The Dark Crystal Prequel Series Coming To Netflix

[PSGarak]

We just finished it up yesterday, and while I have a few little nitpicks, overall, I am stunned at the quality of the production and the depth of characterization. I always loved "The Dark Crystal" movie largely out of nostalgia (I was 12 when it came out) and because of the intricate puppetry and scenery, while I felt the story fell pretty flat in adult hindsight. This series did not in any way fall flat for me. I hope they go for another season, but to be honest, even if they don't, I feel like it stands alone very competently.

 

[JD]

We watched episode 2 this morning.
Loved the introductions of Hup and Aughra.
One of my favorite things in the movie is all of the different creatures that Kira sees as he's going through the swamp, so I loved the scene of Deet going through the forest.
Ugh, I've always had a thing about eyes, so The Scientist's punishment really freaked me out. I love First Contact, but I still cringe every time the needle goes into Picard's eye in his dream. I can watch scenes of people getting gutted and decapitated and it doesn't bother me that much, but screw with someone's eye, and I'm practically watching through my fingers like a little kid.
It was cool getting to see another one of the Gelfling tribes.
I'm very curious why Cadia was so concerned with the symbol Brea was asking about that he was willing to wipe her memory.
I was surprised to see that J.M. Lee was the writer for this one, he is also the author of the current novel series.
For anyone who's interested the novels are:
Shadows of the Dark Crystal
Song of the Dark Crystal
Tides of the Dark Crystal
Flames of the Dark Crystal

I'm not going to read it yet, but IGN has posted a story about what Lisa Henson has said about a second season of Age of Resistance.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

For what it's worth, I watched the movie on bluray the other day and the little trivia notes feature mentions that the symbols on the floor of the crystal chamber represented each of the original beings before the split. Unless I miscounted, that means there was 22 of them in the beginning.

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't even think about those symbols and how they might correlate to the urSkeks. Funny how that there are 22 there but other sources have indicated 18 urSkeks. Does World or any other source say the same thing about those symbols (and the count) or is it just the trivia section of the film (which may not have been written by someone who is more directly involved with the lore)?

I'm not going to read it yet, but IGN has posted a story about what Lisa Henson has said about a second season of Age of Resistance.

You didn't link to the IGN article.

 

[JD]

Fixed it.
Does anybody know what Brian Henson's up to since The Happytime Murders bombed? It seems like all of the announcements and stuff are all coming from Lisa Henson, and I haven't seen mention of Brian anywhere.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

io9 posted a lengthy, spoiler-filled interview with writers Jeff Addiss, Will Matthews, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach, where they also talk about what could happen in a possible second season.

Does anybody know what Brian Henson's up to since The Happytime Murders bombed? It seems like all of the announcements and stuff are all coming from Lisa Henson, and I haven't seen mention of Brian anywhere.

I've been wondering the same thing. It felt a little odd watching The Crystal Calls and he was nowhere in sight.

Dare I hope...secretly developing more Farscape?!

 

[JD]

Yeah, I was really surprised when I was watching the credits and didn't at least see him as an executive producer or something.
They did say something about there having been discussions or at least that they have ideas for more Farscape at SDCC.

 

[Reverend]

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't even think about those symbols and how they might correlate to the urSkeks. Funny how that there are 22 there but other sources have indicated 18 urSkeks. Does World or any other source say the same thing about those symbols (and the count) or is it just the trivia section of the film (which may not have been written by someone who is more directly involved with the lore)?

I'm not anywhere near deep enough into the fandom to have any useful knowledge in that regard. All I know is that the disc came out in 2007 and most of the trivia pieces are descriptions of the various characters and places. A lot of it is taken up with naming all the skeksis, mystics and who everyone's counterpart and "parent" identity is. With all of it being so sparse and fairly obviously culled from existing BTS material, it would seem odd for someone to just make up a detail like that without a source of some kind.
If it helps any, the other detail that jumped out at me was the story of how the Skeksis originally tossed the shard down the mountainside, then later tossed a bunch of replicas so if found, the Gelflings wouldn't be a be to know which was real, hence Aughra having a whole bunch of shards when Jen arrived. If account crops up in another source then it's also probably where the symbol trivia originated.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Shouldn’t there be 18 of each making36 in total?

Correct.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Alright! Having gone into the Wayback machine for habidabad.com (a wonderful site that seems to have died not long after February 2, 2017), I have pulled out all the pertinent text from "The Song of Aughra", that was transcribed from The World of the Dark Crystal.

In case you're wondering, "Habidabad" (a.k.a. "Habeetabat") was the original name of Aughra's character in early drafts of the story, when the character was male. After several revisions, they changed the gender and name to go with more of an "Earth Mother" vibe. Other accounts have Aughra as both male and female (with the male aspect named "Habidabad"), which was "burned away" by the first Great Conjunction, and only the female "Aughra" aspect survived.

Bolding is mine for certain passages that either apply to, or have been superseded by, Age of Resistance. This stuff is truly poetic to read; nearly biblical in its epic nature. I wish they hadn't changed some of the more significant backstory items...

Of the race of Aughra, I, Aughra, am alone, the first and last. Born from the need for rocks and trees for an eye to see the World. The wind blew and the blind trees sang and roots twisted in the dark rocks and the roots sang and the rocks cracked and I was Aughra. This is my song. The rocks willed me to be their eye; the roots willed me to be their eye. Blind rocks that felt the heartbeat of the World; blind trees swaying in the breathing of the wind made me to view for them all the shapes of the World. Slowly, slowly the roots split the rock and I was free. The first age of Aughra was of innocence, and it was long. Then it was Aughra and the race of Gelfling who shared the world. The Gelfling sang and danced for the joy of their lives, and I was a part of that joy.

I spoke, and they listened to me. I spoke of the life within the World and of the light within the Crystal, and from my words they made songs. We shared thought, and I taught them to feel the trembling of the rocks as they sang to the Crystal they could not see. The Gelfling taught me to dreamfast by the touch of hands; then I could see into their minds and they into mine. I showed them the beauty of the Crystal when the light of Suns in conjunction shone upon it. I taught them how one thousand trine would pass before the Three Suns combine to wake the Crystal to full beauty.

I was freed from the embrace of rock and root to witness the World, to share with the rocks the majesty of the Three Suns. I saw the Dying Sun and the Rose Sun and the Great Sun circling our World. And the Dying Sun shone with darkened light, and the Rose Sun flowered in flame, and the Great Sun was the life of all. And I saw that the Suns moved in three paths, and that in time these crossed above the shaft that led to the Crystal. I have seen the glory when the Dying Sun moved across the Rose Sun or the Great Sun. They were the lesser conjunctions. At the small price of an eye I saw the moment when the Three Suns stood together above the Crystal. The dying Sun was dark against the pale beauty of the Rose Sun and the whiter brilliance of the Great Sun.

The Three Suns together in the Great Conjunction were an Eye looking down the shaft to the Crystal. The shaft was melted through the rocks by the Dying Sun, which poured forth its strength that the Crystal might be revealed. And in the Golden Age when the Suns moved in Majesty over the radiant Crystal, it cried aloud a song for each Sun.

This was our world until the end of the trine of Harmony. The Crystal lay hidden in the mountain, but all the creatures of the World knew it was there. When a Sun shone down the shaft of the Crystal, all would touch rock and feel the trembling from the Crystal. The Crystal sang quietly at the lesser conjunctions of the two Suns; but at the Great Conjunction, for which the World waits nine-hundred and ninety-nine trine and one trine, the song of the Crystal resounded through all the rocks and all life rejoiced. But the trine of Harmony turned to discord, the days of innocence were tarnished. I have seen great glory perish, I have seen strength decay and color dim, I have seen freedom lost and wisdom perverted, I have seen the Crystal darken. And at the end of the suffering I saw the Crystal healed and the World restored. Now I can return to the embrace of rock and root, for I have seen the light rekindled and the Quest accomplished.

The urSkeks found me there upon the mountain-top; they healed my burns; but I was now gnarled root and weathered rock; the heat of the Suns had burnt my first growth away. When I was healed, the urSkeks taught me knowledge; they built for me the great Observatory that I might see all the paths of the World. My life was made complete.

On the day I gave one eye to see the splendor of the Three Suns, a new joy came to the World. I lay on the mountain above the Crystal and saw the Three Suns move together. I lay under rocks with one eye open to the light, and for one moment and forever I saw the Eye of the Three Suns shining down on me. Then form that light my eye darkened, and in that moment of light the urSkeks opened the door in the Crystal and entered our World. The pain in my lost eye was joined once to the joy I had in the urSkeks, but bitter, sour, poisoned rock is that joy to me now.

In the days of their first coming there were eighteen urSkeks, and they were full of vigor and the will to change and build. They hollowed out the mountain around the Crystal and built a castle of lesser crystals around the great Crystal. They made the three walls of blocks of crystal, and above the Crystal they made a great portal of three sides. So when the Suns moved over the Crystal. They stood framed in the portal, a triangle surrounding a circle.

The urSkeks were upright and tall, with an inner light of beauty that streamed from them always. I had from them the understanding of many things; from them the Gelfling learned to sing new songs. Each moment was rich and full, yet the coming of the shining strangers changed our World and our lives forever. I lived all my time in the Observatory, no longer walking and wandering, no longer speaking with Gelfling. I studied the Suns and worlds, and learned from the urSkeks.

These were the teachings that the urSkeks shared with me, Aughra. There is power in the Universe that is there to be used by those who dare control and shape their destiny. There are many levels of power; only the full initiate can wield the fullest power. To gain this strength takes many trine and a great will and much silence.

To take the fist step on the path is to meditate upon numbers and their patterns. Particularly the urSkeks guided me to think upon the first four natural numbers, the four that together make a triangle and a pyramid of TEN. Then they gave me THREE and NINE to understand, and finally the number SEVEN, but of that teaching it is not proper to write.

The thought of the urSkeks was formed in triangles and pyramids, with circles and spheres placed within them; the castle was built as a poem to these shapes, and the movements of the Suns that shone through the portal completed the Harmony.

But in the hearts of the shining urSkeks there struggled two beings living within one body - and for them all things were divided so. Light and dark were for them opposing spirits of the Universe; a mirror held up to light should reflect dark, a mirror in the darkness should give light. And yet they knew so much of triangles, of numbers that combine and do not oppose.

In the complexity of the spiral lay all the meditation of the urSkeks. I was guided to dream through them and to form them in my mind before I shaped them in sand or stone. The full art, which was beyond me, was to carve time spirals, which hold the meditation forever and guide others into the pathway of their thoughts and hold power over all space around them.

My Master taught me:

"Find your thought and place it in the center of a spiral. Let the spiral grow in coils upon itself so that each thought can lie besides its ancestor. Then take another thought into the center of the spiral and coil the two together, carrying both in your mind. Then, when you have though your way back again to the center, take another thought and entwine it into the double or triple coil. True thinking grows into spiral knots that can never untwist."

One thousand trines of the Suns later urZah said to me:

"Look deep into the single spiral, see your inmost being, and follow the teaching. Look deep into the double spiral and see the beating heart of all, the breathing of the Universe. Look deep into the triple spiral and find your soul."

Many, many trine later, as I near the end of my living freedom and long to lie again in the rocks, I can see that in the twisting of thoughts into knots was the urSkeks' weakness, that their sorrow was locked into the spirals.

The urSkeks would never reveal the history of their past or all their thoughts for the future, but I learned more than they thought I knew. I saw that they had left their former world to follow a great design that their fellow urSkeks thought a dangerous folly. They could not use the Crystal that was at the heart of the urSkeks' world, so they came to ours.

They spoke often of the nature of the Crystal: the spiral climbing through its heart, the planes within it; its great size; and of how it could reside outside space, yet in many worlds at once and worshiped in all. Yet only in our World do the Suns shine upon it to cause it to give out light, so that in all other worlds the Crystal glows and sings less powerfully than here. The urSkeks came here to use the power of the Great Crystal; they came during one Great Conjunction to use the next nine hundred and ninety-nine trine and one trine later, to achieve their work.

In the heart of the Crystal they had made a trap for light, a net of crystal and golden mirrors. They caught the light that had passed through the Great Crystal, the light that fell to the Lake of Fire deep within the World. They placed carved mirrors into the beam of light, they shone it into the Chamber of Life. For nine hundred and ninety-nine trine and one trine they had made ready, from the moment they arrived until the moment of the next Great Conjunction. The Three Suns moved over the Great Crystal, the Eye looked down, and the shining mirrors of the urSkeks sent a path of trapped light through the chamber. Then one by one in a long procession, they walked into its brightness.

They entered the bright light each as a single being; but as they left the path of light, each had become two: to the left, the Skeksis; to the right, the urRu. The Great Division of the urSkeks had been achieved.

On that day, the Harmony of the World shattered. The Skeksis woke from the shock of division, and they woke full of violence and anger. They stormed into the Crystal Chamber staggering with the strain of their new bodies, grasping each other in order to stand yet hating each other's touch. There was a loud argument, they stuck blows, on hit the Crystal. A shard broke from the Crystal and flew up the shaft, out onto the mountainside. And the light left the Crystal.

 

[137th Gebirg]

The Darkened World:

From the Dark Crystal there came no more songs. The Suns shone as before, but dimmer; the trees grew as before, but twisted. Strange beasts moved in the woods.

The Skeksis held the castle; the urRu fled when the Harmony was broken. They were filled with sadness, and made their way to the Valley of the Stones. There they could shelter and meditate concealed. They chose that twisting valley, home of mists, for that it resembled the world they had left to come to us; water flowed from abundant springs, caves filled the rocky slopes. They made it fit for their use. I helped, I chose stones and guided the stones to allow themselves to be shaped. There the urRu made stone circles of power, the framework of the valley, everlasting protection.

Within that protection I learned what the great design of the urSkeks had been, through woven knots, through chants of prayer. They had hoped that by submitting themselves to the light of the Crystal they would purify their divided selves, that everything in them that was less than perfect would be burned away. They had not understood the balance of their souls; they had thought there could be light without darkness, stillness without motion. Instead of perfection they had achieved division, dark from light, force form virtue, Skeksis from urRu.

I learned in dreams that the urSkeks had been outcasts in their former world, where no evil was tolerated even when mixed with good. Their stars showed me their full name, the Fallen urSkeks, and I think they were driven out, they were hated so deeply; but to them I always spoke of their departure as if they had left freely.

But the Skeksis felt no grief, triumph rather, for in the castle they reigned in glory. The darkness of the Crystal seemed to them an eternal refreshment. And in their first days they still shone with a fire that could deceive the eye, dazzling like flame on sharp-edged swords, full of daring wit and bold experiment, but with ice at their hearts and a thirst for blood and darkness. Yet their speech was still like music, their ways enchantment. They knew the best of all arts the skill of flattery.

Many Gelfling fell to their lures. The Gelfling were earth and spirit, masters of song and shaping. They carved wood and stone to set free the shapes that lay hidden in them; they molded metal to exult in its new form.

Before the Darkness, when I placed my hand on the carved rocks, the rocks sang to me and I shared their song with the Gelfling. I watched the Gelfling as they traveled through their lives; I made dwellings in the rocks for their empty bodies, and the rocks will care for them as long as the World remains. But the Skeksis stole the Gelfling with force and fear.

For from the castle and the darkened Crystal within it there spread out evil like a cloud, power they no longer led to Harmony. The light of the Suns lost its brilliance; the song of the Crystal was deadened. And as one standing in a mist on a mountainside forgets the sunlight, forgets the path and the world and all outside the shifting greyness, so in all creatures that cloud of evil led their hearts to confusion.

Only in the protected valley was there peace, and among the quiet plants of the Pod People. These did not foresee the evils they would suffer from; they felt only the joy of abundance of their plants and the herding of their Nebrie grubs. They tended all things that grew, above all the giant Pod plants in whose vast seed-pods they made their villages; there they though only of laughter, food, and music. Their music stayed simple and unchanged -- alas, the only joy left in our suffering World.

In the beginning I moved freely between the Skeksis in the castle and the urRu in the valley; but as the Skeksis fell into worse evils I visited the castle no more. And in the valley the urRu lived their gentle lives and died their quiet deaths: beautiful, peaceful, and without strength against the growing evil of the Skeksis.

I am of rock; I stand firm. I left the urRu and went to watch the stars and Suns, in hope that they would reveal some better change.

 

[137th Gebirg]

On the Nature of the urRu:

Eight urRu found death, seeing it foretold in their sand paintings and whirling stones. Whenever an urRu died in the Valley, a Skeksis died in the castle, for their bodies were divided but their souls were still linked. Ten were left, the number of stability and completeness needed to sustain the council of the urRu. Of the dead I will not speak, for their presence may be felt anywhere; learn from them yourself. Only of the living will I speak. I will record the name of urSu the Master, who chose death that the balance of urRu and Skeksis might be broken. Wise was he always and subtle in meditation beyond my understanding.

Though I am myself stone, though I have traced in my heart the spirals of the turning heavens, yet my knowledge is nothing to the wisdom that stands in the stones of the urRu, less than the shadows of their standing stones.

I have seen the stars in all their changing courses, I know the turning points of the seasons and of the lives of the Gelfling, but I could never come to the clear vision that the urRu found in their sandpaintings. They had learned to foretell the shaping of the smallest changes, those that seem insignificant, almost imperceptible, but that are the start of great movements: as a dropped pebble releases an avalanche. And in their paintings they could bring together all their present energies to shift, ever so slightly, a small change in the future.

The urRu lived in their coats and through the patterns of their coats; as their souls ascended the Tree of Life, their bodies were wrapped in the emblems of its branches. Great is the stature of that tree, and great the strength given to all who must climb it; and the winds that clutch and sway its branches can be most fierce, and the view downward dreadful. Between roots of that tree thrust themselves, to what light do its branches rise, what fruit will it bear? All must answer for themselves, each alone. But I say this: no tree can flourish far from water, and the Fountain of Destruction that the Skeksis bore on their robes, that they made to pour forth so abundantly, can flow deep channels that carry its waters far from their source.

Numbers are at the heart of the world, the measure of the dance of the heavens; number is music crystallized. The urRu gave me many gifts, urYod gave me the measure of all gifts. It is not that rhythm and balance and pattern are expressed in terms of numbers or cannot be conceived of without numbers, but that beyond all harmony, within all harmony, the numbers that are patterns in themselves determine all forms throughout time or space.

To eat of the food or the urRu is to undergo a long journey. Their herbs were always chosen of the seasons; the true refreshment, they said, lies as much in the waiting between meals as in the feeding. They could wait long, but at times they made great cauldrons of simmering gruel which they devoured with ceremony, without haste but without ceasing the steady movement of their ladles.

I never saw the staffs of the urRu except in their hands, or laid beside their beds, or thrust into the ground to continue the prayer while their masters dreamed. The Gelfling said that the staffs had their own lives, that they would dance by starlight, but there is no end to their foolish inventions.

One thing the urRu would never tell me (I always waited to be told, I soon learned the folly of asking) was the part each musical instrument played in the long song of their lives. I know that they rarely played more than two together, that the harp and lyre would echo each other from within and without the stone circles; and I think they would sometimes sound a complex series of chords with such long pauses between them that even I, who measures my life by the stars, lost the thread of their meaning. But when they all sang together, the world could change.

 

[137th Gebirg]

On the Nature of the Skeksis:

The Skeksis joined nothing except to make new combinations of evil. SkekSo the Emperor in the first days of his glory proclaimed otherwise; he held court not only over the Skeksis but over many Gelfling that went to serve in the castle. They shone in his glory; they carved and sang and painted and danced from the pleasure of the court. On all the days of feasting the Emperor led the processions and the dances of life and pleasure; his voice heard above a multitude; and always in the tournaments he bore down all rivals. In those days the Skeksis were still radiant with energy, never still. But that radiance diminished as their true nature showed and worsened; none was more terribly changed than the Emperor. His power he kept till the end; no other Skeksis held ascendancy other than through skekSo's favor, easily withdrawn. But his vigor lessened, his suspicions grew, his sight weakened, ulcers burst from his skin. He sought elixirs and enchantments to restore his rotting body, never more than a few days success. All awaited his death; his courage never failed.

 

[137th Gebirg]

The Prophecy and the Quest:

When the Skeksis began to take Gelfling as well as Pod People as slaves, the Gelfling were dismayed. For once they took thought for the future. They sought to know if the Crystal might be healed, if the Skeksis rule must continue. They lit the fires of prophecy, they took counsel from the flames. Seven circles of seven Gelfling lay on the hilltops all night, their faces to the stars. Their dreams were made stone; the Wall of Destiny still stands. There the Gelfling were shown the Quest for the lost Shard, and they were shown the healing of the Crystal by the hand of a Gelfling, replacing the Shard by the light of a Great Conjunction. And there too they were shown the ruin of the Gelfling, the fall of their houses. And the Wall stood for all to see.

The Skeksis saw it too; and with bold cruelty resolved to foil the prophecy. Rage brought them cunning. Their first thought was to confuse the search for the true Shard; and for many years they sought to make a crystal of their own. They had made the great Haakskeekah Stone, which outdid the Crystal in impenetrable blackness; and they made fragments of artificial crystal without the higher virtues of the great original but not easily distinguished in appearance. (Had they quarreled less among themselves, they might have made a crystal of grater power; had they been less evil, they could have done more harm.) Of their artificial crystal they made five copies and scattered them on the slopes of the mountain beneath the castle, near where the Shard had fallen, so the Gelfling would not know which to place in the wound in the Crystal. The Gelfling found all six and brought them to me, hoping one was the true Shard; but no effort of mine could make it reveal itself. And it was better to live with the Crystal dark but nearly whole than to place the creation of the evil Skeksis in a position of such power.

Then the Skeksis made the Garthim from the memories of sea creatures in their first world, quickened by the light of the Dark Crystal, though the skill of skekTek the Scientist, the power of skekUng the Garthim-Master. The strength of the Garthim was unbelievable, their stupidity incalculable. Their sole purpose was to destroy all they found. The Gelfling understood this and lived in fear of them; the Pod People never understood this, never realized they had any connection with the castle from which no Pod slaves returned to tell their story.

As soon as the Garthim appeared, the creatures of the World turned against them. Foremost among the enemies of the Garthim were the Landstriders, beasts of swift passage for the Gelfling that allowed themselves to be tamed to be ridden and subjected to the will of their rider. Destruction of the Garthim became their fiercest joy; their speed, their slashing blows, would leave a Garthim crippled before it knew it had been attacked.

But not even the Landstriders could prevail against the multitudinous strength of the Garthim guided by the pitiless intelligence of the Skeksis. They bred the Crystal Bats to carry lenses of artificial crystal that sent images of all they saw back to the Crystal in the Skeksis' castle. At first the bats flew only in the dark, after the manner of their kind; but the Skeksis bred from the bolder and hardier strains, till no corner of the World was unknown to them. And when the Skeksis could direct the Garthim with their all-seeing crystal eyes, they made an end to the Gelfling.

Then the Skeksis exulted in the deaths of the last Gelfling and of the prophecy. They had been much afraid; they had even killed their Gelfling prisoners quickly, preferring safety to pleasure. They cared little that some Landstriders still hid and fought in the mountains; the loss of a few Garthim (I will not say their deaths) meant nothing to them. They thought the path to further darkness lay straight before them.

These terrors drove me away from all. I fled to my mountaintop; I studied the Three Suns above, and chose not to see the hordes of Garthim marching across the plains and the clouds of smoke behind them. I would have lived among the orbits of the Suns. I became one with them; I seemed to move in their great courses through the sky. The song of the Suns became my song, and I sang it to the rocks that they might vibrate to it as they had to the Crystal. At each conjunction I felt the song in my heart, pain and torment, yet beautiful. The rocks felt the pull of the Suns; and as the Suns combined in conjunction, the seams of the World were stretched. I was, at those moments, the fabric of the World.

Two Gelfling survived the slaughter, two infants unknown to the Skeksis. Jen was found and fostered by the urRu, Kira by the Pod People.

Jen was brought up with riddles and enchantments, music and dreams, covered with the protection of spirals of power so that he might be fit to restore the Shard. And when the Great Conjunction at last drew near, urSu the Master, who had waited till then, allowed himself to die. He knew that this would also be the death of skekSo the Emperor, that the Skeksis must then fall into utter division. And never was the instability of NINE more clearly shown, for with skekSo dead, the rivalries concealed for fear of his power broke out at once. SkekUng the Garthim-Master and skekSil the Chamberlain fell into open quarrel; skekSil lost the struggle, fled from the castle, and turned his mind to the last betrayal.

While the Skeksis fought, the urRu chanted and prayed. I heard the death chant for urSu; in its echoes I first saw Jen. He had been shown the crystal Shard in dreams and told to find me, Aughra, on my mountain. The urRu in their wisdom told him no more but sent him on his Quest; I in my foolishness thought it folly. But when he saw the shards I guarded, he sounded music on his flute. Then the true Shard shone with light, the false shards could be told apart. I rejoiced in my withered heart, for I saw that the Crystal could again be healed, the World restored.

And I rejoiced in my heart even when I saw the Garthim come that day, and I knew the Skeksis were hunting Jen; I rejoiced even when they brought ruin to the Observatory, when they carried me prisoner to the castle. Even when the Skeksis took my other eye -- bitter indeed the end of friendship -- I rejoiced, for I had seen Jen escape from the Garthim with the true Shard, I saw him flee to the swamp below my mountain, I foresaw the Healing.

If I had studied the stars more I could perhaps also have foreseen his travels: his meeting with Kira in the swamp, his welcome by the Pod People, the Garthim raid, Jen and Kira's flight together, their finding of the Wall of Destiny. I could have foreseen the Landstriders that carried them both with the Shard to the castle, and their entry into the labyrinth beneath the castle through the Teeth of Skreesh. But who does not know of their journey? If I had studied the Skeksis more, perhaps I could have foretold that skekSil the Chamberlain, outcast from the castle, would find them both and seek revenge; I could perhaps now tell whether he sought to restore his fallen state among the Skeksis by betraying the Gelfling to them, or to destroy the Skeksis and the Dark Crystal together. Who does not know of his infamy? Who now can look into his twisted heart?

And if the Skeksis had felt less fear when their Crystal Bats told them of the surviving Gelfling, would they not have seen the urRu moving in procession toward the castle? When Jen struggled in the labyrinth, when skekTek the Scientist found his last elixir in the Lake of Fire, when the Great Conjunction approached, the minds of the Skeksis were forever in turmoil, their eyes always turned in the wrong direction. And when Jen brought the Shard to its rightful place in the Crystal Chamber, when Kira gave herself to the Skeksis' swords to win Jen's freedom, the hearts of the Skeksis were filled with terror. In vain then were the strength of skekUng the Garthim-Master, the wealth of skekShod the Treasurer, the cunning of skekSil the Chamberlain, the swift lies of skekShod the Ritual-Master.

As Kira lay felled beneath the swords of the Skeksis, as the Three Suns came to conjunction in glory, as the urRu marched into the castle, JEN HEALED THE CRYSTAL.

 

[137th Gebirg]

The Shard Restored:

Then with the Shard restored the three suns stood above the glowing Crystal and flooded it with light.

The stately urRu entered the Crystal Chamber, no longer weak and lost in dreams but mighty as a conquering army; and the healed Crystal of its own accord sent forth beams of light to them. UrRu and Skeksis joined again, entered the Crystal and returned again, and left our World to live in light. Where they are now, I cannot tell, nor for how long the urRu worked and prayed for their return.

But the shining Crystal poured forth all the songs of all the trine it had lain silent. Color and warmth and light returned; innumerable birds sang in the sparkling air. The rocks danced in their hearts for joy, and that joy will not fade. From the rich foliage of the forests glowed the fruits of the true Crystal, making each branch a tree of stars. And the Garthim that the Skeksis had dreamed vanished as a dream, the light and life that they had taken from their captives were restored, even to Kira. The heavens were fair, the Suns glorious, the earth fruitful, the air like a cloud of gold. I walked the forests that sang of freedom and the Crystal healed; and all shone as on the First Day.

I was born from the need of rocks and trees to have an eye to see the World; I have endured. The changes I have seen, and their pattern and their inner meaning, I have told to the blind trees and the dark rocks, for the shapes of the World are re-formed, the light rekindled.

THE END, at which the endless spinning world enjoins a new beginning . . .

 

[JD]

Alright! Having gone into the Wayback machine for habidabad.com (a wonderful site that seems to have died not long after February 2, 2017), I have pulled out all the pertinent text from "The Song of Aughra", that was transcribed from The World of the Dark Crystal.

In case you're wondering, "Habidabad" (a.k.a. "Habeetabat") was the original name of Aughra's character in early drafts of the story, when the character was male. After several revisions, they changed the gender and name to go with more of an "Earth Mother" vibe. Other accounts have Aughra as both male and female (with the male aspect named "Habidabad"), which was "burned away" by the first Great Conjunction, and only the female "Aughra" aspect survived.

Bolding is mine for certain passages that either apply to, or have been superseded by, Age of Resistance. This stuff is truly poetic to read; nearly biblical in its epic nature. I wish they hadn't changed some of the more significant backstory items...

I only kinda skimmed up to this point, but so far most of it seems fairly consistent with what was presented in Creation Myths, at least in terms of the general ideas, although some of the details are different. Raunip's role seems to be the biggest difference, so far at least.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah, I was really surprised when I was watching the credits and didn't at least see him as an executive producer or something.
They did say something about there having been discussions or at least that they have ideas for more Farscape at SDCC.

They've been talking about a film or something else for years now, so obviously they're interested in doing something but whether it actually gets green lighted is another matter. So until something more firms comes out, I'm holding back any excitement. But I do wonder if Brian's absence from this show means he's busy working something else more concrete and maybe it's Farscape?

I'm not anywhere near deep enough into the fandom to have any useful knowledge in that regard. All I know is that the disc came out in 2007 and most of the trivia pieces are descriptions of the various characters and places. A lot of it is taken up with naming all the skeksis, mystics and who everyone's counterpart and "parent" identity is. With all of it being so sparse and fairly obviously culled from existing BTS material, it would seem odd for someone to just make up a detail like that without a source of some kind.
If it helps any, the other detail that jumped out at me was the story of how the Skeksis originally tossed the shard down the mountainside, then later tossed a bunch of replicas so if found, the Gelflings wouldn't be a be to know which was real, hence Aughra having a whole bunch of shards when Jen arrived. If account crops up in another source then it's also probably where the symbol trivia originated.

Hm, interesting. I'm still curious to know who was actually behind the trivia section.

Alright! Having gone into the Wayback machine for habidabad.com (a wonderful site that seems to have died not long after February 2, 2017), I have pulled out all the pertinent text from "The Song of Aughra", that was transcribed from The World of the Dark Crystal.

In case you're wondering, "Habidabad" (a.k.a. "Habeetabat") was the original name of Aughra's character in early drafts of the story, when the character was male. After several revisions, they changed the gender and name to go with more of an "Earth Mother" vibe. Other accounts have Aughra as both male and female (with the male aspect named "Habidabad"), which was "burned away" by the first Great Conjunction, and only the female "Aughra" aspect survived.

Bolding is mine for certain passages that either apply to, or have been superseded by, Age of Resistance. This stuff is truly poetic to read; nearly biblical in its epic nature. I wish they hadn't changed some of the more significant backstory items...

Oof, that's a lot of reading! Like JD, I only skimmed parts of all of that, but I'll be interested to see how much of that actually makes it into the series. I also wonder if they'll update The World of the Dark Crystal with what has been developed for the series. In the IGN article, Lisa Henson notes that the writers had a lot more material developed than what was seen (only about six episodes worth of their original outline is in the first season), which is more or less confirmed by the io9 interview regarding held back material.

I only kinda skimmed up to this point, but so far most of it seems fairly consistent with what was presented in Creation Myths, at least in terms of the general ideas, although some of the details are different. Raunip's role seems to be the biggest difference, so far at least.

The writers mentioned in the interview I posted that they wanted to include him but there wasn't any room for the character for the story they wanted to tell. They said they wanted to focus on introducing the basic elements of the story first and if they get a second season, he'll likely get introduced.

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ If, true, it sounds like, at the very least, Creation Myths - and maybe a few other graphic novel series - will be considered canon going forward.

Yeah, apologies for the lengthy posts. I just wanted to get everything in there that I could find and get it all in one place. The original site it all came from has long disappeared, with the content therein spread across several pages, and there's always the fear that the information could be lost "in the blur of forgetfulness".

 

[Christopher]

Oof, that's a lot of reading!

Yeah, I only read the first couple of posts' worth.

Now, if it had been presented through the ancient and noble art of puppetry...

 

[JD]

If I'm correct and the official Dark Crystal website is the source of what is and isn't canon, then the canon would be Creation Myths, the novels, Age of Resistance, Legends of the Dark Crystal manga, The Dark Crystal Tales storybook, the movie, and Powers of the Dark Crystal.
I'm thinking this must not be up to date, because it doesn't include the last two novels, and if the first two books are canon then I would assume the second two are also since they're one ongoing series by the same author. Beneath the Dark Crystal isn't mentioned either.
There is no mention of World of the Dark Crystal, and since that is the only thing not on the list that came out before it was put together, I'm thinking it must have been made non-canon.
I'm little frustrated that the Legends manga are no longer in print, since they are the only things on the list not easily available.
EDIT: I was just looking through the site's encyclopedia entry on Aughra and it does have The World of the Dark Crystal as a source, so I guess they aren't totally ignoring it.

 

[Mr. Low Frequency]

Alright! Having gone into the Wayback machine for habidabad.com (a wonderful site that seems to have died not long after February 2, 2017), I have pulled out all the pertinent text from "The Song of Aughra", that was transcribed from The World of the Dark Crystal.

Bolding is mine for certain passages that either apply to, or have been superseded by, Age of Resistance. This stuff is truly poetic to read; nearly biblical in its epic nature. I wish they hadn't changed some of the more significant backstory items...

Thank you for posting all of that. Epic stuff. Makes me think too that the inconsistencies might not be, but just our limited pov (much like the Gelflings have) of the overarching myth. All of the seeming differences, between the series and movie, that had me confused over the first few episodes came together nicely by the end. Hopefully the full story gets to be told.

It also makes me kind of want a Game of Thrones puppet show. Once the novels are all done that is.