Fighting Back
With the traitors rounded up, episode 6 of Dark Crystal begins with The General imprisoning the Gelfling, intent on bringing them before The Emperor. With a final scream, Brea calls on Lore to help her as the convoy moves away. On the outskirts of the city, Rian, Gurjin and the others round up their forces and follow from afar. As Seladon tries to settle in to her new role, Lore smashes his way out the ground and hurries after Brea. In the middle of the forest, the General and the other Skeksis make a quick get-away as Rian and the rogue Gelfling free the prisoners, with Lore’s help. As all the Gelfling band together, Rian dream-fasts with them while Seladon says goodbye to her Mother. Defying the burial rites, she allows the power to go to her head. In the Stone-In-The-Woods, Chamberlain arrives and finds the first pockets of rebellion rise up. As he’s attacked with rocks, the villagers shout “drainer” at him and pelt him with stones and mud. Forcing him out, he hurries away while The General and The Ritual Master return to the Castle. Once there, one of the rogue guards tell them what really happened and implore them to spread the word in order to take back the castle. Meanwhile in the Crystal Desert, Lore leads the way for the rest of the ragtag Gelfling tribe to follow. Deciding to set up camp for the night, Brea mourns her Mother while Deet tries to comfort her. Unable to head back to Ha’Rar, they say goodbye around the flickering hunger of the camp fire. Out in the woods though, Aughra says her goodbyes to the old Mystic before heading to Stone-In-The Woods to prevent a great tragedy from occurring. Back at the castle, the Skeksis thwart the pockets of rebellion for now, chasing the Gelfling down and fighting while Seladon continues to descend into madness, refusing to believe the truth. Chamberlain returns and learns The General killed the All-Maudra and the rebelling guards soon after. Deciding to capitalise on this, Chamberlain returns to the Emperor’s side, where chaos grips the throne room, with the Skeksis drinking bowls of essence. Deciding they need more, they welcome the rebellion as a way of draining more Gelflin,g before forcing Chamberlain out the room and into the bath, while the guards are rounded up and thrown in a cage. Once there, they find Princess Tevra who learns about her Mother’s death from the other guards. In the Crystal Desert, the rebels awaken to find Lore on edge and standing guard while The Dousan, a forbidden clan, arrive on a large winged beast. As they drop a ladder, two characters descend and express their sympathies for the losses the group have faced so far. The man happens to be Rek’Yir, and he offers to take them across the Crystal Desert to the circle. Despite initial hesitancy, the clan member takes Rian, Hup, Deet and Brea across the plains on his winged beast while The Hunter watches on from the ground. With the Princesses joined together, Seladon snubs the All-Maudra crown and turns her back on her heritage. Instead, she decides to defile her legacy and grabs Fara, throwing her to the ground. Turning her back on Seladon, she calls forth the Paladins and banishes Fara from the palace, a place now forever corrupted by Skelsis influence. As the final pieces come into play for the struggle ahead, Dark Crystal continues to impress. Seladon’s descent into madness matches her costume choices too, embracing dark clothing and make-up choices. It’s a subtle touch but one that plays into the idea of her turning mad along with the desperation felt by the other characters. With all our heroes now together and aligning for the final battle to come, Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance sets its pieces up nicely for the upcoming conflict and based on what we’ve seen so far, it looks set to be an explosive and action-packed one too.
