How Star Wars: Skeleton Crew re-engineered a major sci-fi trope to its advantage? Explored

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew just revealed how the mysterious planet of At Attin has managed to hide itself from the rest of the galaxy. Described as one of the Old Republic's nine jewels, the seventh episode of the series shows how At Attin seems impenetrable from any type of invading force or pirates. It seems the planet uses terraforming technology to shield its secrets.

The secret to that lies in the opening moments of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew episode 4 "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin". In that episode, "Jod" and the kids fly to At Achrann, mistakenly believing that it is At Attin. As they descend on the planet, we see a round blue planet surrounded by shields. While they weren't functioning in episode 4, they do in the recently streamed one.

The common sci-fi trope that Star Wars: Skeleton Crew uses explained

As mentioned, At Attin from Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is one of the Jewels of the Old Republic. The planet's existence was shielded from the rest of the galaxy with the help of terraforming technology. Terraforming is a common sci-fi trope in which a planet's weather and environment are manipulated through technological assistance. An example of terraforming in recent years is Man of Steel.

The planet of At Attin uses the same technology as seen in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew's seventh episode, "We're Gonna Be in So Much Trouble". However, in the Star Wars Universe, they use terraforming technology as a barrier in addition to maintaining the planet's environment and weather.

How does Star Wars: Skeleton Crew use terraforming?

The terraforming barrier that maintains At Attin's picturesque façade, and also functions as a security grid, which, from the outside, looks like a storm. Once the ships fly into the storm, the ships have to face the satellites that will blow up any ship not from At Attin. For now, it is unclear if ships from other ships hailing from the Jewels of the Old Republic will not be harmed through At Attin’s barrier.

How did Star Wars: Skeleton Crew re-engineer terraforming?

Generally, terraforming is a sci-fi trope, that's used mostly in "scientific" sci-fi stories. Star Wars, on the other hand, has usually been drenched in mysticism ever since its inception in 1977. Therefore, it is surprising that Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has chosen to use a "scientific" sci-fi concept. It uses this non-mystical concept to spin it into a legend associated with a treasure planet.

This way, the planet can preserve At Attin's mysticism amongst the pirates and also use one of the best technological feats in the Star Wars Universe. Furthermore, this time, even the fans appreciated the use of a non-mystical concept, something that did not happen back in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. That movie reframed the Force as microscopic life forms referred to as "Midi-chlorians".

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While "Jod" alone successfully got into At Attin, it is clear that for now he is outnumbered as the barrier has blocked any type of communications with his crew. What's going to happen next? Find out by catching the finale of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew on January 14, 2025.

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