Spoilers SW: Skeleton crew discussion thread

[Older Beholder]

Loved the series.
Talk about sticking the landing!

I really liked KB rolling out of the crashed ship onto/with the pile of gold.

 

[TwoSix]

Just binged it last night. What a fantastic show! This is what Star Wars is meant to feel like.

The fact that so many good Star Wars shows (like this and The Acolyte) haven't gotten great ratings is disappointing.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Agreed on both counts.

One thing I’d like to know is: if the last message the Supervisor received from the Republic was Order 66, that means the Republic knew about At Attin at the time it changed into the Empire … so how come the Empire never showed up to take over?

Perhaps the people who knew about At Attin in the Republic weren’t keen on the Empire and managed to keep the knowledge of the planet hidden.

I find it hard to believe the Empire wouldn’t care about the old Republic mint.

Order-66 was basically a wide-band broadcast so it would reach everyone (especially every clone trooper anywhere, even behind enemy lines). Quite possible it was even send on all transmission channels that were otherwise forgotten - like the At-Attin channel.

The timeline is unclear, but it seems At-Attin didn't have any contact much longer than that. I think some detail suggested Rennod was looking for it 200 years ago, and it was already considered a myth then.
But even if someone in the Republic still knew- maybe they also saw the signs and destroyed the last line to At Attin when their Republic turned Empire and called out the Republic's long-lasting protectors as villains.

---
My droid-brain supervisor theory was confirmed!

Overall, I was satisfied by the finale and the show overall. It's not exemplary, but it's good, fun Star Wars entertainment. It lacks the brilliance and tense drama of Andor, but it is a worthy exemplar of the franchise. It just has a nice ensemble of characters and a great - grayish - antagonists.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

like the At-Attin channel

There was no At-Atin channel, coms were impossible through the barrier. Messenger drones would most likely have been used. One with the order 66 message would have been sent out, then they stopped. The Supervisor clearly believed something was up and tried to protect the people by keeping them isolated and in the dark.

 

[MarkB]

There was no At-Atin channel, coms were impossible through the barrier. Messenger drones would most likely have been used. One with the order 66 message would have been sent out, then they stopped. The Supervisor clearly believed something was up and tried to protect the people by keeping them isolated and in the dark.

The barrier jams outgoing transmissions, but it might not block all incoming signals. There could have been a channel set up that wasn't jammed, specifically for receiving secure messages.

 

[pukunui]

Yeah. The point is - the Supervisor received the Order 66 message, but it's possible that the Republic at large had forgotten about At Attin by that point.

The mystery that remains unanswered is how the people of At Attin were contributing to the Great Work. I asked this upthread and there's still no real answer. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the financial analysts operating on a world like Coruscant, where they can readily communicate with the government? Why plop them down on the mint worlds and cut off their communications? What good does that do?

Perhaps it was all a ruse? Should someone get through the barrier, they might see this society of harmless number crunchers and think there was nothing special there? Why not just hide everything underground and make it seem like there's literally nothing there?

While overall I found the show and its central mystery satisfying, this last piece of the puzzle continues to confuse me.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The barrier jams outgoing transmissions, but it might not block all incoming signals. There could have been a channel set up that wasn't jammed, specifically for receiving secure messages.

There are a number of reasons why that is unlikely.

• A board spectrum scan could detect a hole in the barrier left for a communications channel (pirates might not have the tech for such a scan, but others might).
• If you are leaving a gap for communications it would be easier to make it two way than one way. Why deliberately choose to block outgoing transmissions? There might be a planetary emergency.
• The "ship keys" would be unnecessary if an approaching ship could signal the planet to be allowed through.
• The people of the planet would be in touch with current affairs in the galaxy, such as the Clone Wars, and would notice and start asking questions if news suddenly stopped - however, see below:

The mystery that remains unanswered is how the people of At Attin were contributing to the Great Work

Here is a theory: the Supervisor invented the fiction of the Great Work as an excuse to explain why they were not getting any news from outside.

The Supervisor is verging on hard SF territory. The flip side of the evil AI is the overly-benevolent, protective and paternalistic AI. The Supervisor is your friend. Would the people of At-Attin actually want to repair it? Difficult political decision. I noticed the Chekov's Scalextric vehicles were fired as well as the gun.

this last piece of the puzzle continues to confuse me.

Year, that statue. It's not the supervisor (of At-Achrin, which we can assume was also a droid), it's not Rennod, and its not the chancellor. Fortunately, I have heard talk of a season 2, which seems more likely with The Acolyte cancelled. I expect those kids will follow old Jod on some Tom-fool adventure.

 

[pukunui]

Here is a theory: the Supervisor invented the fiction of the Great Work as an excuse to explain why they were not getting any news from outside.

That still begs the question of why even have people on the planet at all, especially if you're just going to trick them into doing busywork that serves no real purpose?

I expect those kids will follow old Jod on some Tom-fool adventure.

I dunno. I feel like he'd have a hard time getting the kids on-side again.

I'm curious to see which of the Skeleton Crew characters ends up in the wider Mandoverse, though. Will Jod have a change of heart and join the fight against Thrawn?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That still begs the question of why even have people on the planet at all, especially if you're just going to trick them into doing busywork that serves no real purpose

The Supervisor knows humans need work for their psychological well-being. So they are basically on a hamster-wheel.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Will Jod have a change of heart

I don't think his heart is his problem. We had a comment earlier on about people behaving "stupidly". In that final fight Jod isn't stupid, but he is conflicted. He held back because he didn't want to kill anyone* (he says so himself, and I don't think that was a lie), and because of that he lost. And I'm pretty sure Jod with a blaster would have easily defeated Wimm with a lightsabre if he had been prepared to kill. Jod believes he needs to be a bad guy because the universe is a bad place, and as such he tries to ignore what his heart tells him. Fern sees through him, as she did from the start, and implores him to escape with them, but the last thing Jod wants is to be around people who can see through his façade.


*He makes an exception for droids, evil pirates, and people he doesn't know.