This Could Be a Real Adventure

"This Could Be a Real Adventure" is the premiere episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. The episode was written by Christopher Ford and Jon Watts, and premiered on December 2, 2024 alongside the second episode, "Way, Way Out Past the Barrier."^[2]

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Official description

Kids from an ordinary planet discover a surprising secret.

Opening crawl

Since the fall of the EMPIRE, the NEW REPUBLIC has maintained order.

And yet, remote hyperspace routes are increasingly plagued by piracy.

These PIRATES boldly brand their armored hulls as a sign to all ships.
Surrender or die…

Plot summary

Space pirates

The episode begins with a pan down of a battered freighter passing a distant planet. This freighter is rammed by a larger pirate frigate, which extends four large drills, connected by long tubes. Aboard the first starship, the crew take up position near the large metallic drills while pirates charge through the tubes. The crew exchange fire with the pirates, taking several down but are overwhelmed by the wave of pirates.

A gun turret takes out one of the docking tubes. However, pirates wielding grappling lines take out the gun turret with explosives. The pirates overwhelm the merchant crew, overpowering and disarming them. A Shistavanen pirate named Brutus enters the ship via a docking tube and informs Captain Silvo that the ship is secure. Silvo is pleased and proceeds towards the vault. Silvo orders the freighter's captain to open the ship's vault, but the freighter captain insists they have no credit shipment. When Silvo asks why the vault would be magnetically sealed if there were no credits, the merchant captain angrily replies that this ship is under the protection of the New Republic and demands that all "pirate scum" leave immediately. After punching the defiant merchant captain, Silvo orders his crew to throw the captain out of the airlock.

While electronic lasers cut through the vault door, Silvo promises that he will deliver hard, cold credits to his crew. However, they are disappointed to discover an empty vault. Brutus enters the vault and finds a single credit. He condemns the captain for risking the lives of the pirates for a single measly credit. The pirates stage a mutiny and subdue Silvo while Brutus watches with a grin.

Wim and Neel

Elsewhere, a human boy named Wim plays with a Jedi and Sith action figure. His father Wendle reminds him not to be late for school. While Wim has cereal for breakfast with blue milk, Wendle searches for his passcard and tells his son that he will be late home from work for the next few days due to a Supervisor's review. He passes Wim several credits for school lunch money. After finding his passcard, Wendle departs for work and reminds his son not to be late for school.

After playing with his toy starship, Wim rushes to school, runs past a two-legged labor droid pushing a lawnmower. He also runs past an Ithorian woman named Mrs. Ikk, who is walking her pet frog-dog. Running along the street, he meets up with his friend Neel at a playground and the two engage in a pretend lightsaber duel. Wim and Neel join a group of schoolchildren in boarding a school bus-tram. A girl plants gum on the head of the RX-series pilot droid, annoying the droid.

Wim and Neel sit at the back of the tram. Neel is talking about mathematic equations while Wim is engrossed in reading a datapad about Jedi and Sith. Wim notices two girls riding a hoverbike side-car past the school tram and into a nearby forest. Wim peers out through the back window as the tram descends down an underpass which takes them into a crowded business district. Safety droids usher the children into a school building. Wim sees a safety droid reprimanding the two girls who had ridden the hoverbike side-car.

Class time

During a dry class about computer algorithms, Wim doodles Jedi on his screen but stops when a Supervisor named Undersecretary Fara enters the classroom. Fara briefs the children about tomorrow's upcoming Career Assessment Test, which she explains will set the course of their entire future. Based on the test, they will be assigned a career path linked to their planet At Attin's contribution to the Republic's Great Work, keeping the Republic "peaceful and strong."

When the droid teacher asks the pupils how they would like to contribute to the Great Work, a female Vazooan named Roona says that she wants to be a senior statistical accountant. An Ithorian says he would like to be an analyst, promoting a dark-skinned human boy to complain that also wants to be analyst. Fara reassures him that they have a demand for analysts. When Fara turns her attention to Wim, he says that his father is a systems controller but that he truly wants to help people. This prompts the droid teacher to say that is what safety droids are for. The droid teacher's statement brings forth laughter from Wim's classmates, but Fara encourages Wim to study hard and reassures him that there is a place for him in the Great Work.

After school, Wim and Neel discuss the upcoming test. Neel is surprised that Wim is unaware of the test. Wim is disinterested in the test while Neel is nervous about failure. Neel confides on his feelings for a girl named Roona but admits he is too shy for her. When Neel questions Wim about his career ambition to be a Jedi, Wim initially denies it and asks if he ever considered doing anything exciting.

After school

Meanwhile, the two girls KB and Fern ride their hoverbike side-car through the plaza and race down the underpass, speeding between two trams. They reach the suburbs but their hoverbike breaks down in the sidewalk. Fern decides they should walk back. Meanwhile Wim and Neel walk home together. Wim watches as Neel enters his family home, where his two parents and three younger brothers are present. Wim walks back to an empty home.

Elsewhere, KB repairs the hoverbike and tells Fern that they need a new power converter. They are visited by other children on hoverbikes. A boy named Bonjj Phalfa makes fun of their hoverbike and reminds them of an upcoming race before speeding off. KB suggests postponing the race but Fern says they have to act tough towards "jerks." KB is hesitant about fighting Phalfa but Fern is determined to take part in the race. Before leaving, Fern reminds KB to keep an eye out for a new power converter.

Fern then leaves KB’s garage and quickly changes out of her denim jacket and into her school uniform. She then heads back to her luxurious family home. Inside the living room, she is met by a silver and blue servant droid. When the droid refuses to lie about her absence, Fern sets a memory override. When Fern sees her mother Undersecretary Fara, Fern claims she was studying, which the droid supports. Fara passes her daughter a school badge which she dropped. Fern pretends to be relieved to get her school badge back before walking up the spiral staircase to her room.

Meanwhile, Wim studies on a datapad in his room when his father Wendle returns from work. Wim asks his dad to quiz him on a mathematical question. When Wendle asks what is the basic table of five, Wendle says a string of numbers but gets the equation wrong. As he goes to bed, Wim asks Wendle if he could read him a bedtime story. Wendle declines the offer, saying that he is too busy and suggests that Wim is too old. After his dad leaves, Wim gazes at some hanging toys before reading a story about a Jedi fighting a monster on his datapad. The view shifts to a greenish cloudy night sky with red lights and stars above.

Wim's misadventure

The following day, Wim is late catching the tram. He shouts to his friend Neel that he will be taking a shortcut. Wim rushes to the garage under his home and starts up his hoverbike. After racing past Mrs Ikk and her frog-dog, Wim drives towards the barrier along the suburban highway. He lifts his bike over the barrier and races through the forest. Meanwhile, Neel waits impatiently for his friend Wim in the exam hall while a droid teacher briefs the children about the exam rules. Neel asks the droid teacher about Wim's predicament but the droid orders him to sit down and be silent.

While racing through the forest on his hoverbike, Wim runs into several branches and shrubs, causing him to drop his helmet. He rides towards the tower of the city center but finds a ravine ahead. Wim attempts to slam the breaks but loses his balance and falls down a steep incline into the ravine. The boy finds himself hemmed in by high cliffs, boulders and tree roots. As Wim calls for help, a bat-like creature flies above him. Wim tries to climb out of the ravine but trips on the lose soil. He grabs a root but it breaks off.

Wim finds a piece of metal embedded in the ravine wall, which turns out to a hatch. Before he can investigate further, he is discovered by a safety droid, who chastises him for being in breach of safety protocols. Wim agrees to come with the droid but asks how to get out of the ravine.

Later, Wim waits with the safety droid outside the Proctor's office. While Wim reads through his storypad, he is joined by Fern, who is also in trouble. When Fern asks why he is outside the Proctor's office, Wim says that he missed his test. When Wim asks Fern, she says that the safety droids hate her for riding a bike. Wim describes Fern's bike as "wizard." Fern then teases Wim about the proctor taking the last kid who missed his test to work in the mines, never to be seen again.

Shortly later, Wim's father Wendle appears and scolds him for missing his exam. When Wim explains that he found something in the woods, Wendle tells him that he convinced the Proctor to let his son retake the test with a 50 point penalty, meaning that he has to get every answer right just to pass. Wendle tells Wim to drop his Jedi Temple nonsense and to focus on his studies. He promises to take him to school the following day and asks if he understands before returning to work.

Wim's quest

After Wendle leaves, Fern asks if he encountered a Jedi Temple in the woods. Wim claims he was lying and starts to head home. Fern eyes him suspiciously. Meanwhile, Neel's three younger siblings including Tuloo watch a circus event on a hologram while their mother brings them snacks. Peering through the window, Wim asks Tuloo about Neel's whereabouts. The baby sister points upstairs. Wim climbs up onto the ceiling window and finds Neel bathing in a pool. He asks Neel if his dad still keeps tools.

In the garage, Neel suggests informing the adults and the safety droids. However, Wim insists that this is the adventure they have been waiting for. Neel reluctantly agrees to help his friend on the condition that they do not get in trouble with the grownups. The two boys walk with their hoverbikes and tools to the edge of the ravine. They test their comlinks as “Jedi one” and “Jedi two” As they prepare to abseil down the ravine, Neel suggests that Wim should be studying but the latter insists that he can do it later. Lacking climbing experience, the two roll down the grassy hill into the ravine below.

Four is company

The two boys find the hatch buried in the hill. Neel thinks it is junk. Before they can probe further, the two boys are disturbed by a cybernetic voice mimicking a safety droid. The voice chastises them for breaching safety boundaries and asks who Wim has a crush on. The boys reply they have a crush on Roona, prompting the voice to cackle with laughter. Shortly later, KB emerges and apologizes, explaining that Fern made her pull the prank on them. Fern emerges with a shovel. The two girls introduce themselves, with Fern insisting that the hatch is their find. Wim and Neel try to argue but reluctantly agree to dig as the girls' employees.

Fern tells the boys that the hatch doesn't lead to a Jedi temple. She explains that the ravine was supposed to be a new neighborhood development during her grandpa's time but claims that the plan was abandoned after a contaminated sewer station released poisonous gas that supposedly drove the residents mad , to the point where they tried to eat each other. Fern teases the boys by claiming that the residents were locked inside the buried hatch, and if you listened carefully, supposedly they could hear the people screaming for help. While the boys position their ears against the hatch, Fern strikes the hatch with her shovel, scaring them. Wim convinces the girls to let the boys dig in return for the boys getting first right to the excavation.

Meanwhile, Wim's father Wendle returns home to find his son away from home. Back in the ravine, the boys continue their dig under darkness. Fern and KB watch the boys digging. KB thinks that Fern was being mean in taking advantage of the boys and says that the boys found the dig first. Fern doesn't care and thinks that they have found a power converter. KB hooks a cable from the hatch into a cybernetic augmentation that wraps around her head, while Fern tells the boys to be quiet. This causes the hatch to fold open, releasing a cloud of dust.

The four children cautiously approach the hatch with their torchlights. They find a storage compartment laden with several crates. Sensing movement, the children hide their bikes and tools inside the hatch. Meanwhile, Wendle finds Wim's helmet in the forest and calls out to his son. Inside the hatch, Fern teases Wim being in a lot of trouble for disobeying his dad's orders. Wim is unwilling to abandon his adventure and convinces the other children to accompany him in order to prove himself right. Wim discovers a derelict droid with a missing eye, which he initially mistakes for a skeleton. The children are startled by a rodent, causing Neel to recoil and pull a lever that closes the hatch, trapping the children inside.

The hidden starship

As the children bang on the door, KB points out that the hatch won't open without power and suggests following the conduit to find the power source. As they continue deeper into the structure, Wim tells the other children that Jedi temples have many secret passageways. Fern tells the others to ignore Wim and not to touch anything. KB leads them down another hatch while Wim and Fern bicker. Wim reluctantly follows the other children down into the tunnel. He is startled by his own reflection. KB strikes an engine-shaped device, which causes the circuits around the ship to glow.

Meanwhile, Wim realizes that he inside an upside down starship cockpit. He uses his comlink to inform Neel about the find. Fern grabs the comm and warns him not to touch anything, explaining that KB has restarted the power so that they can open the hatch and get home. Wim says okay, but is mesmerized by a glowing green button, which causes the starship to start shaking. The children attempt to rush to the hedge while the skeletal droid begins charging up. The children reach the now open hatch only to find the ground around the starship moving, causing earth and vegetation to shake.

As the ship rises through the ground, Wim and his friends shout and wave to Wendle. The ship begins rotating and the kids retreat into the hatch. Wim struggles to hold onto the hatch and the others help him up as the hatch closes. The engines tilt into position for take off, setting fire to the surrounding trees and vegetation. Wendle watches in shock as the ship ascends up the clouds into the Barrier. The children struggle with the controls and buttons. The ship takes them past the nebula clouds into space. The children gaze at the stars for a moment, then scream as the ship jumps into hyperspace.

Credits

This media's Credits list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

External links

• "This Could Be a Real Adventure" on the Aurebesh Wiki
• Skeleton Crew - WGA Directory on the Writers Guild of America's Directory (May 28, 2023) (backup link archived on May 28, 2023)

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