The mystery of Attin, Star Wars' new treasure planet, just deepened even further after Skeleton Crew episode 3

This article contains spoilers for episode 3 of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
The mystery of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Attin's new Treasure Planet got a lot more mysterious after episode 3. Viewers initially tuned in Skeleton Crew hoping to explore the mystery of Jude Law’s new “Jedi,” Jod Na Nawood. Turns out this was a mistake; Episode 3 openly acknowledged his true identity, revealing that Jude Law is actually the pirate Crimson Jack, although it is currently unclear whether his Force sensitivity is a trick. Instead, the real mystery of the show lies on the planet Attin.

In Attin is one of the legendary “Jewels of the Old Republic”, apparently the only one that has survived to the present day. Although Skeleton Crew is steeped in deep Legends lore, this is an entirely new concept that has never been seen before in Star Warsand that makes it particularly exciting. Are we dealing with a lost world of the High Republic Era, or is it something deeper? Skeleton Crew episode 3 brought some more clues, making the mystery even more intriguing.

At first, it seemed like the Skeleton Crew's treasure planet was from the High Republic

Dated by the “Great Work”

My first guess was that Attin dated back to the High Republic Era, about 200 years before the Skywalker Saga. There was overwhelming evidence supporting this theory; apparently the people of Attin are undertaking a “Great Work,” and that is a term familiar to anyone versed in Star Wars tradition. The Great Works were a series of massive and 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 them, for example, was the creation of a vast communication network across the galaxy – the basis for the holonet, still active during the sequential era. Others, unfortunately, were destroyed by a pirate group known as the Nihil; the luxurious space station known as Starlight Beacon was shot down with great loss of life, remembered only as a historical curiosity at the time of the original trilogy. Still, the mention of a Great Work in Attin seemed to suggest that this world was another of Lina Soh's projects.

Skeleton Crew Episode 3 Hinted Attin Is Much Older

What does “Proto-Republic” mean?

Skeleton Crew episode 3 dropped an Easter egg that seems to imply that Attin is much older. The wonderful new character Kh'ymm was shocked as she studied the children's badges, noting that she had never seen “Palmar numerals on artifacts from the Proto-Republic“before. We don't know what “Palmarish” refers to – presumably numerals from a never-before-discussed planet called Palmar – but what's really important is that Kh'ymm thinks this is a “proto-Republic artifact.”

“Proto” is a prefix that tends to mean “first”, “main” or “the oldest form of”. Kh'ymm's comment should be interpreted as a huge indication that we need to look far beyond the High Republic Era, to the early days of the Republic itself. This would mean that Attin was colonized almost 25,000 years ago, making the planet much older than we thought. The possibility is tremendously exciting, but it seems to contradict another important clue.

We know Attin can't be more than 5,000 years old

They know about the Sith

The history and origins of the Sith are shrouded in mystery. The generally accepted story is that the Jedi Order went through a schism about 5,000 years before the Skywalker saga, after a group of Jedi fell to the dark side. Exiled on the planet Moraband, these members of the dark side transformed into their own cult, the Sith. And here's the problem; the characters of Skeleton Crew everyone is familiar with the Sith. We see this when Wym opens his storybook and when he and Neel engage in a simulated lightsaber duel.

The Sith are clearly common knowledge on Attin. This means the planet cannot have been colonized more than 5,000 years ago, which moves it to the middle part of the Old Republic timeline. But what do we understand, then, from Khymm's comment suggesting that Attin dates back to a “proto-Republic” era? Here, I think the solution lies in understanding the intricacies of Star Wars timeline. We tend to view the Republic's 25,000-year history as a single, unified bloc, but in fact it has undergone a series of massive reforms.

There is evidence that at least three of these reforms occurred after the Sith were unleashed on the galaxy. The most important one occurred about 1,000 years before the Skywalker saga, after the defeat of Darth Bane. It was believed that the Sith were 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 surrounding the destruction of the Sith and the reform of the Republic.

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 gems of the Old Republic were destroyed, with 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 a time of peace – or, at least, that he was being overly nostalgic. Still, the idea that the last thousand years were dangerous enough to destroy so many important planets seems pretty scary. Even Obi-Wan's rose-colored glasses couldn't ignore that.

I don't think Attin was established during the Great Sith Wars. Wym and the other children are optimistically traveling the galaxy, confident that they will find the Republic and not afraid of the Sith; which suggests they believe the Sith were exterminated. But it is possible that Attin dates back to the time of the so-called Ruusan Reformation, shortly after the death of Darth Bane. The nascent Republic would have struggled to consolidate its power, certainly meaning that this was a time when pirates and the like would attack the “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 has resurrected a much older – even legendary – term to describe her projects in the High Republic Era. It is easy to imagine an ambitious and visionary chancellor recalling a time of bold reforms to justify her vast and expensive projects in the present, inspiring people to believe that the Republic continued to evolve. Star Wars: Skeleton CrewThe mysterious planet could be much older than it seemed at first glance, without necessarily contradicting anything.