Matt Kennedy/Lucasfilm
The following contains mild spoilers for "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew."
The "Star Wars" Easter Egg Industrial Complex is alive and well in "Skeleton Crew," the franchise's latest TV outing on Disney+. Whether it's old Republic "dataries," Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) pouring blue milk into his morning cereal, or the pirates of Port Borgo having Hutt clan tattoos, if you're the kind of fan who has all the galactic encyclopedias on your bookshelf, there's a lot here to keep your eyes and ears peeled for, including allusions to certain planets from previous "Star Wars" stories.
In "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" episode 2, "Way, Way Out Past the Barrier," while the kids are trying to get SM-33 (Nick Frost) to navigate them back to their home planet of At Attin, we get a particularly curious Easter egg. Because At Attin, as we later learn, is essentially a myth and not found on any normal star maps, SM-33 starts listing off planets that sound similar in the hopes of being helpful. These include Atollon, a remote world that hosted one of the first major battles between the Rebellion and the Empire (as seen in "Star Wars Rebels"), and Aldhani, the site of the Imperial payroll heist from the second arc of "Andor" season 1.
What's curious is that SM-33 refers to Aldhani as a "sulfurous bog world," when in "Andor" it's portrayed quite differently. The Aldhani episodes of "Andor" were filmed on the Scottish highlands, and what we see of the planet is gorgeous and verdant, full of winding rivers, rolling hills, green fields, and shepherds' flocks. So, why does the pirate droid seem to think that it's actually some inhospitable swamp planet?
SM-33 could be remembering a different Aldhani
Lucasfilm
It's possible that SM-33 mischaracterizing Aldhani is just the result of a malfunction. He clearly isn't the most stable droid in the galaxy, and the series makes a point of showing us the many ways in which he's deteriorated during his years buried on At Attin. It's also possible that some other part of Aldhani is quite swampy, though SM-33's use of the word "sulfurous" suggests an atmospheric condition that would likely make the whole world uninhabitable by humans.
A third, more interesting option is that SM-33 — and by extension, his ship — is so old that his memory banks are remembering a much older Aldhani, when the planet's landscape looked quite different. Of course, that would then beg a new question of how he also knows about Port Borgo, which seems to be exactly the same as it was whenever SM-33 was last there.
In short, it's a mystery, but a fun one. While "Skeleton Crew" and "Andor" are very different Star Wars shows, they both succeed by bringing a different energy to the franchise from what's typically been seen on the big screen or in other series like "The Mandalorian." It's fun to see one referencing the other, even if it's just in a throwaway line. And if you're an "Andor" obsessive like me, any mention of Aldhani is bound to get you thinking about the heist from "The Eye," one of the greatest hours of "Star Wars" we've ever received. So thanks for that, "Skeleton Crew."
New episodes of "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" premiere Tuesdays at 6 pm PST on Disney+.
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