The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance episode 3

Episode 3: What Was Sundered and Undone

Alas, I still cannot get anyone to watch this with me. I shall have to soldier on alone.

Obligatory Plot Summary: Deet and Hup arrive at Stonewood clan. There's this strange furnace/pyre filled with weapons. Stonewood seems to be the most militant of the Gelfling clans. They're also rude, condescending toward Deet because she is of the lowly Grottan clan, and Hup because he is a mere Podling. Naturally, a bar fight ensues and Hup, brave and foolish as he is, winds up arrested. Because she is Grottan, Deet is denied an audience with the Stonewood clan's maudra to deliver her warning about the Darkening and to plead for Hup's release. Later, she has a brief encounter with Rian, who has ditched his castle guard garments as word has spread across Thra that he is wanted for murder. Aughra confronts the Skeksis in the Castle of the Crystal, but they laugh at her, completely unafraid of her and her accusations. Aughra leaves in defeat, but not before discovering the Skeksis have completely corrupted the Crystal of Truth. In Ha'rar, the All-Maudra sends her second daughter, Tavra, a skilled warrior, out on a landstrider to capture Rian. Her youngest daughter, Brea, is sent to the Order of Lesser Service for one year as punishment for erasing the mind of the Sifa clan's Cadia last episode. The eldest daughter, broods and complains that she's not appreciated enough. Brea is horrified to learn that part of her Lesser Service involves bathing Podlings who have no desire to be bathed. She flees the Order and sneaks back into Ha'rar, stealing the "brightest jewel" from the All-Maudra's throne room--a glowing unamoth chrysalis. She takes it to Onica of the Sifa clan, who prompts it to hatch. The unamoth flies back to the All-Maudra's throne room, where it merges with the throne to reveal a secret passage to a hidden chamber below.

Musings: Several things have been hovering around the edges of my thoughts through prior episodes, and this episode brought them to the forefront. Firstly, Gelfling society is unapologeticly racist. Each clan, in general, views itself as superior to other clans (with the possible exception of Grottans, but that's a skewed sample, because Deet's the only Grottan we've seen much of). And pretty much everyone on Thra treat Podlings like shit. I mean, what the hell? Skeksis are cruel and enslave the Podlings, Aughra insults and belittles them, Gelflings dominate them in a paternalistic, condescending way. In the original movie, we saw Podling society as festive when it wasn't cowering from the Skeksis. Here, they're mostly comic relief, but it doesn't make much sense. There is a Podling society, but it's treated as incompetent and childlike, unable to fend for themselves. Why do Gelflings need to bathe them? Podlings build their own homes and villages and provide for themselves. We see no Podling leadership structure. Is that because they have none, or because Gelflings allow them none? It's troubling, because Hup is easily my favorite character. No, he's not entirely competent, but he has agency. Armed only with a spoon, he'll go into battle to defend Deet. And he's smart enough to know some of the Gelfling language in addition to his native tongue. He also knows when he's being disrespected and is quick to anger and trade insults with his Gelfling "betters." In fact, Hup is a little too free with his insults. He's not diplomatic in the slightest. This makes me think he's lived all his life as a second-class citizen, is well aware of this status, and rebels against it. That doesn't speak well for Gelflings.

The other thing that jumps out at me is that Age of Resistance is way more metaphysical than the movie where magic is concerned. The movie had magic, but it was either passive or systemic. Here, we have magic actively engaging with the mundane world to provide information and direction to our characters--mostly Brea. First, we had the magical whirlwind in the library from episode one that showed Brea the mystical symbol. Now, we've got a magical moth that merges with a stone throne to open up a secret passage. What's more, the Sifa seemed to know how to activate this magic, but didn't seem to know anything more beyond being uncomfortable with the implications. From a logical standpoint, I'm having problems with it, because this intrusive magic, while offering cool eyeball kicks, essentially amounts to info dumps to send characters further along the plot. Yes, Brea's curiosity is uncovering these ancient secrets (Gelflings seem, by and large, a profoundly uncurious lot) but all in all it strikes me as so many plot coupons. There are some sophisticated themes here, but they're being presented here via clunky, unsophisticated writing.

Finally, if Aughra is near immortal and the original Keeper of the Crystal, what actual power does she have? She seems impotent beyond her imposing bluster. The Skeksis seem to fear her one moment then dismiss her the next. And if they're draining Gelflings for essence because they're "Closest to Thra," wouldn't Aughra's near-immortal essence be that much more powerful, as she seems to predate Gelflings, Podlings and everything else on Thra? Yes, this show provokes more questions than it answers...

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