What to expect from the rest of the series.

Star Wars Skeleton Crew premiered last week, and it’s much better than I was expecting. A weirdly large number of the Disney+ Star Wars shows have been about a grizzled old veteran saving a little kid. The Mandalorian was about Din Djarin saving baby Yoda/Grogu. The Book of Boba Fett was also about Din Djarin saving baby Yoda/Grogu. The Bad Batch was about some Clone Commandos saving Omega. Obi-Wan Kenobi was about Obi-Wan saving baby Leia. Now, in Skeleton Crew they’re mixing up the formula. Jude Law has to save four kids. But fair play, the show’s good. It’s been billed as Goonies in space, and it delivers perfectly on that exact premises. It’s arguably one of the best Star Wars shows on Disney+ (not a high bar), second only to Andor. I’m not expecting much depth from Goonies in space, but the show has set up a few mysteries.

Tomorrow’s episode will likely focus on introducing Jude Law’s character, Jod Na Nawood, and they are teasing some mysterious there. It’s pretty obvious that he was the pirate captain in episode 1 and his brief appearance in episode 2 revealed that he’s force sensitive. How these elements fit together is currently unknown. Why was a Jedi-esc force-sensitive figure working as a pirate? His introduction is tomorrow but his backstory probably won’t be revealed for a while. It’s likely, though, that he’ll pretend to be a Jedi, which this clip from episode 3 confirms. The clip also suggests the episode will focus on rescuing the droid SM33. That will be a little disappointing if I’m honest. It feels like a side quest. Still, Jude Law’s reluctant rescue of the droid will be a good opportunity to establish his character.

I suspect, following episode 3, that he’ll keep pretending to be a Jedi whilst the kids lead him to the fabled treasure of their lost world, At Attin. In the last couple of episodes, he’ll be revealed as a pirate and will probably have to choose between reclaiming his pirate crew (by leading them to the lost treasure) or saving the kids and their world from his pirate crew. Whether or not he actually is a Jedi or has any connection to them is another question entirely.

Jude Law’s has clearly been trained in the force, and Wim’s obsession with the Jedi makes a Jedi encounter all but inevitable. The most likely outcome is that Jude Law will be revealed, late in the show, as a former Jedi who grew disillusioned during the Empire’s reign and ultimately turned to piracy. The final couple of episodes will probably see him reclaim the mantle of Jedi to save At Attin. The IMDB page lists the actress Haley Webb as a Jedi for some reason. IMDB can be edited by anyone, so it might not mean anything, but maybe a mid-season encounter with an active Jedi (Haley Webb) will set Jude Law on a path to redemption. Her character has the same last name as Jude Law’s character as well, Nawood. Perhaps they’re Jedi siblings?

I like the idea that there are loads of lost and disillusioned Jedi across the galaxy in need of help and redemption. In Return of the Jedi, Yoda, point blank, says Luke is the only Jedi left. Yet Disney+ shows keep adding Jedi to this time. I reckon Luke was the last Jedi and is traveling the galaxy helping disillusioned former Jedi reclaim the mantle. He kind of did that for Grogu, and maybe he did it for Ashoka as well. We’ve never seen the first meeting between Luke and Ahsoka. Perhaps she became disillusioned after her fight with Vader in Rebels and didn’t reclaim the Jedi mantle until she met Luke. FYI, I’m not asking for a Luke cameo in Skeleton Crew, I just think this would explain why there are suddenly Jedi everywhere. It would also redeem Luke’s apparent failures in the sequel trilogy. He restored the Jedi Order by helping former Jedi to become Jedi again. I’m getting off-topic.

The greatest mystery of Skeleton Crew is not Jude Law’s backstory but At Attin itself. Everyone on the pirate base thinks the planet is a mythical world of treasure, and it uses an antiquated Republic currency. It seems At Attin, thanks to its strange barrier, has been isolated from the rest of the galaxy and is entirely unaware of the multiple wars and governmental changes that have occurred. The Imperial era passed them by. There is some debate about whether the planet is a holdout of the prequel era Galactic Republic or the ancient Republic of the Kotor/Old Republic games. The term Old Republic is used to describe them both. It seems pretty clear that it’s the former. The Kotor/Old Republic games, whilst technically owned by Disney, are not really a Disney thing. They predate the takeover and are still rooted in the old cannon. I can’t see them being included.

More likely is that Disney-Lucasfilm will tie At Attin to their ongoing High Republic initiative, which chronicles the golden age of the prequel era Galactic Republic before the corruption set in. Sure enough, in episode 1, the under-secretary references the Republic’s Great Works, which are also mentioned in the High Republic stories. They’re basically a series of public works meant to aid in developing the Outer Rim. What the ‘Great Work’ of At Attin is, and why they’ve been secluded from the galaxy, is another mystery yet to be revealed. Whatever the answer is, the ‘Great Work’ is clearly valuable. It’s probably the mythical treasure the pirates were dreaming of.

There is something a bit dystopian about the space suburbia of At Attin, which might be a clue. It appears to be controlled by droids, and their seclusion from the galaxy seems like deliberate policy. It’s a very hierarchical and managed society as well. The people dream of joining the bureaucracy, and their entire future is determined by one test they do as children. We’ve yet to learn what happens if they fail the test. Fern tells a ghost story about a dangerous mining operation that saw a group of workers trapped underground. Maybe there’s some truth to it, and anyone who fails the test gets sent to work in dangerous conditions. All in pursuit of At Attin’s ‘Great work’. Maybe it was benevolent at first, but the planet’s long centuries of isolation could have given the ‘Great Work’ a sinister dimension. If At Attin is a Galactic Republic holdout, after all, then its bureaucracy contains the same issues that created the Galactic Empire. The ‘Great Work’ may have come to reflect that.

The posters and trailers for Skeleton Crew show a handful of X-wings, which suggests that the New Republic will have a role in the show. It will be cool to see what happens when a dystopian holdout of the Old Republic encounters the idealistic Rangers of the New Republic. I’m expecting some tension there. How will the Rangers respond to a sinister and quasi-imperialistic ‘Great Work’? How will At Attin respond to their moralising? Will there be a clash between them, and how will it factor into Jude Law’s Jedi redemption arc? It will be exciting to find out.

Episode 3 airs tomorrow

-Dexter