fan questions on Rebels Recon. Hidalgo recorded the temp voice for the character, who was ultimately played by Josh Gad.
The creatures that swarm AP-5 at episode’s end are baby neebrays, designs first seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
