Skeleton Crew Episode 8 reveals the connection to Palpatine

This article contains spoilers “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” for episode 8 “The Real Good Guys”.

“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” season 1 final episode (no final word yet on whether there will be a season 2) concludes this story. The pirates have reached Atin, and Jod Na Navud (Jude Law) is there can meet the warden (voiced by Stephen Fry) in the main tower above Athens. With Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and her mother Farah (Kerry Condon) hostage, Jod has the opportunity to break down the barrier and gain access to the At Attin Wine and other pirates who are collecting civilians to use as laborers to load the cargo. all their credits to the Republic.

Fortunately, each of the show's new characters brings their own special talent to the table and are able to work together to turn the tables on Jodh. Thanks to his empathy with Achrann, Neal (Robert Timothy Smith) knows about the turbolaser batteries on the roof of the school, which he uses to fire at the pirate ships just in time for Onyx Cinder to escape and call for help. KB (Kyriana Kratter) and her ability to memorize information as well as her sangfroid are able to pilot the ship behind the barrier and get a message to Kh'ymm (Alia Shawkat). Meanwhile, Fern is able to use her powers of persuasion to convince her strong mother to join the cause, and Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) is able to overcome his idealism to become a hero.

Together, the kids are able to stop Jodh, albeit without learning several things. In fact, after Jodh declares himself as a Jedi Warden, there is a big revelation that changes our understanding of Atin and reveals a significant connection to Shev Palpatine.

After Jodh brandishes his lightsaber and declares himself both an emissary of the Republic and a Jedi Knight, the Warden immediately becomes suspicious. That's because, he tells them, the last transmission he received from the Republic declared the Jedi traitors. Although it doesn't appear to be common knowledge among the people of Athens, the warden certainly knows it, and it was broadcast to the planet. This means that Shev Palpatine, who was Supreme Chancellor at the time and became Emperor, was the one who declared the Jedi enemies and would have been responsible for sending this mission across the galaxy.

Since getting messages through the barrier is no easy task for Attin, that means the Republic and Palpatine himself would have had to know how to get those messages to the mythical planet. It makes sense to keep Attin a deep secret only to the most important elements of the Republic. But it also means that Palpatine had even more secrets than we knew, which wouldn't be a surprise to anyone. His plans have always been complex and contain secrets within secrets that reach places people might not expect. After all, who would have guessed that his grand plan to destroy the Jedi would include a tax on trade routes to outlying star systems and a blockade of his home planet? Perhaps he had other plans for Attina if he had survived (or could have used it to bankrupt further operations).

Seeing as the Skeleton Crew fits into the events of the larger tapestry of the Star Wars universe, the show was in dire need of a tie. While some have considered this series' great strength to be separate from the rest of the galaxy, it really needed something more to feel tied to the larger events of the rest of the franchise. Season 1 mentioned how disconnected the kids are from galactic events, even mentioning that they hadn't even heard of the destruction of Alderaan and missed news of the Galactic Civil War (not to mention the fall of the Old Republic). Seeing that little thread being pulled so obliquely and blink-and-you'll-miss-it was just the way to go. We really shouldn't have see connection, just a little dialogue to help us conjure up images and create stories about how it fits and why it might work.

However, the Season 1 finale leaves us wondering: What will happen to the planet now that the barrier has been lowered and Attin is subject to the galaxy at large? Will more pirates come? Will Attin join the New Republic? Will they go to war against Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) In “Ahsoka” season 2 or another future Star Wars title? As Master Yoda says, “Always in motion is the future.”

Star Wars: The Skeleton Crew is now available in its entirety on Disney+.