Kh'ymm

"I got maps of every star in the galaxy and hyperspace routes between them all. Where are you from, children?"

―Kh'ymm^[1]

Kh'ymm was a female owl-like alien astronomer who operated an ancient telescopic array on the Observatory Moon. When her old acquaintance, the pirate Jod Na Nawood, came to visit her with a group of children during the New Republic Era, she assumed he had kidnapped them and called the New Republic for aid. She then let Na Nawood into the observatory so that she could stall him until X-wing starfighters could arrive to arrest the criminal.

When the children told her that they needed her help to find their way back home to the lost planet At Attin, Kh'ymm revealed that it was one of the Jewels of the Old Republic and that no map to it existed. She then began questioning the children to try and discover the world's coordinates from the information they provided. After seeing Palmarish numerals on the child Fern's backpack, Kh'ymm succeeded in locating the world, but accidentally revealed this to Na Nawood, despite trying to stall for time.

Realizing that the New Republic were on their way, Na Nawood drew a blaster pistol and demanded that the astronomer call off the starfighters. She refused, telling the children to run and attacking the pirate as he opened fire. After throwing Kh'ymm into a stack of datapads, Na Nawood took the coordinates to At Attin and destroyed the terminal she had used to calculate them before fleeing with the children. Only the child KB stopped to check on Kh'ymm, who emerged unscathed and told her to find out the truth about Na Nawood, offering aid should the children ever call for it. The pirate and the children then escaped from the New Republic ships but soon discovered Kh'ymm's coordinates led to the planet At Achrann rather than At Attin.

Biography

Distrust goes both ways

"It's him, all right. And he's got a flock of children. Must be kidnapped. Poor things. You've got to help them."
"I'll dispatch a patrol to make the arrest."
"Good. I'll stall him as long as I can."

―Kh'ymm and a New Republic dispatcher^[1]

Kh'ymm was a female owl-like alien^[2] astronomer^[3] who was an expert on star maps, lost planets, and similar topics. During the era of the New Republic, she operated out of the Observatory Moon, where she collected a variety of trinkets and tokens from a thousand different worlds in^[1] an ancient telescopic array that she operated.^[4] After promising a group of children from the lost world At Attin that he would get them home, the pirate Jod Na Nawood brought them to Kh'ymm, who was an old acquaintance of his who knew him as "Crimson Jack." Before introducing the children to her, Na Nawood warned the children that he did not fully trust the alien and that she might try to betray them.^[1]

Kh'ymm meanwhile had spotted Na Nawood and the children approaching her observatory on surveillance cameras and had contacted the New Republic to report his presence. She also mentioned the children, assuming they were kidnapped, and asked the New Republic to help them, prompting the dispatch of an X-wing starfighter squadron from Sector Patrol to arrest Na Nawood. With help on the way, Kh'ymm then set out to stall Na Nawood long enough for the fighters to arrive. Na Nawood and the children then arrived at her door and, after scrutinizing the pirate with three gatekeeper droids, she asked him if the children were his. Na Nawood ignored the question and instead admitted that he had left things between him and Kh'ymm a mess when they last met, claiming to only now be showing his face again because he had found something special to show her.^[1]

Distracted by astronomy

Fern: "We need a map."

Nawood: "No, we don't. You're the map."

Kh'ymm: "Precisely. Come. We'll search my archive by astronomical feature. Even if it takes all night long, we'll find your planet."

―Fern, Jod Na Nawood, and Kh'ymm^[1]

As the group made its way through her collection of trinkets, Kh'ymm requested they not touch anything, lowering herself from the telescopic apparatus as they reached her. Na Nawood then asked to get down to business, but the astronomer dismissed him and flew over to the children, asking why they would travel with the pirate. The children then revealed their hope of getting home to At Attin, but the mention of the lost world caused Kh'ymm to react with surprise and then flap back up into the apparatus. Assuming she thought it a lie, Na Nawood shouted after her that the children were telling the truth, but the astronomer had long believed in the near-mythological world and brought down a scroll depicting At Attin among the Jewels of the Old Republic, worlds that she explained had been purposefully hidden long ago.^[1]

As there was no map to At Attin, Kh'ymm and Na Nawood realized they needed to use the children's knowledge of the world to locate it. Summoning them to her archive interface, the alien inserted a punch card and questioned the children. Although the child Wim claimed there was nothing special about the world, his companion KB provided that they learned about the worlds Alderaan and Coruscant in school. When Kh'ymm alluded to Alderaan's destruction during the Galactic Civil War, the child Neel claimed to know nothing of the conflict, which Kh'ymm found fascinating. Neel then mentioned the Barrier that surrounded At Attin and described it as swirly, allowing Kh'ymm to narrow the search to only ten thousand worlds by assuming the swirls were nebula gases.^[1]

The final child, Fern, abandoned hope in finding their world if there were still ten thousand options, but as she turned to leave, Kh'ymm spotted the school logo on her backpack. Flying over, the astronomer realized it contained Palmarish numerals, which she had never seen on any proto-Republic artifacts. Excitedly cross-referencing the symbols with the other data gathered so far, Kh'ymm found the coordinates of At Attin and told Na Nawood as much when he asked before remembering that she was supposed to be stalling him. She tried to recover and claim that there were in fact many more parameters to check, but the pirate was not fooled and realized what she was doing.^[1]

A ruse revealed

"Children, listen. Crimson Jack is a scoundrel. All he wants is your treasure."
"Call them off."
"I called these X-wings to help you. Run for it!"
"Squawk! No, you can't trust Jack! He'll betray you!"
"I told you she was a backstabber!"

―Kh'ymm and Jod Na Nawood^[1]

Kh'ymm told KB that she and her friends could count on her help.

Na Nawood then turned up the sound on Kh'ymm's comms just as Sector Patrol reported their approach. The astronomer flapped away in shock as Na Nawood reached for his blaster pistol, but then faced him and claimed he would not shoot her in front of the children. When Na Nawood demanded she call off the New Republic, the alien instead warned the children that Na Nawood was simply seeking the legendary treasure that was supposedly hidden on At Attin and that they should not trust him. Explaining that the X-wings were there to help, Kh'ymm then screamed at the children to run as she flew up and looped around to ram into Na Nawood as he opened fire on her. Knocking the pirate to the floor, she continued her attack, yelling further warnings to the children until Na Nawood threw her into a stack of datapads that collapsed on the astronomer.^[1]

Grabbing the coordinate punch card, Na Nawood destroyed the terminal and fled, with the children following. Upon hearing Kh'ymm squawk from under the datapads, KB stayed behind briefly to check on her as the alien emerged unscathed. Kh'ymm then questioned KB's plan of going with Na Nawood, but when the child explained that, although she did not trust the pirate, he had aided them so far, Kh'ymm advised her to seek the truth about the pirate and promised to provide aid should the children ever call for it. KB then followed the others and Na Nawood and the children succeeded in escaping the X-wings aboard their starship. Once they were gone, the X-wings landed at the observatory, where Kh'ymm flew out to chastise them for letting the starship escape. When New Republic Commander Kent asked where the children had gone, Kh'ymm simply said he would never believe her if she told him.^[1] However, the coordinates that Kh'ymm had generated led Crimson Jack and the children to the planet At Achrann rather than At Attin.^[5]

A call for help

"Kh'ymm! Kh'ymm, do you read me? Pirates are attacking our planet. You said to call you if we needed help."
"Child! You found you way back to At Attin?"
"Yes. I'm sending you the coordinates. Can you send your friends, in the X-wing fighters?"
"X-wings? I'll contact the New Republic. They are the greatest pirate busters in the galaxy. I got a hyperspace route straight to you! They'll be there in two flaps!"

―KB and Kh'ymm^[2]

Following the kids' revelation about the X-wings, they planned to contact Kh'ymm, as Na Nawood's pirates invaded At Attin. KB, who managed to fly the Onyx Cinder outside the Barrier, contacted Kh'ymm for help. The alien then alerted the New Republic, who were able to come to At Attin's rescue once the Barrier was taken down by Wendle and Fara.^[2]

Personality and traits

"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine. But what are you going to do? Go with Jack?"
"He got us this far. But I don't trust him. Not really."
"What did he tell you? 'Trust your gut'? Use your head. Get the truth. And if you ever need help, you can call me anytime."

―KB and Kh'ymm^[1]

Kh'ymm did not trust "Crimson Jack" and immediately worried for the children he had with him when she saw them, calling for aid and doing her best to stall the dangerous pirate. She was fascinated by the possibility of discovering At Attin's coordinates and had never stopped believing in its existence despite its legendary status. She even became distracted enough by it to momentarily forget about stalling Na Nawood but faced the armed criminal after he saw through her ruse. Finally, she pleaded with the children not to trust him and offered to aid them should ever they call for it before they left. Kh'ymm was an owl-like alien with gray and brown feathers and gray eyes.^[1] She stood 0.46 meters tall.^[3]

Equipment

"Right this way. Right this way. Just don't touch anything."
"Hi, Kh'ymm. The place looks great. I see you've been cleaning up."
"Yes, my growing collection. Trinkets and tokens from 1,000 different worlds."

―Kh'ymm and Jod Na Nawood^[1]

Kh'ymm had trinkets and treasures from a thousand worlds, including many stacks of datapads. She wore a brown outfit with a belt and a cape and was equipped with an AJ^6 cyborg construct.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Kh'ymm was voiced by Alia Shawkat in "Very Interesting, As an Astrogation Problem,"^[1] the third episode of the Disney+ live-action series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which aired on December 10, 2024.^[6] Prior to the release of the episode, Kh'ymm was revealed in the first trailer for the show on August 9, 2024.^[7] Her name was then revealed in a video of the series' premiere on December 6, 2024.^[8]