Skeleton Crew: Why Was At Attin Hidden From the Rest of the Galaxy?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 3, “Very Interesting, as an Astrogation Problem.”

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s latest installment, “Very Interesting, as an Astrogation Problem,” confirms what many fans suspected: the planet At Attin has been intentionally kept off the rest of the galaxy’s radar. So, why was At Attin hidden, and when did it happen?

Why Did the Old Republic Hide Skeleton Crew’s At Attin?

As Kh’ymm explains in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 3, At Attin is one of nine worlds the Old Republic sequestered to keep them safe. This apparently involved scrubbing At Attin’s coordinates from every archive and database in Star Wars‘ galaxy far, far away, as Kh’ymm claims there are no maps to At Attin, period. The cloaking barrier surrounding At Attin might be a Republic creation, as well. Why go to all that effort? Well, according to Kh’ymm, At Attin and its eight sister planets are known as the “Jewels of the Old Republic” – places of such “wonder” they couldn’t be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Over time, “children’s stories, pirate shanties, and rumors” have framed At Attin’s value as a literal mountain of loot. But aside from a handful of Old Republic credits, we’ve yet to see proof that the At Attin is actually a treasure planet.

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That’s not to say that At Attin doesn’t conceal a hoard of riches. However, dialogue littered throughout Skeleton Crew Episodes 1-3 suggests whatever prompted the Republic to hide At Attin is tied to the “Great Work”: the as-yet-unspecified, planet-wide initiative At Attin’s society is devoted to. What exactly is the Great Work? Again, that’s still shrouded in mystery, although fan theories abound on Reddit. Some Star Wars devotees believe the Great Work is tied to the galaxy’s economy, others that it’s a program to rebuild the Jedi Order. There’s even speculation of a Fallout Vault-type scenario! Only time (and Skeleton Crew‘s five remaining episodes) will tell if any of these theories are on the money.

When Did the Republic Hide At Attin From the Galaxy?

Another tantalizing facet of At Attin’s disappearance is trying to pinpoint when it happened. All the intel Skeleton Crew has supplied thus far suggests the planet’s been off the grid since at least Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. After all, Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel think Alderaan is still in one piece; we know that it blew up years earlier, in Revenge of the Sith’s direct sequel, Star Wars: A New Hope. Revenge of the Sith also marked the end of the Republic; it couldn’t hide At Attin after its demise.

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Cross-referencing the above with the official Star Wars timeline and we can safely say that At Attin’s isolation has lasted at least 28 years. That window seems a tad small, though. Presumably, the planet needed far longer to pass into legend. Admittedly, Star Wars has form when it comes to fast-tracking such things – the Jedi attained near-mythical status just 19 years after their downfall – however, the implication is that we’re talking centuries here, not decades. Kh’ymm’s use of the term “Old Republic” potentially backs this up. She could’ve been referring to the Galactic Republic we saw in the Star Wars prequels – or she meant the Old Republic Era: a period thousands of years earlier!

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is currently streaming Disney+, with new episodes dropping Tuesdays.