One random thing that came to me: you might need to reinstate the whole “claimsies” scene, or else Fern taking back SM-33 will make even less sense than it already does. Wild how that scene has more relevance to the plot than any of the parent stuff lmao.
One radical option I’ve been considering is having the crew travel straight from the pirate port to skull mountain.
Hmmm. This would mean losing half of episode 3 and all of episode 4. Honestly, not a bad idea whatsoever since the characters never investigate the other “At” worlds for some reason. This was only plot hole I’ve noticed in the series so far.
The trouble, of course, would be explaining why they have SM-33 all tied up despite spending so much time rescuing him from the pirates just a moment ago. I think some AI lines might be able to solve this - maybe the pirates tried tinkering with him.