The original Dark Crystal film was a classic 80’s era movie, an incredible technical achievement by Jim Henson and Jim Henson Productions. Over the years, there have been several attempts to give this beautifully rendered and well-written universe a sequel film, but most of those attempts have fallen through.
But Netflix has a ton of money, the need to create a ton of content, and a risk-taking spirit borne out of a desire to please as many subscribers as possible. The result is a full prequel to Dark Crystal in Age of Resistance. The series has become the talk of fantasy fans everywhere, and this list will tell you all you need to know so you can jump right into the series.
10 WHAT'S THE STORY ABOUT?
As mentioned, Age of Resistance takes place sometime before the film does. During this time, the world is largely at peace and the dominant race of the planet live alongside the Skeksis, stewards of the Crystal of Life. But after years of the Skeksis using the Crystal for their own ends as a means to extend their lives, the Crystal eventually stops working for them.
In their quest to remain ageless, the Skeksis begin to make sacrifices which affect both the planet of Thra as well as the Gelfling. The decisions they make, and how the Gelfling have to react to them, is where all the conflict of the series comes from.
9 THERE'S A LOT OF FANTASY JARGON, BUT IT'S EASY TO CATCH ON
Dark Crystal is about as fantasy-like as a world can get. There aren’t any humans, and very little (if any) of our culture exists on the world of Thra. As a result, most of the background we’re given a look at has been created wholesale for the world of Thra.
With that in mind, it’s easy to worry about getting lost sometimes from episode to episode, but Age of Resistance actually does a far better job than most other fantasy series by constantly informing the viewer of the locations and limiting the number of characters with important roles so no one feels completely lost.
8 THEIR SOCIETY IS MATRIARCHAL
One of the things which comes as a surprise early on is that the Gelfling society is totally matriarchal in nature. The ruler over the entire continent is the All-Maudra of the Vapra clan, the Queen who decides everything from day to day matters, to handling relations with the Skeksis.
As the different societal clans appear, we learn that all of the Gelfling clans behave the same way, each putting a Maudra in charge to run their nations.
7 THERE'S POLITICAL INTRIGUE
For people who expected to jump into a series entitled Age of Resistance and see a bunch of fight scenes, it might be a disappointing first few episodes. Even though it’s very rote in terms of how multiple characters going on journeys and quests, that doesn’t mean we jump right into combat.
On the contrary, the Gelfling spend more time convincing themselves to rise up against the Skeksis in the first half of the series. There are multiple different tribes, most of which only get along thanks to having someone at the top everyone else respects, and getting them to mobilize for a single cause proves difficult and often involves more shenanigans in royal courts than on the battlefield.
6 PUPPETS DOES NOT MEAN LIGHT-HEARTED
It might be easy to assume that this series is going to be a cutesy, light-hearted romp because of the presence of the puppets. But Jim Henson Productions isn't always known for pulling their punches, and in this series they really swing for the fences. Characters are dying as soon as the first episode, and things only get more rough from there.
Now to be fair, it’s all bloodless violence, so it isn’t something to be written off as being only for adults. However, the visuals and some of the fates of the characters might be something children would want to turn away from.
5 THERE'S A TON OF SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
For those who are captivated by the world of The Dark Crystal, there’s no shortage of other stuff for people to check out. Unsurprisingly, as a series which has been beloved for several decades now, we’ve gotten everything from novels and comics to video game and PnP RPGs.There’s a series of novels that run alongside the setting of Age of Resistance.
There’s a pair of comic book series from BOOM Studios, Power of the Dark Crystal and Beneath the Dark Crystal, released from 2017 to August of 2019. There’s even a new prequel comic to Netflix’s series coming from BOOM known as Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
4 THE DREAMFAST IS IMPORTANT
Despite happening in the most awkward way possible, the concept of “dreamfasting” is something that’s introduced in the very first episode of the show. It’s an ability that seemingly only Gelflings can do with other Gelflings. Upon joining hands, Gelflings become able to share both their memories and their feelings with one another, making them closer and allowing them to see one another’s truth.
The ability does have one limitation, though—it’s impossible to share the memories someone else has shown you—that person must do so on their own. If they die, those memories die with them. Without getting into spoilers for the series, the ability to dreamfast becomes very crucial very early on.
3 DO YOU NEED TO WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST?
The short answer to this question is not really. The long answer is it depends on if you want to see how the story all ends. The original Dark Crystal was a Jim Henson project which released during the late ’80s.
Set at the end of the timeline, and featured the last Gelflings on the planet working to restore the planet to its former glory via a very specific quest for them all. The film takes place an unspecified amount of time after Age of Resistance, so it’s completely possible to watch this without ever seeing the film.
2 WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?
Age of Resistance is a very big show, with each episode running roughly an hour and resulting in a season that’s nearly ten hours. As such, there’s no shortage of lead characters. There’s Rian, a young warrior who works alongside the Skeksis at the Castle of the Crystal, who’s forced to leave his post very early on.
There’s Princess Brea, the youngest of the princesses of Vapra, the oldest of the Gelfling clans, who’s curiosity causes her to go on a quest of her own. Lastly there’s Deet, a young woman who lives in the caves with the Grottan clan, forced to go out into the world after witnessing the first sign of the world changing.
1 IF WE KNOW THE ENDING, WHY WATCH?
It’s fair to assume that we already know the ending because the Dark Crystal has been out for nearly forty years. With that in mind, it can be hard to watch the series considering we already have the ending, plus even the beginning of the film is emotionally difficult to reconcile with what happens in the series.
Having said that, it’s not a good idea to assume we know the ending. For one thing, more than once in the series it’s brought up that things could have “different” outcomes, hinting at potential other timelines. But more importantly, the creators have mentioned in multiple interviews that what we think the movie implies may not be what actually happened. This is more than enough reason to give the series a try even if we do “know” how it ends.