#darkcrystal #darkcrystalageofresistance Welcome back to another explained video! Today i will be covering all the Skeksis known in Thra, with their specific roles and personalities. Follow me on Twitter! @DreamfastMe
Everyone seemed very close to him, even Aughra. Or they all at least respected him quite a bit. I think it's because even at his worst, he was far closer to Thra than the others and remained the least changed.
I also think maybe since she also had a close friendship with the Archer, maybe she was close friends with the UrSkek who became the Archer and Hunter.
Carly Crays I’m reminded of how he collapsed in the throne room and all the skeksi rushed to the aid of their “fallen brother” He was certainly very unique among his brethren, and a very interesting character.
Augra always considered the hunter to have the abs most chiseled and twight of all the Skekis. She was said to have suggested that he take the name “Skekspack” but it didn’t catch on.
It's interesting that skekSa was described as being somewhat benevolent, and was a skeksis that stayed far away from the Dark Crystal, like skekMal. skekMal seemed like the healthiest skeksis - maybe keeping distance from the Dark Crystal was actually beneficial to them.
skekGra also seems healthier. It seems like the Crystal, combined by their rich but poor diet and lack of physical activity, probably made things worse for them. I imagine most of the Skeksis who live outside the Castle look better.
It is even said she was very close with the Vapra clan of Gelflings, to the point that they reached her how to navigate the treacherous seas of Thra. However during the Garthim wars the Vapra cut all ties with her, which lead her to become just like the other Skeksis. However she grew to hate SkekSo the most, because she blamed him for all the people she cared, abandoning her... I do believe that by the end she rebelde and SkekSo killed her.
Skeksis are not evil The are the vices of the complete beings Or at least what they believe to be vices But what they did after spliting themselves the lost motivation and remained stagnant
No I think the gelflings refer the them as a girl, skekSa was the only one who lived with the gelflings so that's probably why she's the only one who decided to identify as anything really. Skeksis don't reproduce, there's no male or female!
Technically yes. I'm guessing they're asexual, and by extension genderless, so they did have preferences to what they identified as. So yes, SkekLach is male. So is the one with all the flashy clothes and makeup (SkekOk?)
I hope in Season 2 we get some flashbacks to how the Skeksis were right after the Great Division. All sources say that they were actually good at ruling Thra
Skeksis: Every one of them is dark and evil, really scary and creepy, has their own different and unique quality and characteristic to them...needless to say, Skeksis are one of the best and greatest antagonists to have ever been made and created for a series and movie.
@buymebluepills I wanted to get the politics out of this discussion and so I made a joke. But you want it absolute. I talked about the bad qualities of the skeksis that we all have in us like arrogance, averice for power, a hunger that can't be stilled, spitefulness, devious manner and no care for the environment. It sound more like an oil baron who can't get enough than a teenage girl who is scared for her future. If you ask me she is more like Rian who nobody want to believe and when somebody believe her than there are the Seladons who don't want to see the truth. I love dark crystal, but this behaviour of yours to bring politics in a discussion that should simply be fun is idiotic.
I was really surprised that the Chamberlain actually fought in the war at the end of the age of resistance. I expected him to hide during the fight in order to survive in the name of self preservation.
SkekMal is my favorite He's a certified badass, he can give even the greatest warriors a run for their money, all the other Skesis are afraid of him, and he's basically the Predator
Skek Mal running and climbing trees super fast is the scariest thing ever. Compared to the other Skeksis slow movements he just looked so creepy sprinting
skekSil's movements in the movie when he finds Jen and Kira creep me out. Before, the Skeksis all have such slow and jerky movements, and yet in that one scene, he's practically gliding around the set. It's creepy!
I’ve always held a particular love for skekTek. He is the most under appreciated and mistreated of the Skeksis and suffers from terrible isolation, and yet he has performed undoubtedly evil actions, such as the draining of Gelfling essence. I often wonder if he works because he wants to secure his own interests and extend his life, or if he wants to prove himself to the other Skeksis
Yeah, I’ve been taking notes on his behavior. It seems that he only has his animals to keep him company, as stated by the Emperor himself. He also hasn’t gotten any praise for finding out how to drain essence, but rather was scolded for not repairing the machine fast enough and almost having his animal companion strangled to death by the Emperor for an estimate on how many Gelfling he needed to drain. When he was left behind, which as you pointed out upset him very much, he started partying in an almost drunk line state in the throne room. I also noted that he behaved more like the General when the Gruenaks betrayed him, bashing one to death in a scene with gruesomeness only seconded to the peeper beetle.
@@ethandilloway268 I had not thought of that. After being abused by the Emperor and the General, he starts acting like them when they are not there. The bullied becomes the bully.
Yeah, it’s a shame that the other Skeksis treated him to the point of nervous breakdown. I did, however, realize something important regarding the Gruenaks once more. Most of the Gruenaks were killed by the Skeksis, but the Chamberlain got the two after they were discovered by Sifa mariners. Now the Scientist needs Gruenaks to make Garthim, so would it not be a stretch to say that the Mariner Skeksis would be tasked with bringing the Scientist these necessary components? If this does happen, I would very much like to witness the relationship between the two Skeksis in their quest to build an army
Some clarification: Skeksis are both male and female in one, according to Jim Henson. Most just choose to go by “he.” SkekEct is just one of the more effeminate ones. SkeSa is an exception (maybe she learned it from the Gelfling?) Same goes for the Mystics and Mother Augra. Though obviously Mother Augra goes by “she.” I don’t think there’s anything wrong with thinking of them as gendered, exactly. But the concept is likely either pointless or alien to them.
Well, they had to get someone who could sound very similar to Steve Whitmire's SkekTek (from the 1982 film). The same applies to Barry Dennen's performance of SkekSil (the Chamberlain). Simon Pegg came in to fill Barry's shoes, and he did a pretty darn good job. It would be very odd to hear those characters (+ other film Skeksis) with very different voices . It really didn't matter for the Emperor (SkekSo), as his voice was very raspy on his deathbed in the film. So, Jason Isaac's did a great job in his performance of the Emperor in his waning years in the Netflix prequel.
@@Sarah.R.R One thing a lot of reviews listed as a negative was how so many of the VAs are unrecognizable as the Skeksis. Well, the thing is, fans didn't want Simom Pegg or Mark Hamil or Keegan-Michael Key, we wanted the Skeksis from the movie and that is what they gave us.
Mark Hamill is amazing, the ultimate super hero ever, and the ultimate super villain ever. He was so fun as skekTek, I think he might have been channeling Hubert Farnsworth for his "mad scientism".
I remember that the creators said in a very old making of they never specified the gender of the skeksis and mystics. And I like it pretty much! So the charakters decide what they want to be.
Ritual Master was my favorite in the 1982 film. He had that rich, deep voice and he always seemed to be the one with a plan. He’s the one that deems that Chamberlain must pay for failing trial by stone. He’s the one that deals with Auhgra at the feast. He’s the one that summons the crystal bats (which were actually successful at finding Jen and Kira) He’s the one that insists on killing the Gelfling immediately instead of draining their essence. He’s the one that ultimately stabs Kira. He just seemed to be the best fit for Emperor. Instead of the brutish Garthem Master, or the self-serving Chamberlain.
But that's his thing, staying around to deal more with the details and let someone else deal with the big picture. But really, without him, the Skeksis would likely have had a much worse time.
I'm too skeksy for my love Too skeksy for my love Love's going to leave me I'm too skeksy for my shirt Too skeksy for my shirt So skeksy it hurts And I'm too skeksy for Milan Too skeksy for Milan New York, and Japan I'm too skeksy for your party Too skeksy for your party No way I'm disco dancing!
Great work, I think the Hunter is my favourite character, he is so scary and badass, and I like is appearance so much, Brian Froud did an amazing job once again.
4:35 When the Emperor mentioned holding a funeral for the Hunter, Skekzok mentions Skekhak and Skekyi in passing when he said, "No Skesis has died, not since the beginning." I think he was referring to their deaths!
Skeksil was only temporarily stripped of his Robes, Title, and Place amongst The Other Skekses. After bringing Kira before The Skekses Council in #TheDarkCrystal Movie. The New Emperor Skekung actually commanded that Skeksil be reinstated as Chamberlain
@@ars81083 I think it's highly likely that The Skekses Council operates on a very severe system of Meritocracy. Small infractions will get a Skekse beaten by the others or even possibly have a limb or an eye removed as we saw with SkekTek The Scientist. More severe infractions will have a Skekse sent into exile, but there's always a chance that they could win back the favor they had lost as Skeksil did in both The Movie and The Netflix Prequel Series
You know I’ve always had an uncanny obsession with the ritual master, the first time I saw him in age of resistance, he just caught my eye, he has such a booming clear voice and such clear emotion on his face, and he is the only one with garb that I really like
My favorite Skeksis is Sektek because of his absolute mad scientist character type, If there is ever a season two I'd like to see him try to get back at Chamberlain for his punishment
As promised, here is my Every Skeksis video! I can see i'm already at 55 subs, 5 beyond my next goal! So i'll be getting to work on my skekGra and urGoh video next. *Next goal for this channel will be, of course, 100 subscribers!* Keep sharing these videos and building the community! As always, thank you so much for all your support! I will also be doing a special Q&A for my 100 subscriber video. EDIT: Both skekLach and skekEkt are now updated as female characters in the new books!
I am subscribing after this video. I thought it was very enlightening and I enjoyed knowing more about my favorite childhood movie. to be honest! I did not know there was more... beyond the movie for the longest time.
what a great channel!!!! i have been thrust into the dark crystal word after binging age of resistance and just wanted to know more. you have shared so much interesting stuff through your videos! thank you so much and can't wait for what you got next!
I hope the narrator of this video realizes how rich full and engaging his voice is as he informs us of the background of Thra.. I'm a guy and I have a complete crush on him already. 🐴
Fun coincidence. In the original film, Skektek's cybernetic eyes was made out of the pieces of a model TIE fighter. Which is why it became deliciously ironic that Mark Hamill does his voice now.
Thanks for this as a child my step mother introduced me to the movie. Now with this show I'm about 7 episodes in and loving it. Need to get the books next. This will help me understand the series more! Thanks I have subbed!
Ooo gall there really is no comparison really! The Disney if u call em star wars can't even begin to touch the golden age of resistance...to mention them both in the same sentence may be going to far!
It's amazing how deep they've gone with The Dark Crystal. I just remember this for the last 42 to years being like, "Yeah I remember that s***. It gave me nightmares for like 8 months when I was around 5 years old".
I love this video!! I've been trying really hard to learn up about tdc lore and this was really well done!! Id love to see more videos discussing character lore, or maybe even a timeline of all the books and films and how they complete the story
Skek'Sa should appear in Season 2 of Age of Resistance, along with the Treasurer and others, as part of a meeting of the Skeksis. The Mariner could demonstrate their trait of lavishing gifts upon her Fellows and Friends, which would include the Treasurer, which could be used as an excuse to explain the aspects of both characters related to Gifts, that the Mariner gives gifts and The Treasurer remembering history through when they received gifts.
I was incredibly disappointed that they only name dropped him once, and never showed him even in a flash cameo for like two seconds. He is a super important character to not show AT ALL in Season 1, IMO. If they're going to have a Season 2, they had better feature him heavily.
Important to note: the skeksis and uru are genderless... this was established by Henson and his creative team in the original film :) Though the Mariner is the only one that identifies as female. SkekEkt & Skeklach are just more ‘effeminate’.
Anyone else wish SkekMal didn't die? He was one of the more interesting Skeksis and I would have loved to learn more about him and his hunts all over Thra.
@@trimtroom SkekLach is voiced by a female in Age of Resistance, but the character is supposed to be male. SkekEkt was definitely male in the original movie. I think it has been made female now just because of the delicate...nature of having a foppish or comically gay character in modern media.
He is (or ID's as) male: this mostly thanks to Jim Henson, who when realizing they created too many male characters but only 2 females in the film, decided to effeminate the Ornamentalist. However, he purposefully kept it ambiguous, likely to go with the Alien origin of the UrSkeks, who themselves are neither male nor female. That is my understanding.
@@EggyBreadWorkshop he doesn't have to be gay to be flamboyant. plenty of straight men sound like women, act like women and havehappy wives with many children. Todd Chrisley for example.
SkekMal is probably my all time favorite Skesis. SkekGra is a close second just because he's the only good Skeksis who wants the unification to happen between Mystics and Skesis. But SkekMal, I consider him an absolute badass who doesn't mess around. He puts his money where his mouth is. Loved how they added these ones into the series. The Series was amazing but these Skesis only made it better.
in a way, I kind of wish they started the new series with the creation of skeksis and urRu then Time skip to age of resistance. Might been interesting their take on that.
We might still get it. That being said, given what we know about the initial Skeksis designs, those puppets would be pretty tricky. The current Skeksis are more or less designed to be puppets. Huge, painful puppets that require half a dozen people to operate, but puppets.
@@carlycrays2831 Very true, they'd probably end up being more like a full body Muppet, like big bird and having the back arms Remote controlled with animatronics.
Doesn't "Flames of the Dark Crystal" imply that skekSa and urSan were the split halves of the Dark Heart urSkeks? Also, skekShod deserves a POV fanfiction taking place during the events of the movie. He is the most quiet of the Skeksis, but clearly a complex character.
A theory flying around is it was MalVa who was the dark heart UrSkek, who (and this part is MY theory) after the split is the Skeksis that goes rogue and kills urYa/skekYi and urHom/skekHak, explaining why the Skeksis are fearful of him.
i dislike that, i buy into the theory that it was silsol. after all ursol is the “singer” and it also makes sense that the most important urskek plot-wise would turn into a major character
He also said that he made the Ordamentalist more feminine to round out the nearly all male cast. Given the current social climate, I don't see the issue with playing with gender when it comes to the Skeksis.
Given the current "climate", honesty and truth are more important than ever, in order to prevent more distortion of reality, even in fiction. If you want a fantasy series about mentally ill people, write one yourself.
@@youtubecensors5419 But one can argue that the Skeksis are already mentally ill. And if you read Henson's stuff, then you'll read that their gender was always meant to be a bit ambiguous. He hired female artists specifically to give the costumes a feminine flair.
@@carlycrays2831 I understand your need to force your religion into every aspect of reality, that's Progressive Orthodoxy. But none of them were written or intended to be female, according to their creator, and just because a woman cut my hair yesterday doesn't make me trans, as you imply in regards to a few designers working on a project. Have a good one.
I'm not blaming you for getting this wrong But in an official information page for skeklach she's referred to as female, or at least used she/her pronouns (She's also one of my favs lol)
Since the Skeksis has no gender (they are 'an uncomfortable mixture of both') Skeklach is considered effeminate, yet not a "female" per se. She goes by she/her pronouns, but she's not a female.
I enjoy that with the limitations of having to create such puppets that'll have to be trained with and need to withstand the vigors of a full feature film shoot, the creators of the Dark Crystal crafted a mythology to cover such a small cast while making the story interesting and non convolted (for its need to explain their lack of characters) and the writers put forth a great explaination of population and situation.
Didn't the Scrollkeeper refer to the collector as female in AOR? I believe it's in the scene where Brea is with them in their carriage. EDIT: Nvm, no gender was mentioned. Just a conversation about SkekLach's beauty (or lack thereof).
@@greengreeneya2102 Where have you read that they are both? All I have ever read or heard about the Uru and Skeksis, is that they are completely genderless beings. Because they are unnatural, and not meant to have physical bodies like they do. The split that divided them was unnatural, creating unnatural, split states of existence for them. On the same token, technically speaking, Aughra isn't truly a "She" either, but an "It". On the one hand, Aughra is the "Earth Mother" is a way, so she definitely has feminine features, to a point. But Aughra is also the only one of her kind, an ethereal being taken physical form, and cannot reproduce. She had a "son" in the pre-AOR lore, which is something else I'm disappointed they didn't even mention briefly, who never trusted the UrSkek, even though they weren't evil (or good). He was the one who accidentally caused their split, in a way, during the last Great Conjunction. But "he" wasn't really her son, either. She apparently fashioned him in her likeness (somewhat) out of a strange meteorite she found, and gave him life. It would be nice if they showed even one flashback of him, and acknowledge his existence if they are going to have Season 2.
@@Retrorevelations All Skeksis are also "IT". Skeksis are not divided on genders. They are not males or females. They are hermaphrodites. They have attributes of both genders. They just can identify itself (have personality) more as males or females. Same is with UrSkeks.
My favorite is honestly skektek always has been even though he wasn’t in the movie as much as others I just always liked his eyeball, and obviously skekso in the AoR, but yea skekgra was a personal favorite in AoR
So did Skek Zok create the Crystal Bats, since he was the one who controlled them in the movie, or were they more likely created by the scientist, like the Garthim were, and Skek Zok was just given control over them since he was best able to use them?
Considering the bats have the purple glow of the Dark Crystal for "eyes", SkekTek might have created them, using torn female Gelfling wings, as a weapon against flying Gelflings (Deet and Maudra Fara could fly, and even Kira had semi-flight) as the Garthim were incapable of flight themselves. As for SkekZok commanding them, it is a possibility, considering SkekUng's secondary title is "Garthim Master".
I just want them to introduce skekShod and be like, "And this is skekShod. He's rather slow since the Emperor beat him half to death with his scepter, but we occasionally let him out of the basement."
@giselle elixus They're adorable! I can't be really afraid of them...except for in the movie when you suddenly have skekSil flying around the ruins. That scene creeped me out
@giselle elixus They're adorable! I can't be really afraid of them...except for in the movie when you suddenly have skekSil flying around the ruins. That scene creeped me out
As someone who just went on a Dark Crystal lore dive recently. I feel like you just read through the Dark Crystal wiki. Not sure if that really matters to anyone, but I think it would be nice if you wrote things in your own words. Also, while skekHak and skekYi did technically die from those reasons you mentioned, it is very much worth noting that they died because they killed their urRu counterparts in those manners. One skeksis threw his counterpart into the Crystal's shaft and the other one choked his urRu counterpart to death.
The Skeksis are perhaps the best examples of how most evil beings are: afraid of death above all else, and will stop at nothing to preserve their power, while seeking more.
How did skekmal stay healthy?? He said in the series “ only the hunt matters “ does that mean with eating his pray he took their essence ? In his own way? He was not that present in the castle when the rest was cheating death
I think is about staying fit. He roaming out and hunting a lot. So that helps a lot maintain his health and fitness. If I recall when they removed his mask, his face actually has more wrinkles than the others. But yet he is more healthy than any of them. He is like old but with really good health and fitness
Maybe staying away from the crystal was actually beneficial - he found other things to devote himself to rather than constant greed and decay and intrigue.
@@kuaikukia Hm, I'm not sure if these are suppose to be wrinkles. To me he just looked "leaner" because he was hunting, as compared to the decadence the other Skeksis lived in and got fat. But even then, this still begs the question how he was able to survive so long. Either he was able to absorb essence via other means, i.e. by living close to "Thra" or Skeksi do not need the essence to begin with (With it simply just being more a drug to them, with heavy withdrawal-symptoms).
@@Deckaio Same reason. He's got to get out and find food, probably lives a somewhat active lifestyle, and lives a pretty low-stress lifestyle compared to the constant shit that happens at the castle. We also know that skekSa apparently looks pretty good compared to the other Skeksis. She's even apparently managed to keep her feathers.
Thanks for clearing that up. I was sure Skek Var (the General) must be Skek Ung (the General), just older and was curious as to how he had returned to life by the time of the film. I was thinking this must be something covered then in a future season. Guess they're different Skeksis.
I think he, like all of the Skeksis, were putting on an act for the Gelflings...sort of. But whatever negative qualities they had before were made ten times worse by the essense
They already have sixteen Skeksis confirmed as canon in the series and original film; Emperor SkekSo, Chamberlain SkekSil, Generals SkekVar and SkekUng, Ritual Master SkekZok, Scientist SkekTek, Gourmand SkekAyuk, Ornamentalist SkekEkt, Scroll Keeper SkekOk, Slave Master SkekNa, Treasurer SkekShod, Hunter SkekMal, Conqueror SkekGra, Collector SkekLach, Mariner SkekSa, and Satirist SkekLi. How could they possibly erase SkekHak or SkekYi from canonical existence?
I wish netflix never canceled the dark crystal series. They say it was because of cost. I don't believe that because it got critical acclaims. And it seems no one wants to take it up. Why?
Excellent video! Is there a reason why you didn't mention Dark Heart? I've been trying very hard to learn more about him, but it seems google can only tell me so much.
