Some fans (including myself) believe that captain Rennod, or potentially a member of his crew, actually survived the crash and somehow swindled themselves into becoming the mysterious Supervisor of At Attin. We conveniently still don’t know what Rennod actually looks like thanks to his purposely corrupted data log, nor have we seen the Supervisor of At Attin. It would be the ultimate way to gain wealth and power without anyone threatening to take it away. At Attin’s citizens are forbidden from communicating or venturing out into the greater galaxy all the while encouraged to contribute to The Great Work, which all signs now point to being gold production.
The main problem with this theory is – we still don’t know exactly when At Attin was founded nor when Rennod’s ship crash-landed on the planet. Given how deeply buried the ship is when the children find it, it seems like the ship has been stuck on At Attin for a while. But at the same time, none of the humans seem to know anything about it. Its discovery is a huge surprise to them, which means that either it landed before this society was created, or someone in charge has been burying its existence and making sure that no one finds it for generations. This would explain why the droids patrolling the area are so adamant about keeping people out of the woods.
There are a lot of signs that point to At Attin existing as far back as the High Republic. Wim’s stories of the Jedi and Sith, references to The Great Work, Kh’ymm calling it a “jewel of the Old Republic,” and now even the lightsaber found in Rennod’s lair point to a time way before the Republic we see in The Phantom Menace.
This means that if Rennod or any member of his crew really did become the Supervisor and are responsible for turning At Attin into the almost totalitarian world we see in Skeleton Crew, they would likely have to be a species that lives an incredibly long time, or else have chosen a successor to keep up the ruse in their death.
Skeleton Crew is doing a phenomenal job of weaving and crafting Star Wars history into the New Republic era. This story will not only likely have ramifications on the other shows happening during this time period, it could also impact how we see the galaxy’s past. Was At Attin intended to be a benevolent creation, or has greed and gold always been its purpose?
Regardless of whether or not this theory is revealed to be true as the series goes on, it’s clear that At Attin and Rennod both have an important part to play in the Star Wars timeline. We may not yet know exactly how far back in time this mystery goes, but in Skeleton Crew, the past is just as important as the present.