That's where I'll leave off with the story. There is CGI, of course, filling in the gaps, but overall this is live-action. We meet lots of other characters, too, in what can only be described as a sprawling cast, voiced by talented (and often quite famous) actors, and puppeteered by the best puppeteers in the business. We meet our heroes in the first episode: The young guard Rian of the Stonewood clan who discovers terrible secrets about the Skeksis' dark new plans Deet of the subterranean Grottan, who sees visions of the Darkening, a terrible black magic corrupting Thra and Brea, daughter of the matriarchal ruler the All-Maudra, who wants to know the truth at any cost. The Dark Crystal Skeksis Credit: Netflix / The Jim Henson Company The Podlings do the more menial labor, and so a sort of caste system exists, with the deplorable, hideous, disgusting Skeksis at the very top, led by their cruel Emperor. They serve as their guards and pay inordinate tithes. By the time the story picks up, pretty much all the Gelfling revere and worship the Skeksis as something akin to gods. They also subjugated the Gelfling and other species of Thra, bending them to their will and titling themselves the Lords of the Crystal. And while she slept, they began to draw upon the power of the Crystal of Truth, slowly corrupting it until it became. They gave her a device that allowed her to send her spirit out into the universe, to travel the stars while she slept. This bird-like alien species fled their own planet and came to Thra, where they tricked its guardian, Aughra (Donna Kimball) to leave the Crystal of Truth under their protection. Seven clans of Gelfling exist, scattered about the world-in its deserts and caves, its deep forests and shining cities, even out on its glimmering seas.īut then, two thousand trine ago, the Skeksis came to Thra. These vaguely humanoid creatures are the primary species of Thra. The native species of Thra include a multitude of critters and beasts, giant worms and flying stingrays, adorable Podlings and, most important of all, the Gelfling. We know how the tale ends, in the apocalyptic wasteland of the original film, but the journey there was, tragically, cut short.Deet and Hup Credit: Netflix / The Jim Henson Company The crumbling palace of the Skeksis, their constant betrayals, lust for power, and overwhelming obsession with bleeding out the lifeforce of their subjective population, might be more timely than ever, but we won’t get to see how their story, or that of the Gelflings, plays out. Nowadays, puppetry isn’t something viewers get to see on television often, and when they do, it tends to supplement computer-generated imagery, rarely forming the basis of the show. It’s a shame to think of the stories we’re losing, due to shows being sliced before they’ve had a chance to truly develop, and grow their fanbase. Where Netflix really went wrong with the show, however, was cancelling it before it had the chance to grow into itself (the same mistake was made with Tuca & Bertie, which was eventually picked up by Adult Swim).īojack Horseman, one of Netflix’s greatest originals, didn’t show its strength until the second half of season one, and only grew more interesting and inventive as the show progressed. It was far from the only Netflix show in desperate need of a trim, but combined with that lack of emotional expression, likely led to a lot of viewers losing patience. Netflix also has a problem when it comes to bloated runtimes an episode of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance could run anywhere from forty minutes to an hour, and, sometimes, that length felt unjustified.
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