This article contains spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” episode 7, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble.”

The mystery of At Attin has been at the center of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” from the start, putting a fun twist on the classic treasure island/planet trope by having the main characters all be from the hidden world. Rather than find it for the first time, they have to find their way back. As season 1 has continued, though, more and more interesting tidbits about the secret Republic planet have leaked out. At Attin is valuable because it houses one of the last functional mints of the Old Republic, but there seems to be more going on than just money.

At Attin has been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for many years — long before the rise of the Empire. And yet, when Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) lands on the planet in the Onyx Cinder in episode 7, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble,” he’s quickly welcomed as an Emissary of the Republic and taken to the vaults. That’s because the ship is immediately recognized as one of the mint’s own, with the droids on At Attin responding as if this is a totally normal occurrence. If the Republic hasn’t been functional in years, then who’s been coming to collect the money? Maybe this is the first shipment in decades and the droids just don’t think that’s weird. Or, maybe, someone has been taking money from the planet all along and just saying it’s for the Republic.

The most likely culprit in such a scheme? The agents of the First Order from the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy. Here’s what might really be happening on At Attin.

“Skeleton Crew” takes place at the same time as “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka” in the new “Star Wars” timeline. The New Republic is still burgeoning, and the First Order is years out from becoming a true galactic threat, but we know that Palpatine’s shadow faction is building strength in secret, assembling fleets and military forces. In “The Force Awakens,” we learn that the First Order bolstered its ranks by kidnapping children from the outer reaches of the galaxy, and that it plundered many resources in the same way. But in “The Last Jedi,” we also see the corporate infrastructure that constructs and sells the First Order ships and weapons.

That money has to come from somewhere. While the former Imperials who founded the First Order were likely able to take plenty of loot with them when the Empire fell, the scale of the First Order would require more investment. Since Palpatine would have known all about At Attin during his time as Chancellor, he could have easily kept up the ruse after becoming Emperor. He could have even maintained the pattern of off-world shipments while living in exile in the Unknown Regions. After all, no one in the New Republic would have known about At Attin, so it would have been fairly easy for Palpatine to keep using the mint to fund the First Order and his other dark projects.

While the mint itself — positioned deep within At Attin in another possible “Treasure Planet” homage — is plenty mysterious in itself, there could still be more going on. “Skeleton Crew” only has one episode left to pull everything together, but we still haven’t met the oft-mentioned Supervisor. In their message to the kids, the parents also mention that they would have learned about the true nature of At Attin when they were grown up, though they don’t elaborate on what that nature is. Are they only talking about the mint? Its status as a secret planet? Or something else?

In other words, it’s still unclear how much all the adults know, and how much only the Supervisor knows. Some early fan theories speculated that At Attin is involved in Palpatine’s dark Force cloning project, though that seems a bit on the nose for a show that’s really tried to distance itself from the major “Star Wars” storylines. Still, there’s potential there.

As big as the mint is, it likely doesn’t take a whole planet to print money, especially considering how much seems to be automated. There’s also no economy for them to keep track of, as the Old Republic that founded At Attin no longer exists. So, what are all those analysts really doing? Maybe Jod bringing a lightsaber onto the planet will get some things moving. At the very least, he’ll have trouble getting back off-world with his haul.

The “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” season 1 finale drops January 14, 2025, at 6pm PST on Disney+.