'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance': How did evil Skeksis come to rule the land of Thra?

Nearly a thousand years before the events of the 1982 film, the urSkeks, a mysterious group of beings were divided into two groups when the Crystal lost a shard and turned into The Dark Crystal.

Netflix is set to release the prequel to the 1982 cult classic 'The Dark Crystal' on August 30. With The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' the series continues the mystical saga of good versus evil.  'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' sees the three Gelfling - Taron Egerton's Rian, Anya Taylor-Joy's Brea and Nathalie Emmanuel's Deet - finally discovering the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis’ power. They then set out on an adventure to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world.

But how did the Skeksis gain so much power?

It is the dark forces. Nearly a thousand years before the events of the 1982 film, the urSkeks, a mysterious group of beings were divided into two groups when the Crystal lost a shard and turned into The Dark Crystal. Before their arrival, The Crystal was known as The Great Crystal.  When the Crystal became The Dark Crystal, the era came to be known as the Age of Division. The Great Division of the usSkeks saw them split into the evil Skeksis and the wise urRu. Even after the Division, the two beings remained spiritually connected - if something happened to one creature, it affected its counterpart as well. At the time of 'The Dark Crystal', there were only 10 beings left on each side.

The Skeksis are essentially a personification of their dark impulses and the urRu are a personification of their creative, positive impulses. Once the Skeksis started using the Crystal to derive their power, the Crystal darkened and turned from pure bright white to a dim glowing purple. And so Thra also turned dark.  The Skeksis then became the Lords of the Dark Crystal. After the Crystal stopped working, they started using it to drain the essence of the Podlings and the Gelfling and turned them into slaves using this essence to make them powerful. 

At the same time, the urRu lived in seclusion, waiting for the day when they reunited their bodies with the Skeksis and became whole beings once again. That would mean the ending of 'The Dark Crystal'. We expect the prequel to shed more light on how the Skeksis rose to power through their conniving minds and evil nature.

The world of Thra is fantastical, adventurous and magical, to say the least. Netflix brings it to your screens on August 30, 2019.  Before that, you must catch the 1982 cult classic movie 'The Dark Crystal' which is currently streaming on Netflix.  

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