Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 2, “Way, Way Out Past the Barrier.”
At this early stage, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew isn’t exactly bursting at the seams with franchise Easter eggs. That said, Skeleton Crew‘s two-episode premiere still sneaks in a few callbacks to wider Star Wars canon ā including a nod to one of Rogue One spinoff Andor‘s most important locations: Aldhani.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 2’s Andor Reference, Explained
Skeleton Crew‘s shout-out to Andor Season 1 arrives early in Episode 2, “Way, Way Out Past the Barrier.” When Fern orders the Onyx Cinder‘s first mate SM-33 to fly her, Wim, Neel, and KB back to their homeworld, At Attin, it’s apparently not part of the droid’s memory banks. Trying to be helpful, SM-33 then rattles off a list of other, similarly named planets as possible destinations ā and Aldhani is one of them. “Might you be thinking of Atollon? Al Alcor? Aldhani?” SM-33 asks. He also offers an unflattering ā and based off what we see in Andor, seemingly inaccurate ā description of the planet. “It’s a sulferous bog world,” the droid elaborates, after dropping Aldhani’s name.
Related: All Major Actors & Cast List for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Understandably, Fern isn’t interested in discussing Aldhani further; she’s focused solely on getting back to At Attin as quickly as possible. But this brief yet prominent tip of the cap to Andor should still be enough to put a smile on most fans’ faces, given how critical Aldhani is to Season 1’s plot. After all, the Outer Rim world (which is characterized more by its grassy mountains than its bogs!) is where Cassian Andor and Vel Sartha’s Rebel team pull off a daring heist on an Imperial base. Of course, these events predate Skeleton Crew‘s narrative by quite a bit, so it’s no surprise Fern doesn’t bat an eye when SM-33 mentions Aldhani.
Wait, How Far Apart Are Andor and Skeleton Crew on the Star Wars Timeline?
Quite a bit. Not counting flashbacks, Andor unfolds across the five years leading up to Star Wars: A New Hope. Meanwhile, Skeleton Crew takes place some time after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Lucasfilm hasn’t supplied an exact in-universe date for the series, however, it’s supposed to overlap with The Mandalorian, which is set five years after Return of the Jedi.
Related: When Does Skeleton Crew Take Place on the Star Wars Timeline?
So, based off established Star Wars chronology, there are 14 years between the start of Andor Season 1 and Skeleton Crew. That’s not a massive gap by the franchise’s standards; some entries in the canon are several decades (or even centuries) apart. But as alluded to earlier, it’s still well before any of Skeleton Crew‘s pint-sized protagonists were born!
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Tuesdays.
Published: Dec 3, 2024 10:33 am