SkekSil

skekSil
General Information
Species	Skeksis
Occupation	Chamberlain
urRu counterpart	urSol
Era(s)	Great Division Gelfling resistance Garthim War Jen's quest
Residence	Castle of the Crystal
Puppeteer/Animator	Frank Oz (The Dark Crystal) Warrick Brownlow-Pike (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance)
Voice	Barry Dennen (The Dark Crystal) Simon Pegg (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance)
Appeared in	The Dark Crystal The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

A simpering, sycophant who flatters the Emperor to his face – and plots behind his back. The Chamberlain is a master of "diplomacy," covering the Emperor's evil deeds by crafting just the right lie for every situation.

The Evil Skeksis, Excerpted from a Gelfling journal
Entry Date: Rosunday, 14th Moon, 96 Years A.G.C.

SkekSil was the Skeksis' Chamberlain, and counterpart to urSol the Chanter. He was Chief Secretary of State, and thus next in line to the Skeksis' throne after Emperor skekSo, he formed a powerful political faction consisting of skekEkt the Ornamentalist and skekOk the Scroll Keeper. Despite his position, he was despised by the other Skeksis for his wheedling voice and underhanded nature.

Biography

Age of Resistance

After receiving no rejuvenation from the Dark Crystal and overhearing skekTek and skekSo, skekSil stayed close to the scientist skekTek and saved him when the experiment to extend their lives nearly killed him. SkekSil counseled skekTek that he devised a means for them to use the crystal to drain life from other beings to replenish themselves, abducting the Gelfling Mira for the experiment as he and the other Skesis drank from her essence. When the Skeksis realized that Rian witnessed their deed, skekSil assured the emperor that the Gelflings would not believe Rian.

SkekSil continued to curry the Emperor's favor, advising him to frame Rian for Mira's murder as opposed to skekVar's more martial suggestions. SkekSil later snuck into skekTek's laboratory, eating a locksnake and stealing the remaining essence, but was interrupted just before he could drink any by skekTek's arrival. SkekTek entered and almost exposed the chamberlain, but the two smelled Gelfling began searching together, finding a Stonewood and later a Drenchen, Rian and Gurjin. SkekSil tried to blame the Gelfling for the disappearance of the essence he had taken, but the locksnake on his teeth betrayed him and skekTek saw the vial in his hand. The two fought for it until skekSil dropped the vial, allowing Rian and Gurjin to steal the vial and flee. SkekSil and skekTek pursued, with skekTek herding Gurjin within reach of skekSil, who captured Gurjin and attempted to talk Rian into surrendering. Gurjin however stabbed skekSil, allowing Rian to rush past him and escape the castle, but skekSil managed to swipe a bit of Rian's clothing as he passed.

SkekSil then thwarted skekTek's attempt to out him out for the vial's loss by weaving a tale of half-truths so that the scientist would be punished instead, later giving him a pair of Gruenak slaves as compensation. SkekSil then conducted a story to make it appeared Rian was very ill and murdered Mira, adding further that it can be passed on by dreamfasting. When skekSil found skekVar the General had earned the emperor's favor, he recruited skekMal the Hunter to retrieve Rian and regain his position. After promising to return Rian to skekMal once finished with him, skekSil drank the last vial of Mira's essence and destroyed it. On the way back to the Castle of the Crystal, skekSil attempted to deter Rian from escaping by justifying Mira's death and explaining that Rian could doom all Gelfling, before Rian was rescued and skekSil was forced to return on foot.

Driven out of Stone-in-the-Wood village by the Gelflings, skekSil learned that skeVar murdered All-Maudra Mayrin and was astonished that the Skesis were actually jubilant of no longer needing to maintain appearances as they captured the Crystal Guards and took their essence. However, later providing an Arathim corpse for skekTek's use in the creation of the Garthim, skekSil conducted a scheme to win skekVar's trust as he convinced the emperor to attack the forming rebellion. Though they were forced to retreat, skekSil managed to orchestrate skekVar's humiliating defeat by Rian and secretly killed him to regain his position as skekSo's counsellor.

Downfall and Exile

SkekSil and skekUng engage each other in Trial by Stone.

Several trine after the Garthim War, skekSil saw skekSo's final days as an opportunity to ascend to the throne but found opposition in skekVar's replacement, skekUng the Garthim Master. During the emperor's last days of life, skekSil constantly made reference to his executive position by bringing scrolls and administrative papers to the emperor's death bed, despite knowing that skekSo was in no position to attend to them, and even attempted to grab the sceptre of office from the unconscious, yet still living Emperor. After skekSo's funeral, skekSil briefly participated in a path-finding ritual with skekUng and skekZok the Ritual Master (the only other real contender for the throne) in order to pick out a successor. But skekSil impatiently rushed to the throne and took the sceptre in hand, stopped by skekUng who challenges him to Trial by Stone.

He lost the ordeal, and was subsequently stripped of his robes and banished from the Castle. However, as he was leaving, the Crystal summoned the other Skeksis to the Crystal Chamber, where it was revealed that a Gelfling, Jen, had survived the Garthim War. Sensing an opportunity, skekSil followed the Garthim sent to capture Jen, and rescued him and Kira, another survivor, from them. He later reached the two Gelflings in the houses of the old ones, and attempted to convince them to return to the Castle to make peace with the Skeksis. The two refused, and rushed off to the Castle. SkekSil managed to reach them in the catacombs of the Castle, and tried to force them to come with him. In the ensuing struggle, the Chamberlain caused a rockslide to bury Jen, after the Gelfling had wounded his hand.

SkekSil took Kira to the throne room, and handed her over to skekTek], who intended to drain her essence for the new Emperor skekUng. SkekSil was reinstated as Chamberlain, but soon found his position once again in peril, as skekUng angrily discovered that Jen had escaped from the rockslide. When the Great Conjunction that would grant the Skeksis immortality came, and the escaped Gelflings were on the verge of healing the Dark Crystal, skekSil attempted to offer the two their freedom if they handed over the shard. The offer was rejected, and the Great Division was ultimately reversed with skekSil absorbed by urSol as they revert to SilSol.

Behind the scenes

Being the original film's primary antagonist, the chamberlain puppet was technically the most complex Skeksis, having 21 electronic components and requiring four people to operate, in contrast to the other Skeksis which needed only two. At the time, it was considered the most advanced puppet in cinematic history, with its eyes, brows, beak and hands articulated by pneumatic devices. Frank Oz, who performed the chamberlain, declared in an interview that he had a soft spot for the character, describing him as a villain who would murder his own mother with a smile, a facial expression he insisted be incorporated on the character's design. His scepter was based on a mandala.

In Legends of the Dark Crystal

SkekSil engages skekLach in Trial by Fire.

In the continuity established by Legends of the Dark Crystal, skekLach the Collector became skekSo's most favoured follower, causing skekSil to become consumed by jealousy, and sought to regain the Emperor's favour by finding any information that could compromise skekLach's reputation for loyalty. His first significant discovery was that the Collector was turning the Emperor against skekVar the General, telling him that, contrary to the General's claims, the crop of Gelfling essence was diminishing. He enlisted the help of Gelfling slaves and small animals to spy on the Collector, and discovered that the essence shortage was due to skekLach secretly drinking it for himself. Later, the Chamberlain found Neffi, a Gelfling female, attempting to rescue Gelfling prisoners previously captured during the Battle of Namopo Valley.

He allowed her and the others to leave the Castle, telling them to remember that it was "skekLach" who freed them. During the Battle of Bah-Lem Valley shortly after, one of the escaped Gelflings was captured and, when asked who released him, identified skekLach as his rescuer. SkekSil took the opportunity to openly accuse the Collector of treason, and challenged him to Trial by Fire, demanding that the Collector admit his guilt should he lose. However, the Chamberlain lost the ordeal, as skekLach had been strengthened by his consumption of essence. Unable to accept his defeat, skekSil continued to press his accusations, until silenced by the Emperor, who ordered him to enjoy the victory celebrations, or face the consequences.

Gallery

SkekSil with his urRu counterpart, urSol the Chanter.

SkekSil (left) with emperor skekSo and Ritual Master skekZok

SkekSil and skekTek

SkekSil the Chamberlain

SkekSo, skekTek, skekSil, & skekOk

External Links

• skekSil on the Muppet Wiki