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All the hunters, warriors, now their strength is my own.

skekMal[1]

SkekMal was the Skeksis' Hunter and counterpart to urVa the Archer.

Personality

While skekMal was on good terms with skekSo, the other Skeksis feared him due to his extremely violent nature. As his true loyalty was only to himself, skekMal did not reside in the Castle of the Crystal, preferring instead to live in the wild. He did not share his comrades' love of political intrigue, developing instead a fanatical obsession with hunting worthy prey,[2] taking their remains as trophies, which he believed conferred him their strength.[1] He took pride in being the strongest, fastest, and most athletic of the Skeksis and, despite Skeksis law prohibiting the murder of other Skeksis, skekMal was not afraid to threaten his comrades if they interfered in his hunts. Like most Skeksis, he believed Gelfling were inferior to him due to how weak they were in comparison, and considered them such easy prey that hunting them was not worth it unless they proved to be a true danger.

He also did not share his brethen's extreme fear of death as he didn't use the energy of the Crystal or other means to extend his life and remained proud and defiant when seemingly being about to be eaten by Gobbles and continued to carry Brea to the castle despite being on the verge of death after having been shot by the Archer.

Biography

In his youth, skekMal was considered the most beautiful of the Skeksis by Aughra.[3] He established his main hunting grounds in the Endless Forest,[2] though he occasionally ventured into the Crystal Desert with help from Rek'yr, who later vowed to never accompany him again.[4]

After Rian escaped with proof that the Skeksis were draining Gelflings for their essence, skekMal was summoned by skekSil, having been replaced at skekSo's side by skekVar, to hunt him down,[2] and managed to capture him, killing his father Ordon in the process. He was later convinced by the Chamberlain to give him temporary custody of the Gelfling for his own agenda.[1] When Rian escaped, skekMal renewed his pursuit of the Gelfling to the Crystal Desert where, at the Circle of the Suns, he injured both skekGra and urGoh, but got fatally wounded by his counterpart, urVa, while abducting Brea to bait Rian to pursue him.[4]

skekMal managed to return to the Castle, only to collapse before his fellow Skeksis. The Emperor, unwilling to admit they were mortal, spared every drop of essence for skekMal, but even that was not enough to heal the Hunter. Faced with no alternative, skekSol planned to drain all the remaining Gelfing captured from Stone-in-the-Wood. Aughra, finding her way into the Castle, brokered a trade: her essence for the lives of the Gelfling. During the initial process of draining, Aughra became dust, and skekMal remained lifeless. He was assumed dead by his fellows, who decided to honor him by cleaning his body and raising his death-like corpse in the throne chamber so that he would still be among them even in death.

It was later revealed that he had been in a comatose state and quickly revived. After learning the whereabouts of the other Skeksis from skekTek, he rushed to join the battle.

skekMal inevitably met his end at the Second Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood when, while gloating about conquering death and that "nothing can stop the hunt," and attempting to kill Rian once more, urVa regained consciousness and took his own life to end his Skeksis counterpart for good, restoring Aughra.[5]

Other appearances

In J.M. Lee's Shadows of the Dark Crystal, skekMal is a figure of legend among the Spriton, who used the hunter's reputation to frighten children into behaving. Spriton song tellers narrated of how Jarra-Jen once encountered and escaped the Hunter, not knowing he was a Skeksis. Kylan himself was made an orphan and adopted by Maudra Mera after the hunter killed his parents.

Behind the scenes

All the Skeksis are violent in their own ways, but the Hunter is just better at it. [...] He's not here to entertain you - he has work to do. Everyone is scared of him, including other Skeksis, because the Hunter is fear.

The character was first conceived by Halle Stanford during the pre-production of the ultimately scrapped animated series Great Conjunction in 2012,[7] and was envisioned as a "scarier Skeksis than even the Emperor". As the character was required in intense action scenes which would highlight his athleticism, skekMal was the only Skeksis to be portrayed via a full-body puppet. In most scenes, the suit was worn by performer Nick Kellington, while Kevin Clash was in charge of its mouth movements. In fight scenes, stuntman Ian Kay took over the role in a suit sporting a head lacking animatronic components, thus reducing the puppet's weight.[6]

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "She Knows All the Secrets". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "The First Thing I Remember Is Fire". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  3. Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "The Crystal Calls". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  4. 4.0 4.1 Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "Time to Make...My Move". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  5. Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "A Single Piece Was Lost". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  6. 6.0 6.1 Wallace, D. (2019), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Inside the Epic Return to Thra, Titan Books, pp. 104-107, ISBN 978-1-78909-387-2.
  7. Wallace, D. (2019), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Inside the Epic Return to Thra, Titan Books, p. 15, ISBN 978-1-78909-387-2.

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