This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew episode 3.The mystery of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s new Treasure Planet, At Attin, just got a whole lot more mysterious after episode 3. Viewers initially tuned in to Skeleton Crew expecting to explore the mystery of Jude Law’s new “Jedi,” Jod Na Nawood. That turns out to have been a misdirect; episode 3 openly acknowledged his true identity, revealing Jude Law is really the pirate Crimson Jack, although it’s currently unclear whether his Force-sensitivity is a trick. Instead, the show’s real mystery lies in the planet At Attin.
At Attin is one of the legendary “Jewels of the Old Republic,” apparently the only one to have survived to the present day. Although Skeleton Crew is steeped in deep Legends lore, this is a whole new concept, one that’s never been seen before in Star Wars, and that makes it particularly exciting. Are we dealing with a lost world from the High Republic Era, or is this something deeper? Skeleton Crew episode 3 dropped some more clues, making the mystery all the more intriguing.
At First, It Seemed Skeleton Crew’s Treasure Planet Was From The High Republic
Dated by the “Great Work”
My first guess was that At Attin dated back to the High Republic Era, roughly 200 years before the Skywalker Saga. There was one piece of striking evidence supporting this theory; apparently the people of At Attin are undertaking a “Great Work,” and that’s a familiar term to anyone well-versed in Star Wars lore. The Great Works were a series of massive, potentially galaxy-changing projects inspired by the politics of Chancellor Lina Soh during the High Republic Era.
Some of the Great Works left a lasting legacy. One of these, for example, was the creation of a vast communication network across the galaxy – the basis for the holonet, still active during the sequel era. Others, sadly, were destroyed by a pirate group known as the Nihil; the lavish space station known as Starlight Beacon was brought down with great loss of life, only remembered as a historical curiosity by the time of the original trilogy. Still, the mention of a Great Work on At Attin seemed to hint this world was another of Lina Soh’s projects.
Skeleton Crew Episode 3 Hinted At Attin Is Far Older
What does “Proto-Republic” even mean?
Skeleton Crew episode 3 dropped an Easter egg that seems to imply At Attin is far older. The wonderful new character Kh’ymm was shocked when she studied the kids’ insignias, noting that she’d never seen “Palmarish numerals on Proto-Republic artifacts” before. We don’t know what “Palmarish” refers to – presumably numerals from a never-before-discussed planet named Palmar – but the really important thing is that Kh’ymm thinks this is a “proto-Republic artifact.”
We need to be looking back far beyond the High Republic Era, to the dawning days of the Republic itself.
“Proto” is a prefix that tends to mean “first,” “foremost,” or “the earliest form of.” Kh’ymm’s comment should be taken as a massive hint that we need to be looking back far beyond the High Republic Era, to the dawning days of the Republic itself. That would mean At Attin was settled almost 25,000 years ago, making the planet far older than we thought. The possibility is tremendously exciting, but it does seem to contradict another important clue.
We Know At Attin Can’t Be More Than 5,000 Years Old
They know about the Sith
The history and origin of the Sith is shrouded in mystery. The generally accepted story is that the Jedi Order went through a schism some 5,000 years before the Skywalker saga, after a group of Jedi fell to the dark side. Exiled to the planet Moraband, these dark siders reformed into a cult of their own, the Sith. And here’s the catch; the characters of Skeleton Crew are all familiar with the Sith. We see that when Wym opens his story book, and when he and Neel engage in a mock lightsaber duel.
The Sith are clearly common knowledge on At Attin. That means the planet can’t have been settled more than 5,000 years ago, which moves it into the core Old Republic part of the timeline. But what do we make, then, of Khymm’s comment hinting At Attin dates back to a “proto-Republic” era? Here, I think the solution lies in understanding the intricacies of the Star Wars timeline. We tend to view the 25,000-year history of the Republic as a single unified block, but it actually went through a series of massive reformations.
There’s evidence that at least three of these reformations took place after the Sith were unleashed on the galaxy. The most important was roughly 1,000 years before the Skywalker saga, after the defeat of Darth Bane. The Sith were believed to have been rendered extinct, and the Jedi and the Republic reestablished themselves as galactic powers. When she refers to the “proto-Republic,” Kh’ymm could simply be describing this era – the time around the destruction of the Sith and the Republic’s reformation.
All Other “Jewels Of The Old Republic” Were Destroyed
But how were they destroyed?
This brings me to the last clue: the fact that all other Jewels of the Old Republic were destroyed, with At Attin becoming a legend to the galaxy as a whole. We now know that Obi-Wan Kenobi was wrong when he described the Old Republic Era as one of peace – or, at least, that he was being overly nostalgic. Still, the idea that the last thousand years was dangerous enough to destroy so many important planets seems quite chilling. Even Obi-Wan’s rose-tinted glasses couldn’t ignore that.
I don’t think At Attin was established during the Great Sith Wars, though. Wym and the other kids are traveling the galaxy with a sense of optimism, confident they’ll encounter the Republic, and they have no fear of the Sith; that suggests they believe the Sith have been wiped out. But it’s possible At Attin dates to the time of the so-called Ruusan Reformation, shortly after the death of Darth Bane. The nascent Republic would have been struggling to consolidate its power, surely meaning this was a time when pirates and the like would prey on “Jewels of the Old Republic.”
What, then, are we to make of the reference to the Great Work? Simply that, if this interpretation is correct, then Chancellor Lina Soh resurrected a far older – even legendary – term to describe her projects in the High Republic Era. It’s easy to imagine an ambitious, visionary chancellor calling back to a time of bold reformation to justify her vast, expensive projects in the present, inspiring people to believe the Republic was continuing to evolve. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s mystery planet could be far older than it seemed at first, without necessarily contradicting anything.
Set in the Star Wars universe, Skeleton Crew follows four young adventurers as they become lost in the galaxy while searching for their home planet. The series chronicles their exploration and encounters with diverse worlds and characters, presenting themes of friendship, discovery, and the quest for belonging.
- Writers
- Jon Watts , Christopher Ford
- Showrunner
- Jon Watts , Christopher Ford
- Directors
- Jon Watts , Daniel Kwan , David Lowery , Daniel Scheinert , Jake Schreier