Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.
Recap
Wendle is working at his station on At Attin when Neel’s mom gets his attention; she has an item that can help them bypass the Barrier and get a message out. He tries to do this work at his terminal, but is immediately halted by a security droid for a “surge” at his terminal. He’s brought to Fara, who demands the droid delete the incident from his memory. She scolds Wendle for acting without her, as she’s been trying to find their children through official channel. Wendle points out that the Supervisor isn’t going to help them; Fara asks what the plan is. Meanwhile the kids and Jod have reprogrammed SM-33 so he won’t try to kill them anymore. They switch him back on and 33, now with full access to his former memories, tells them that this ship is the Onyx Cinder and his former captain was the famed pirate Tak Rennod.
The kids don’t know anything about Rennod, so Jod shares the pirate’s story, noting that he was rumored to have disappeared while searching for the treasure of At Attin, ship and all. SM-33 doesn’t know the coordinates to the planet, but he knows where Rennod stored them in a secret lair, the place where 33 was assembled. They set course for the planet and Wim wanders off to read his Jedi book and cry. Jod finds him and Wim admits that adventure didn’t turned out the way he planned; it’s scary out here and he misses his father. Jod tells him that he’ll see his parents again, but on learning that Wim’s mother is dead, his advice is to forget them and home and everything. He calls all those things “attachments,” tells Wim “Your focus determined your reality,” and levitates Wim’s books back into his lap, telling him to make his life one he wants to live.
They make it to the world that holds Captain Rennod’s lair and it turns out to be Lanupa, a pleasure world where children aren’t allowed. Jod tells them that they have a reservation when asked, and when the kids refuse to let him scope out the planet alone, he disguises them as “elders” and demands all their credits. Skull Ridge Mountain is now a spa and the hotelier (Julie Ann Emery) checks them in, taking credits from Jod as bribes. SM-33 is given a restraining bolt to prevent violent action. Jod runs into an old bounty hunting rival named Pokkit (Kelly Macdonald), who claims that when she tried to find him, no one had ever heard of “Dash Zentin.” She claims to be there on vacation, but she works for private clients now. Jod gives the rest of his credits to the hotelier and tries to communicate to the kids that Pokkit is about to sell them out and they need to move fast. He breaks up a pillow fight, and splits them into two groups to search for Rennod’s lair.
Pokkit calls Brutus and lets him know where Jod is. Fern, Wim, and SM-33 are searching the spa, while Jod, KB, and Neel search the mud baths. They’re cornered by guards and KB gets them out of it. Fern finds Rennod’s sign down in the baths and they meet a large aquatic spa-goer named Cthallops, who is very interested in being entertained. As Brutus’ pirates arrive on Lanupa and track them down, Cthallops knocks the way down for them toward the lair and tells them that he’d love to hear the rest of this tale some day. They have to make it through a maze of tunnels and booby traps. One of them is a decapitation laser that poses no danger to the kids because they’re too short. With the pirates not far behind’s he group makes it to the final trap, which is a pool of acid covering the door to the lair.
There’s an etching from Rennod stating that you have to make the greatest sacrifice to enter. Jod knows that sacrifice is treasure and he drops their last credit into the pool. The acid drains and the group step inside and shut the door before the pirates can get to them. They’re looking for a dataport, hidden with something that looks out of place, but they can’t touch anything. Wim spots a real lightsaber; Neel spots a feast full of rotten food, with one perfect-looking roast. There’s a trapdoor under the stool by the feast table, so Jod leans over to turn the roast and the dataport reveals itself. SM-33 plugs in and gets the coordinates to At Attin. Jod asks him to play the captain’s last log. The video is obscured, but Rennod does state that At Attin is the last Old Republic Mint—Fern explains, it’s where they make the money. Jod instructs SM-33 to fill the chamber outside with acid again to kill the pirates, then turns on the kids and challenges Fern for the captaincy, telling her to yield so he doesn’t have to hurt her. When she refuses, he holds a knife to her throat.
Wim takes up the lightsaber, but when he ignites it, the hilt is turned upside-down, and the blade sparks into the floor, leading him to drop it and run to his friends. Fern yields, and Jod has SM-33 arrest the kids for mutinous intent against their captain. Neel remembers where the trapdoor near the fake roast is and all the kid disappear through the floor. Jod levitates the lightsaber to his hand and ignites it.
Commentary
This episode finally had enough good bits assembled to make for a romping good time. We’ve got a parent heist happening on At Attin! Kids having pillow fights and not listening to adults! Terrible disguises and numerous bribes! Betrayal! Oh, and that Jedi stuff is probably real after all.
There are a few big tells in this episode, but aside from flagrant levitation, the big ones are in Jod’s conversation with Wim. He tells Wim to forget everything that matters to him because these things are what he likes to call “attachments,” and they cause problems. Which certainly sounds like bastardized Jedi doctrine no matter how you slice it. And then there’s a klaxon bell in the form of this advice: “Your focus determines your reality.” Which are the exact words uttered by Qui-Gon Jinn to a very young Anakin Skywalker. So, more Jedi dogma that Jod possibly remembers from his childhood in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant?
It makes Jod’s betrayal and sordid past far more interesting, so here’s hoping things continue in that direction. And it’s great pacing-wise to get an episode where he seemingly saves the kids only to have him immediately turn around in the next and menace them to the point of taking over their ship.
Wim learns a bit more here, and it’s hard not to want the galaxy for him because he’s such a good kid. Making his first moment with a lightsaber less than perfect keeps things funny and properly awkward the way childhood almost always manages to be, but I’m guessing it won’t be his only shot with the thing. And having him be the one who gets this moment to break down and cry, it’s such a good role to give to a little boy in this kind of story. Wim’s emotions are big, and the narrative makes room for them. Jod is the one who comes off stunted in this scenario, which makes it that much better.
And now we know that At Attin is, indeed, an Old Republic Mint. It makes sense of the amount of money we see distributed amongst its populace, but I’m still a little perplexed about why more of these people aren’t employed in the actual creation of the physical credits. There’s also a lot more questions to be asked here about Old Republic credits having more value than other types—namely why, and if it’s meant to be a materials issue, and if so, again, why—that I’m guessing we’re not going to get enough information on? But I live in hope.
There are so many smart mishmashes in this episode that scream Star Wars without being overly obnoxious about it, and that’s proving to be one of the strengths on this show. Like having an entire spa planet that used to be a pirate’s lair. Or having children dress up as tiny aliens. Or having a Cthulhu-esque creature who just wants you to tell them some good stories when you have the time. Or taking all the vernacular from treasure-room adventure yarns and tweaking them perfectly for your pint-sized cast and veteran actor guide. This was the first episode that really moved every step of the way. If Skeleton Crew can keep up the pace from here, I’ll be thrilled.
Spanners and Sabers
- The droid interrogating Wendle at work sounds a whole lot like Dee Bradley Baker; after so many years having him as various clone troopers and sundry roles, his cadences become hard to miss.
- There is another character named Tak who was seen in Solo, a con artist who was sent to the spice mines of Kessel. Of course, the fact that we can’t see Rennod’s face makes it very likely that he’s someone we’ve seen (or related to someone we’ve seen). The only question becomes, who’s the most interesting candidate?
- The Banking Clan being on Lanupa for an economic summit indicates that the clan not only survived the Clone Wars, but all the following ones too, including the Empire’s reign. Not surprising, certainly, but depressing.
- Dash Zentin feels like such a deliberate nod to infamous EU scoundrel Dash Rendar…
Comments are closed for the holiday and will return in the new year.
Next week, we’ll hopefully find out where that trapdoor leads…
