There are two aspects to this episode of Skeleton Crew, one is to show War from the eyes of a Child, and the other is to build on the pre existing mystery of what At Attin is, along with the Other Jewels of the old republic.
If we cast our minds back, we will remember that the beginning of this season of Skeleton Crew was because of one child's want to break away from the monotony of everyday life and go on an adventure, and while definitely At Attin is something you should scoot away from given how dystopian and isolationist it is, The truth about adventure, is that it is often a romanticized concept that is used to paint over real life tragedies.
None of this is to say that one should just stay in their protective bubble, far from it, because venturing away from one's protective bubble is what fuels progress but the reality of what an "adventure" looks like should be focused upon.
And that is what this episode is, they land on the wrong planet, one of the other eight that were hidden away alongside At Attin, and while this world is supposed to be destroyed, which it definitely is, in a sense of the word, it is still inhabited by at least two warring tribes the Hattan and the Troik.
While At Attin is an example of extreme order to the point of indoctrination, this planet, At Achran, is an example of the other extreme, extreme chaos to the point of indoctrination??? Yeah turns out both extremes are pretty similar when one looks at them.
While At Attin suppresses children's creativity by putting them into tiny neat little boxes(Roles, i.e. metaphorical boxes not real ones, At Attin does not put children into boxes... that we know of.) that they must fit into, At Achran frees their children to such a point that they take away the base level of guidance they need because, they are... growing... and they are left to fend for themselves.
The Children on this planet therefore must fit into role of a fighter and "prove their strength" in order to get the most basic of their needs like... food.
A key element to this story, surprisingly, or not so surprisingly is Neel, the cute Elephant looking guy, from the beginning of the four kids, Neel has somewhat been the voice of Reason, while Wim has been their source of... trouble, or adventure seeking behavior as this show would undoubtedly think of him as, Fern has been the one who has been taking charge and making the hard decisions, sort of Antithetical to Wim in a way.
KB has been... KB, the one with Logic and Reason, and also sort of the Analyst of the group because she has a Droid attachment, But Neel, Neel has consistently been the middle ground.
Surprisingly for how quiet he is, he is also that one member of the Group who says it as it is.
I say surprisingly because generally the characters who say it as it is are unfiltered and crass, case in point Rick Sanchez.
But Neel is different, he does say it as it is, but that is because he really thinks his words through.
So what does the cute elephant have to say about this planet's warring ways and their Idea of "Strength".
He doesn't like it, and the toxic air here clogs his trunk.
Antithetically his opposition to the ways of this planet makes one of the forbearers of these ways fall for him, because he shows her what life could be when it is more than just raids and fighting each other.
And that scene is really cute, I like it.
See the thing about war is, it acts as a sort of accelerant, things that would otherwise take a long time happen a lot quicker here, and on any sort of "adventure" for that matter, the heightened stakes make feelings more intense.
Which is why people who live in peaceful environments often romanticize the Idea of War and Adventure, but the thing about war and adventure is it is an accelerant, as in all things happen quicker, including death, and life also lacks stability.
Therefore those who live in such environments where every day could be an adventure, due to the extreme chaos of their environment, romanticize the idea of peace and order.
In other words, Grass is always greener on the other side.
But in the journey to explore the deeper meaning behind adventure and stability, let's not forget the real reason the Crew is here.
This was supposed to be At Attin.
But it is not.
So What happened, well before we move on I would like to point out one last thing that this planet almost being a carbon copy of At Attin but one which has long since over thrown or outgrow its overbearing government is symbolic of how differently things could have gone for the Home planet.
But coming back to what went wrong, what went wrong could be Kh'ymm simply pointing out the wrong coordinates.
But that would be kind of impossible if you think about it, because At Achran, is charted, off worlders have come here before, also because every other Jewels of the Old Republic planet save At Attin is supposed to be destroyed, How would one know it is destroyed unless they found a way there?
At Attin is uncharted and hidden behind a Nebula and while it is possible that this planet is also hidden behind a Nebula and I am simply reading too far into it when I say this planet is charted because it is assumed destroyed.
I do think there is one thing that could be a better reason as to why the Crew could not go to At Attin in nspite of receiving explicit coordinates from Kh'ymm and that is SM33.
This droid has been programmed by it's previous captain to hide the planet of At Attin, so when it received the coordinates, it secretly reprogrammed to one of the other Jewel worlds.
At least that is my theory based on what the end of the episode reveals.
It would seem, that the Pirate aspect of this show has more to offer than was visible at first glance.
Jod Nanawood, or Crimson Jack, the Pirate, seems to know the ship they are using, he recognizes it, but that is the extent of his knowledge, he doesn't know more, or is he hiding?
It seems this ship, is the same that the pirates used in the raid in the beginning of the first episode, I mean they certainly seem similar, and yet, afterwards, the crew ended up elsewhere and the ship, on the uncharted planet of At Attin, the Captain who lead the raid was called Silvo, which is also what Jod was called by the other pirates while he was escaping with the kids.
The previous Captain of this ship and SM33 somehow reached this place and ordered SM33 to destroy the coordinates to At Attin and yet, somehow, Jod who was the previous captain does not know of this place...
And we know he wasn't pretending because he acted similarly when he was alone.
So here is my whacko theory, what if, in Episode three when Jod said I am just like you to the kids, he meant it in more than that he is lost, he meant that he too is from At Attin, maybe unknowingly so, or knowingly, that is why he wants to find his way there, he doesn't really care about Treasure, I mean he says he does, but it has been shown he can lie, and it is a good cover to avoid dealing with unwanted emotions, and he was kidnapped by the captain of this ship before him, in a Star Lord like fashion and then the captain decided to destroy all ways to At Attin, and tells his droid to rip apart limb from limb, anyone who goes looking... for Some reason.
Jod later went on to take over command from this captain and I somehow still do not know how the ship ended up on At Attin.
So I guess we will keep an eye on peace seeking thief Jod, who always bargains peacefully for the lives of his crew but only with stolen credits.
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