Star Wars fans spent much of Summer 2024 speculating on the details of a mystery with The Acolyte, but the end of the year is bringing on even greater intrigue as we follow the adventures of the Skeleton Crew. The TV shows from the Disney+ platform seem to be drawing out the potential for mystery, and we enjoy the things we learn or guess in advance. In Episode 4, "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin," the identity of the other planets in association with At Attin was revealed, and a different kind of enigma emerged.
What might be the significance of At Achrann?
The eagle-eyed people at New Rockstars on YouTube recently noticed that At Attin and At Achrann both have mythological ties and speculated on the other associations of named planets in the Jewels of the Old Republic.
At Achrann could be associated with the "river of woe" known as Acheron, and that fits with the displaced and downtrodden members of that society who war for their resources.
Inspired by the idea that the names of these Jewels are deliberately associated with our own societies, I looked up the Egyptian deity Aten. It is a word meaning "disc" and is associated with one pharaoh who worshipped Ra in one specific aspect. Wikipedia suggested that I do further reading on Atenism, and I did just that. Atenism was a then-heretical system of monotheism and put the pharaoh between one god (Ra) and the people under the pharaoh's rule. It dismissed all other authorities especially where the Egyptian pantheon was concerned.
Could the name At Attin be intentionally associated with a society where only one person is in authority and all knowledge beyond him is unavailable to the people? This puts the role of the Supervisor and the systemic ignorance of the people of At Attin in a whole new light.
What else might we guess from the other Jewels of the Old Republic names?
Using At Attin and At Achrann as a blueprint, there are a few things we might guess about the way things work in this confederation of planets.
At Acoda is speculated to be associated with the Coda or Chola dynasty in India. This is the name of a long line of military commanders. At Acoda may have the upper hand in matters of warfare and At Attin might be better off not getting in the line of their fire.
At Arissia could have its earthly tie with the city of Ariccia. This city in Italy was around for hundreds of years before beoing conquered by Caius Maenius and became a "city without the vote." This might be a more authoritarian system where the people have no say in how their society is run.
At Aytuu is similar to Aitu, a Polynesian term for malevolent spirits. Perhaps there are spooky or unnatural things associated with this world. Looking again to Wikipedia for a variety of explanations, I see that Tongans use this word for spirits that can take the form of plants or animals, but the Maori also escribe sickness or calamity by this term. At Acchran and At Aytuu might be places where war or pestilence have defined part of their history.
The one world not explained by New Rockstar's speculations is At Aravin. I can find references to Arawn, a Celtic figure associated with the underworld. In some tales, he is a king sent to oversee another realm. It also might be an adaptation of Arvins from Santharia mythology, who is the Huntlord. This would imply a hunter-gatherer society.
We look forward to seeing if there's anything to these associations as Skeleton Crew continues to air on Disney+.