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| Gelflings and Skeksis |
A Review of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance by Nick Olszyk
MPAA Rating, TV-PG
USCCB Rating, Not Rated
Reel Rating, Four
Reels
I was eight
when I first saw The Dark Crystal, and it scared me to death. The grotesque
wrinkles of the Skeksis and lifeless eyes of the Garthim were far too much to
handle. Yet despite my dread, I felt inexplicitly drawn to Jim Henson’s world
and re-entered the living room as often as I left it. Now comes the prequel
series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which is just as dark but
far more sophisticated and complex. Both the original film and its prequel
promote a strong pantheistic ethic, but in age that is becoming deprived of any
ethics whatsoever, that’s not necessarily a major drawback.
Thra
is a planet dominated by the Skeksis, vulture-like creatures who draw their power
from a mysterious object called the Dark Crystal. Under the thumb of the
Skeksis are the Gelflings, elvish creatures broken into seven clans, each with
a unique personality and set of skills. Their worldview becomes upset when Rain
(Taron Egerton), a castle guard, witnesses the Skeksis using the Crystal to
drain his girlfriend’s essence to unnaturally prolong their lifespan. At first,
no one believes him, and Rain becomes a fugitive. He is soon joined by the
princess Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy), who keeps having visions of a strange symbol,
and the cave farmer Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel), who was a given a prophecy about an
eschatological entity called the Darkening. Together, they must unite the
clans, defeat the Skeksis, and stop the destruction of Thra.
One
of the great gifts that television or cinema can give is visual awe, like Dorothy
seeing the Land of Oz in color for the first time. Age of Resistance achieves
this experience through one of the most detailed fantasy landscapes in recent
memory. Every one of the nearly seventy sets, from the vast foliage of
Stone-in-the-Wood to the luminous caves of Grotten to the harsh emptiness of
the Skeksis castle, is lovingly crafted without a CGI image in sight. So too,
every new chapter revealed compelling characters and an ever increasingly intriguing
mythology.
Another
strong aspect was its adherence to traditional Campellian archetypes. It’s a
fad now to amend or even upset traditional tropes in fantasy, but Age of
Resistance brilliantly demonstrates that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
Rain is the classic hero who must save the realm and even gets his own version
of Excalibur. Deet and her podling companion Hop (Victor Yerrid) are great
personality foils. She is sweet, kind, and intelligent. He is aggressive, impulsive,
and clueless. The Skeksis are truly evil with no talk of redemption. There is
good, bad, and good will triumph.
Like
the original, Age of Resistance advocates a pantheistic ethic through
the concept of all becoming one. The Skeksis deliberately sough division among
the Gelfling clans to keep them weak. Characters are constantly complaining
that Deet “smells” and is “dirty” because her clan lives in caves. The prophetic
Vapra are perceived as greedy and “never do anything for free.” It’s no
accident that the three main protagonists are each from a different clan or
that Rain and Deet develop romantic feelings for one another. It is Brea who
discovers that “no clan is better than another” and that they must unite to defeat
their common enemy.
This theme of
unity by itself is not explicitly pantheistic, but the series unveils more
clues as it progresses. Before the Skeksis, Thra was ruled by Mother Aughra (Donna
Kimball), a strange creature who has the traditional Hindu “third eye.” When anything
dies it “returns to Thra” to be born again. In this way, everything is the same.
The Skeksis themselves are only half a being, spiritually united with the
peaceful Mystics, manatee-like wizards who speaks frustratingly slow. Whenever
a Mystic or Skeksis is hurt or dies, its counterpart experiences the same
thing.
Pope St. John Paul
II once said his favorite Bible passage was John 8:32, “You will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free.” Although largely subconscious, Age
of Resistance does a brilliant job illustrating this theme. The Skeksis control
Thra by spinning an elaborate mythology regarding their own power. They are
immortal, all powerful, and superior to any other race. By paying tithes and
submitting to the Skeksis’ will, the Gelfling clans will have peace and order. In
truth, they are mortal and not even originally from Thra. When Rain threatens
to expose the Skeksis, the Chamberlain eases their fear. “Even if he tells,
they will not believe,” he hisses. “To believe him is to not believe themselves.”
Despite mounting evidence, the new Gelfling leader Seladon (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) refuses
to abandon her loyalty to the Skeksis, going so far as to fight against the
rebel Gelflings. “We must obey the lords,” she insists even as their demands become
more and more severe. Yet there comes a point where the Skeksis thirst for
Gelfling essence is so strong they drop the façade and freely admit their
crimes to Seladon with howling laughter. It’s the most devastating scene in the
series and drives home the point that negotiating with evil is never beneficial.
God won’t compromise with evil to do good, but evil will willingly allow some
good to bring about bigger sin.
The series ends
with a large enough gap for another season, and it can’t come soon enough. Age
of Resistance is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for
children, but beautifully cuts through the mire of post-modern spiritual trash.
Even if its target is off, aiming for Buddha rather than Christ, it’s a lot
closer than most of its contemporaries.
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