This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew episode 6. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew 's new "hunk of junk" starship has just become a whole lot cooler. Back in 1977, George Lucas introduced viewers to the Star Wars galaxy courtesy of the Millennium Falcon. This starship may have looked like a hunk of junk, but Han Solo boasted she "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew's Onyx Cinder took that one step further. The kids discovered the Onyx Cinder buried in the dirt on their homeworld, At Attin, and it's shown every sign of falling apart. When the Onyx Cinder landed on Lanupa, parts actually fell off the hull. It's no surprise that, in episode 6, the Lanupans decided to send the Onyx Cinder to a junkyard. But by the end of the episode, the Onyx Cinder had suddenly become a lot more impressive.
The Onyx Cinder Shed The Junk Of Its Hull
Back in Skeleton Crew episode 2, SM-33 warned the kids not to push one specific button in the Onyx Cinder's cockpit: "the emergency hull demolition sequencer." The comment was played for laughs, but attentive viewers surely noticed when that scene was played in the recap at the beginning of episode 6. Sure enough, by the end of the episode, Fern had no choice but to push the button. It prompted an incredible transformation, as the Onyx Cinder shed its "hunk of junk" exterior.
Han Solo was always faintly embarrassed by the Millennium Falcon's exterior. But it seems Captain Tak Rennod deliberately sought to deceive, hiding his ship's true form beneath a fake hull that had been placed around it. The emergency hull demolition sequencer detonated charges that released this fake hull, revealing the truth, and allowing the Onyx Cinder to escape Lanupa.
This doesn't mean the new Onyx Cinder is better in every way, of course. Some additional gun turrets have been lost, as have some of the landing thrusters. That said, it looks so much sleeker and more impressive.
Skeleton Crew's Unexpected Starship Twist Is Absolutely Perfect For The Show
There's a sense in which the Onyx Cinder twist taps into the main themes of Skeleton Crew. This show is all about deception, with the kids struggling to navigate a strange and unpredictable galaxy; Wim in particular has a habit of trusting the wrong people (and crabs), as he complains in this episode. But sometimes deception conceals something so much better than anyone had expected.
Of course, that doesn't mean the Onyx Cinder has miraculously become a top-of-the-range starship. It's still been buried in the dirt for centuries (at least), and its engine was still on fire when it blasted away from Lanupa; what's more, the first thing the kids do with their "new ship" is drag it through the ground. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew may have hidden the true potential of this ship, but it's not exactly in good repair.
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Set in the Star Wars universe, Skeleton Crew follows four young adventurers as they become lost in the galaxy while searching for their home planet. The series chronicles their exploration and encounters with diverse worlds and characters, presenting themes of friendship, discovery, and the quest for belonging.
Release Date December 2, 2024
Character(s) Jod Na Nawood , Wim , Fern , KB , Neel , Wendle , Fara , SM-33
Directors Jon Watts , Daniel Kwan , David Lowery , Daniel Scheinert , Jake Schreier
Showrunner Jon Watts , Christopher Ford
English (US) ·