And when skekSil's lies do not work, the Emperor turns to his General for a more forceful solution. A master of martial skill and strategy, skekVar is perhaps the most honest of his dishonest brethren, but not above using dirty tricks.
The Evil Skeksis, Excerpted from a Gelfling journal
Entry Date: Rosunday, 14th Moon, 96 Years A.G.C.[1]
SkekVar was the Skeksis' Ambassador[2] and later General during the Age of Resistance, and counterpart to urMa the Peacemaker. Along with skekSo the Emperor, he was one of the primary architects of the Alliance of the Crystal which would break down during the Gelfling resistance. He was an aggressive, though not overly intelligent individual. During Age of Resistance he was an ally of skekZok the Ritual Master and skekAyuk the Gourmand.
Personality
Why waste our time with talk when we have talons?
skekVar[3]
As Ambassador of the Skeksis, skekVar assumed a facade of mock concern for the Gelfling, though his true nature revealed itself in private, where he would express enthusiasm over eventually crushing them. He was quick to use violent tactics when the Emperor's underhanded schemes were failing, and displayed extreme sensitivity to having his orders questioned by his subordinates.[2]
As General, skekVar was the most impatient of the Skeksis, preferring violent action instead of scheming plots. Unlike his comrades, he made no effort to hide his disgust over the Gelflings, ignoring decorum even when in the presence of the All-Maudra[4] and bragging in her presence that she owed her position to the Skeksis.[4] He further distinguished himself in not being afraid of fighting in single combat, and dismissed his less powerful or martially skilled comrades as "weaklings". A shallow individual, skekVar always judged by appearances, disliking Gelflings he deemed undersized or had faces he considered even remotely imperfect. When the healing properties of Gelfling essence were discovered, he advocated taking all Gelfling on Thra by force, thus putting him in conflict with skekSil the Chamberlain, who preferred to harvest the Gelfling in moderation in order to guarantee a steady supply.[5] Out of all the Skeksis, skekVar was the most loyal to Emperor skekSo, though he was not above taking his own initiative when he felt it served the interest of all Skeksis, such as partially draining Gurjin, despite the Emperor wanting him alive,[5] and murdering the All-Maudra, something he was not instructed to do.[4] Having an uncontrollable temper, skekVar was quick to start a fight with those that insulted him. Only speaking calmly to skekSo, skekVar would bark out orders and threats to both Skeksis and Gelflings to remind them of his high rank. Despite finding the Arathim disgusting, he took pleasure in using them as an army during the Stonewood Rebellion.
Biography
Ambassador
SkekVar leading the attack on the Makraks
During the Makrak raids, skekVar, under orders from the newly proclaimed Emperor, skekSo, acted as an intermediary between the Skeksis and the Gelflings. Together with elder Carn, skekVar offered the Gelflings protection, in exchange for weapons to be used in their defence.[2]
When the Makraks were sighted interacting with Raunip and Thall, skekVar ordered the other Skeksis to take arms and exterminate them, but his plan was thwarted by the urRu, who negotiated a peace settlement with them.[2]
Age of Resistance
A thousand trine later, skekVar, like his compatriots, drew energy from the Crystal in order to prolong his longevity, until eventually it began to fail. Although concerned, he readily agreed with Emperor skekSo's speech about the Skeksis being eternal, and was overjoyed when skekTek the Scientist revealed the use of essence for rejuvenation.[6]
When Rian escaped, skekVar increased security throughout the castle and began sweeping the place for him. To skekSo's fear that the Gelfling would ask questions, skekVar suggested simply breaking the teeth of those who questioned, but was overruled when skekSo agreed with skekSil's suggestion of spreading lies instead. SkekVar later supported punishing skekSil for his crimes, but quickly switched to supporting punishment for skekTek when the Emperor decided the blame lay with him. SkekSil then snapped at skekVar for his spot closest to the Emperor, until they were interrupted by Ordon's arrival, who skekVar initially berated for requesting an audience with the Emperor until skekSo allowed it. SkekVar then participated in the punishment ceremony for skekTek.[3]
During the next Skeksis banquet, skekVar and skekSil got into a heated argument over how to best process essence, with skekSil suggesting they should do so in secret, slowly harvesting those that won't be missed and keep the majority of Gelfling alive to use as soldiers and servants. SkekVar however stated they should take as many Gelfling as they wanted, no matter who they were and how the race would react. When skekSo noticed his body was still decaying rapidly he agreed with skekVar's more upfront methods and thus demoted skekSil, denying him a seat at the banquet table while promoting skekVar as his right hand counsellor and allowing him a seat next to the Emperor. SkekVar later went to interrogate Gurjin, partially draining him as a form of torture, until skekSo arrived with a new assignment for skekVar; gather seven Gelfling "volunteers" from each clan to be drained.[5]
Arriving in Ha'rar, capital of the Vapra Clan, skekVar requested seven volunteers from the All-Maudra Mayrin, ostensibly to deal with an uprising of Arathim, absentmindedly eating several sacred unamoth chrysalises in the process. When volunteers were brought forward, skekVar became oddly choosy with the Gelfling he selected, even complaining about how disappointing one's teeth were and sending another away for being old. After deciding, skekVar sent the volunteers to his carriage, only to be interrupted by Seladon (whom skekVar didn't recognise), reporting on her mother Mayrin's treachery. When Mayrin herself arrived, skekVar stomached her rebellious speech only briefly before lashing out with his sabre, fatally wounding Mayrin. Following skekZok's example, skekVar then recognised Seladon as All-Maudra.[4]
Escorting Deet, Hup, Brea, and the "volunteers" to their carriage for transport to the Castle of the Crystal, skekVar ordered Brea to be silent when she accused him of killing her mother. When she openly defied him, skekVar became impressed and allowed two of the volunteers to remain, intending to replace them with Brea and Deet to be drained. He had them all placed in a cage attached to the carriage and then set off with skekZok, fending off skekZok's criticisms until they were ambushed en route by Rian and his allies. Although skekVar tried to run Rian over, the Armaligs refused to move forward until after Lore freed the prisoners and prepared to attack them, frightening them enough that they complied with skekVar's hasty orders to retreat, going around Rian and taking the Skeksis back to the Castle of the Crystal.[7]
SkekVar leading the Arathim during the Stonewood Rebellion
Trusting the General, skekSo showed skekVar his experiments on the Darkening, and then brought him down to the lair of the Arathim to forge an alliance. SkekVar lead the Arathim swarms of Silk Spitters and Threaders to Stone-in-the-Wood were they captured the resident Gelfling and forced them to enter the Castle of the Crystal. However, several Gelfling managed to escape into the catacombs, so skekVar and skekLach followed them, only for Tavra to stab the General. Finding skekVar wounded, skekSil gave the General some essence, convincing skekVar to form an alliance with his old rival.
Preparing for battle against the Gelfling rebellion, skekSo asked skekVar if he had dreams while he slept, and although skekVar denied this, both remembered their time as urSkeks, considering it a torture to be joined with their Mystic counterparts. SkekTek gave skekVar and skekSo an update on their new armour and weapons, expressing a desire to fight alongside them, only for skekVar to laugh in skekTek's face, claiming the Scientist was too weak for combat.
Arriving for a second time in Stone-in-the-Wood, skekVar considered it an honour to fight Rian in single combat for the Emperor. Despite his fighting skills, skekVar was stabbed by Rian's Dual Glaive, which drained the General of all the essence he consumed and reduced him to an extremely weakened state. Realising he was vulnerable, skekVar retreated, begging skekSil for assistance, but with no other Skeksis watching skekSil betrayed skekVar and stabbed him in the chest so that he could regain his seat next to the Emperor. SkekVar crumbled to dust, making him the first Skeksis to die in over 900 trine since skekHak and skekYi, who died very soon after the Great Division.
Non-canon appearances
In the continuity established by Legends of the Dark Crystal, skekVar survived long enough to fight in the Garthim War and had a rivalry with skekLach the Collector, as both Skeksis secretly had their eyes on the throne.[8] However, skekLach began to undermine the General's position by insinuating to Emperor skekSo that there was a shortage of Gelfling essence, contrary to skekVar's claims that supplies were still plentiful. skekVar's plans were temporarily thwarted when the Emperor ordered him to give skekLach his enthusiastic support.[9]
Gallery
References
- ↑ The Dark Crystal Author Quest: The Gelfling Gathering, The Jim Henson Company (2013)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 B. Froud, M. Dow Smith, A. Sheikman & L. John (2015). The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths, Vol. III. Archaia. ISBN 978-1-60886-435-5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Nothing Is Simple Anymore" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "She Knows All the Secrets" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The First Thing I Remember Is Fire" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "End. Begin. All the Same." The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "By Gelfling Hand..." The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ Kessel, B. R. & Arnhold, H. (2010) Legends of the Dark Crystal Volume 2: Trial by Fire. TokyoPop. ISBN 1598167022
- ↑ Kessel, B. R. & Arnhold, H. (2007) Legends of the Dark Crystal Volume 1: The Garthim Wars. TokyoPop. ISBN 1598167014