End, Begin, All the Same…

The first episode of Age of Resistance introduces the world of Thra, the heart of which is called the Crystal of Truth. 

*** A Spoiler Warning for DC:AoR is now in effect! *** 

Main Characters

• Rian, a young warrior of the Stonewood clan who serves at the Crystal Castle as a guard. He witnesses a horrific incident that forces him to go on the run and question everything he thinks he knows about the Skeksis. 
• Brea, a Vapran princess and youngest daughter of the All-Maudra (Queen of Gelflings) who spends most of her time following intellectual pursuits. She witnesses an injustice that spurs her to uncover the truth behind Skeksis rule. 
• Deethra “Deet”, a Grottan woman who cares for the creatures around her and is given a vision from Thra itself. Thus, she sets out on a quest to warn the All-Maudra and unite the Gelfling against a force that threatens the whole world. 

Analysis of Key Scenes and Characters. 

The Skeksis and the Crystal of Truth. 

Summary. 

“Another world. Another time. Another age. Thra, a wonderous world circling three Suns. And at its center, the Crystal of Truth, the heart of Thra and the source of all life. Since the land was young, Aughra protected the Crystal, for she knew that the Crystal connected all the creatures of Thra. But closest to her heart were the Gelfling. Seven clans of Gelfling call Thra home. From the proud Vapra in the mountain city of Ha’rar, the most cultured of the Gelfling, who rule over the Seven Clans, to the fierce Stonewood, who dwell in the Endless Forest, renowned for their prowess in battle, and the gentle Grottan, who live deep beneath the ground, in perfect harmony with all of Thra, forgotten by the world above. For uncounted millennia, all of Thra existed in perfect balance. But then, new beings came, not of Thra: the Skeksis. They bewitched Aughra with stories of the Universe, and built her an orrery, so that she might discover the mysteries of the cosmos for herself. And so, Aughra turned her eye to the stars, and entrusted the Crystal of Truth to the Skeksis. Almost a thousand trine have passed since the Skeksis declared themselves Lords of Thra. Now, once again, the Skeksis gather in secret as another day dawns, to steal life from the Crystal they have sworn to protect. So they may replenish themselves; cheat death, by harnessing the power of their treasure, their prize, their prisoner, the Dark Crystal.” 

The episode opens with the Skeksis doing their usual daily ritual, the Ceremony of the Sun, again feeling no increase in vitality over the last few days, with skekAyuk the Gourmand stating that they’ve leeched too much of the Crystal’s power, prompting the rest of them to realize that if the Crystal won’t give them any more energy, it’s only a matter of time before they succumb to old age. The Scientist tells the group that he is working on a solution to their predicament, at which Emperor skekSo reminds them that they are the Lords of the Crystal and that they are eternal at any cost. He dismisses the others for their duties, though he keeps skekTek the Scientist close, who tells him that he has still found no way to circumvent the apparent absence of energy from the Crystal, only to be forced to get back to work, neither of them knowing that skekSil the Chamberlain, ever the Machiavellian, was keenly listening. 

“The Gelfling know nothing of the Skeksis’ crimes. The truth must come to light. The fires of rebellion must be lit, and a new age must begin. The Crystal of Truth has been corrupted. That corruption spreads throughout Thra and into its creatures. Even the ones locked in the Skeksis’ cages. Captives, until today.” 

Not long afterwards, the Scientist is fucking around with the Crystal, bombarding it with electricity to provide it with a power source, learning that not only is it not giving energy, it is taking it away when he sees his own essence being sucked into the Crystal at a dangerous rate, only being saved by the timely intervention of the Chamberlain, who gives him the idea to exploit the Crystal’s new properties to siphon the life energy of Gelflings for the Skeksis. 

Analysis. 

What struck me most about the Skeksis and their relationship with the Crystal is that they portray themselves to the Gelfling as benevolent god-kings whose sole aim is to protect the Crystal, and by extension, all of Thra while the true guardian, Mother Aughra, journeys through the Universe via astral projection. For the past 1,000 trine (years), the Gelfling have lived (or were groomed into, rather) believing that the Skeksis have only ever sought the best interests of all in Thra, not realizing that the Skeksis never cared about them. Like skekTek, some scientists who work for the corporations poisoning the Earth know that human activity is the main driver in accelerating climate change and pollution, but they deny it to the public and to their employers, whether by threat of firing or by their own greed which is akin to their employers.

Rian and Ordon. 

Summary. 

As two of the Skeksis, skekOk the Scroll-keeper (geek with several pairs of glasses on his long beak) and skekLach the Collector (challenge of a lifetime for Dr. Pimple-popper), prepare to leave the Castle for the annual tithing ceremony in Ha’rar, Rian and his love Mira approach his father Ordon, who is the current Captain of the Castle Guard, to tell him that they saw that a Spitter (giant arachnid creature called Arathim) had entered the Castle. They don’t get the chance to inform him as he scolds them for pilfering food meant for the Skeksis, expressing frustration that his son isn’t taking his role as a Guard seriously. Ordon, having been ordered to accompany skekOk and skekLach to Ha’rar, departs the Castle, leaving Rian to mull over the distance in their relationship. 

Analysis. 

One key aspect of Ordon’s character is when he summarizes the Oath of the Castle Guard: “We protect the Lords, the Lords protect the Crystal. When one of us fails in our duty, we all fail!” “By the Crystal!” He, much like generations of Gelfling before him, have been taught to believe that the Skeksis are their gods, for lack of a better understanding, that he and now his son have the privilege of serving and more-or-less living with. This will likely be relatable to anyone who has worked in positions of close contact with high-profile and influential people: Secret Service agents and other security personnel likely feel a sense of prestige to some degree to be working or fighting alongside their employer, as well as likely being well-paid. People who’ve grown up in military families may also relate to Rian’s experience of emotional distance between himself and his father, as kids in many military families may have strained relationships with their servicemember loved ones. 

Brea, Tavra, Seladon, and the All-Maudra Mayrin. 

Summary. 

As the Scroll-keeper and the Collector approach Ha’rar, Princess Brea is in the library illustrating in her journal and driving the poor old librarian batty with her constant requests for more books. Her next oldest sister, Princess Tavra, who is the warrior of the family, enters the library and informs Brea that she successfully convinced their mother to allow Brea to attend this trine’s tithing ceremony (Thra’s equivalent of Tax Day), but that she needs to not be tardy like before. Brea then tries to follow Tavra towards their palace, only to be separated, fall into the street, and nearly get run over by the Skeksis’ passing carriage (I LMAO at the look 😒that Armalig gives Brea after being forced to stop for her 😂). The Scroll-keeper looks out to see what happened and sees her laying in the street, and upon realizing she’s a Princess, offers her a ride to the Citadel, which she accepts. After a few moments of conversation, he learns that she can read and write, and brags that his library is “endless.” When she asks to visit his library, a sharp “NO!” from the Collector changes the vibe, claiming to Brea that the knowledge contained within destroyed her beauty, at which the Scroll-keeper retorts that she was “never beautiful.” They arrive at the All-Maudra’s palace and enter the throne room where her mother, none too pleased to see her be late yet again, welcomes the visiting lords and the tithing ceremony commences. Princess Seladon, the eldest daughter and next in line for the throne, remarks how this will finally send Brea to the “Order of Lesser Service” while Brea calls Seladon jealous that she got to ride with the lords. 

The ceremony progresses until a farmer couple approaches the throne, having only a basket of withered fruit to offer, explaining that a strange “blight” is killing their crops when the Scroll-keeper notices the wife’s necklace, calling it “lovely.” Dissatisfied with the couple’s tithe, the Scroll-keeper repossesses the jewel, much to the dismay of both Brea and the couple. Later that night, Brea’s research into the tithing ceremonies leads her to have a vision of a symbol. She rushes home where she has an argument with her mother about how she’s only able to access so much knowledge because of her privileged position in Gelfling society yet she’s willing to give it all up if it means her people’s most precious possessions aren’t being repossessed and aren’t giving up the best fruits of their labor, having only the scraps left to fight over. 

Analysis. 

At this moment, Brea, like many in the Seven Clans, still has a positive image of the Skeksis, but what she truly values is truth. She could represent those who grew up privileged with access to as much knowledge as they desired. Being the youngest and least likely to inherit the throne, she has the most free time to dive into intellectual rabbit holes, thus cultivating her love for knowledge. Like Brea, many young people growing up in privileged families are generally able to access the best of higher education money can buy. But what matters more than her ability to access this knowledge is that she is always eager to scrutinize what she reads. When Tavra tells her that the Skeksis don’t like questions, this only leaves her with more questions. Her later reading the Skeksis Book of Law and the Librarian’s reaction to her inquiries, combined with her witnessing how the Skeksis aren’t necessarily just is what spurs her quest for the truth. 

Deethra, the Sanctuary Tree, and the Darkening. 

Summary. 

Earlier in the day, Deethra, or Deet, a member of the Grottan clan is helping feed a herd of Nurlocks (large worm creatures) when she is attacked by a mother and baby who are suddenly behaving strangely and violently, causing her to flee into a tunnel where she finds the underground portion of the Sanctuary Tree, an ancient sentient tree whose voice she can hear. The tree informs her of a malicious energy, the Darkening, emanating from the Crystal of Truth, that while the Great Trees have been able to quarantine it for most of the last thousand trine, it is starting to escape onto the surface of Thra in the form of a blight and cause immense damage by destroying plants and making animals behave unusually aggressively before eventually killing them. Later that day, she is brought home where she wakes up and is given medicine to help her torn wing by Maudra Argot, who tells her that she must journey to Ha’rar to warn the All-Maudra about the Darkening and rally all Gelfling to stop this threat. 

Analysis. 

Deet is invariably a child of nature, almost like a Disney Princess in how she interacts with the creatures of the Caves of Grot. Her encounter with the Darkening leaves her perturbed, like a farmer would after discovering a blight on their land. She is one of the few who can “hear” the Sanctuary Tree. The Darkening, if it isn’t already painfully obvious, is a representation of changes in the environment wrought by human activity (PFAS/”forever chemicals”, melting polar ice, the hole in our ozone layer, the leeching of heavy metals into waterways, warming of the air and sea, and all manner of things that damage life and nature). 

“Give the Crystal Your Fear.” 

The pivotal scene of Episode 1 is the culmination of SkekTek the Scientist’s efforts to find a solution to the diminishing returns from the Crystal by using its Skeksis-induced “hunger” to drain a living creature of their essence, their life energy, converting it into a glowing purple liquid. The first one to be sacrificed for their essence is Mira, a Gelfling of the Vapra clan and the love of Rian’s life, whose death is witnessed by Rian and spurs him to go on the run. The Skeksis know he saw what happened but SkekSil the Chamberlain tries to reassure the Emperor that even if Rian tries to tell others what he saw, the system the Skeksis set up will make it difficult if not impossible for any Gelfling to take his claims seriously as they would have to renounce the beliefs they’ve held for 1,000 trine. At the same time, Brea sneakily returns the necklace to the farmer’s wife, and Deet sets out on her journey, seeing the surface of Thra for the first time. 

“The Emperor must remember his own words. We are Lords of the Crystal, yes? Even if Rian talk, none will believe. They will shun him. Cast him out. How can they not? To believe him is not to believe themselves. Skeksis reign a thousand trine and will reign a thousand-thousand more, until last star in sky goes dark. Gelfling will submit, head bowed, back bent as have always done. Gelfling want to be ruled. Gelfling need to be ruled. Because Gelfling are weak! Gelfling are small! And Skeksis are forever! We took the Crystal. Thra belongs to us now. And is nothing, nothing Gelfling can do!” 

This is the moment when the Skeksis cross the line into territory unthinkable to their earlier selves centuries before. Thra cries out for a Gelfling who will never return home. But she won’t be the last to be cast into oblivion. 

The above quote from Chamberlain all but underpins the philosophy of the elites, both in Thra and in our own society. They view themselves as god-kings who are above not only the rest of society, but even above nature itself. They’ve created a culture wherein any doubt or question about the Skeksis’ role in Thra is decried as heresy, or in our world, as “wokeness”, “socialism”, or any other term which has long been used to death. 

After all, it’s been shown how hoarding wealth has changed the brains of individuals to the extent that they become less empathetic and more arrogant and imperious, as such wealth allows them to physically and emotionally distance themselves from others in a way that those with less wealth can’t. 

The Neurobiological Case for Eliminating Billionaires. 

Conclusion. 

Overall, this first episode has some parallels to the neoliberal era of the 1990s to mid 2010s: business is booming, the President and various other public servants (represented in part by the All-Maudra and other Maudras) is still a somewhat respected figure, and America a still somewhat respected country on the world stage, with some, like Brea, only glimpsing the corruption hiding just beneath the surface, having largely been shielded by privilege for most of their lives. 

Servicemembers and their families may see themselves in Rian and his father Ordon: raised to respect the flag, the military, and their oath to the Constitution. Speaking of these things, they are some of (not all) the things we can argue the Crystal of Truth represents, specifically the Flag, the Liberty Bell, the Constitution, “We the People.” 

Like Deethra, some of us bear witness to the Darkening of our own Earth, the proverbial Canary in the Coal Mine who begins to understand that all life is in danger, that there is no Planet B. 

And most horrifyingly, like Mira, many find themselves drained, to many degrees and by methods manifold, of our own “essence”, ranging from stagnant wages and ever-rising costs-of-living forcing us to toil harder than ever to survive to the unspeakable horrors visited upon those trafficked here in chains 400 “trine” ago during the Middle Passage to those then-boys and girls whose innocence was and still is being snatched away in unlit chambers, atop accursed islands of depravity, where sanity and decency are as unwelcome to the hidden elites as the algae in our Reflecting Pool is to us. 

But there is hope yet that we may recover from our current state of fascism, if we unite against our real enemies, for though the wicked may rule the worlds of all our flesh and lines of code, they will not rule all our souls.