“Star Wars ” is not just about adventure. It is also about discovery. Whether it is the discovery of something or of oneself, “Star Wars” always tells that story.
One arc that immediately comes to mind is Luke Skywalker’s discovery that Darth Vader is his father, the former Anakin Skywalker. Another discovery is the realization that the Dark Lord of the Sith, Palpatine, has been playing both sides of the Clone Wars as Chancellor of the Republic and the mysterious Darth Sidious of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
In the latest episode of ‘Skeleton Crew,’ I feel that this episode was about the discovery that there is more to At Attin than Wim, Fern, KB, Neel, and Jod realize and the discovery of one character’s inner strength.
The episode, titled ‘’Can’t Say that I Remember No At Attin,” begins with the crew seemingly heading back home to At Attin when it turns out that the planet is not the peaceful and clean planet they know. No, this planet, called At Achrann, is the polar opposite. While it resembles At Attin, it is a war-torn world marred by warring clans trying to survive instead of brokering for peace.
The writers clearly threw a wrench in our constant viewers’ minds, making us believe that the group did return to At Attin after Kh’ymm supposedly gave them the coordinates to the planet.
What I find fascinating about At Achrann is that it, as mentioned before, is a mirror of the clean and peaceful At Attin. It has the same exact edifices, including the homes, the school, the administrative buildings, and the Supervisor’s Tower, which the At Achrann inhabitants call the Fallen Sanctum. It is At Attin’s Bizzaro world.
Among At Achrann’s inhabitants is a young girl named Hayna, who is part of the Trioks clan. The Trioks are led by Hayna’s father, Strix, and their enemy clan is the Hattans. Strix recruits Wim and the group to fight in exchange for travel to the Fallen Sanctum, which might have the coordinates to At Attin.
While this episode had a couple of funny moments, including the pirate droid SM-33 calling Jod “baby” after Fern orders him to babysit the pirate, the greatest catalyst of this episode is the growing relationship between Neel and Hayna. It is in this episode that Neel takes center stage, and he is shown to be compassionate and pacifistic. Instead of training to fight with Wim, Fern, and KB, Neel chooses not to train. He follows Hayna, who wants to show him a bigger gun. And instead of eating the food offered to him by Hayna, he gives it to two starving children. This clearly moves Hayna before she shows Neel the bigger gun that protects her clan, which is living at the derelict school building. The two have a conversation about their prospective societies and their views on conflict.
Neel tells Hayna that fighting is bad and that if it were him, he would apologize and choose not to fight. In addition to being a pacifist and compassionate person, Neel is also the philosopher of the group and, arguably, could probably even be the voice of reason.
We also see this when Strix pressures the group to lead them to battle against the Hattans. Neel notes that he is scared and that the brave and right thing to do would be to make peace. In a twist of fate, Jod arrives with Eopies that the Hattans stole from the Troiks. The group later discovers that he stole Wim’s dataries only to purchase the herd and save their lives.
Through Hayna, it is discovered that Neel’s greatest strength is his kindness and pacifism. She comments that her world can use some kindness, which earns the young At Attin native a kiss on his trunk, much to his surprise.
When the group and SM-33 arrive at the Fallen Sanctum, we learn from Neel that no one is allowed at the Supervisor’s Tower on At Attin. This makes me wonder if the legends about At Attin are true and if they are indeed hiding something.
When the group reaches the zenith of the building, they are able to find the coordinates of the other planets, but for some reason, the coordinates of At Attin are destroyed. It is discovered that SM-33 had destroyed the coordinates at the orders of his old captain.
When Fern tries to press SM-33 about how to get the coordinates to At Attin, the droid comments once again that he has no recollection of an At Attin. Frustrated, Fern walks away, and Wim tries to cheer her up, but to no avail. When Fern comments that she is not some droid that can be told what to do, she makes a discovery that maybe SM-33 was told not to give out the coordinates to At Attin. She further elaborated that she does the same trick by telling her nanny droid to keep secrets and ordering SM-33 to override his memory, which causes the droid to act hostilely. SM-33 revealed that the previous captain ordered him to kill anyone who inquired about the coordinates to At Attin.
It is here where Neel saves the day by distracting the droid from harming Fern, KB, and Wim. As a result of Neel’s distraction, Jod is able to shut down the droid as he is about to harm the younglings. Hilariously. Neel faints from all the excitement.
One takeaway from this episode is the Supervisor’s Tower. The mention of no one being allowed in the tower makes one question if what At Attin is hiding is indeed treasure or something else. And since there are other Jewels of the Republic, do they also have their own treasure? And does Fern’s mother, Undersecretary Fara, know about the Supervisor Tower on At Attin, or is she too being kept in the dark like everyone else?
“Skeleton Crew” is now streaming on Disney +.
