Drawing on the sinister force that flows from the Dark Crystal, the Ritual Master can create false apparitions. He has the ear of the Emperor and provides prophecies to the Skeksis Empire.
The Evil Skeksis, Excerpted from a Gelfling journal
Entry Date: Rosunday, 14th Moon, 96 Years A.G.C.[1]
SkekZok was the Skeksis' Ritual Master, and counterpart to urZah the Ritual Guardian. SkekZok fancied himself as Emperor skekSo's closest advisor, and sought to control the other Skeksis through false prophecies and apparitions, only to discover that they distrusted his divinations and practiced their own.[2] He was in charge of leading all ceremonial occasions, and was third in line to the Skeksis' throne after the death of skekSo.[3] SkekZok was part of a political faction consisting of skekShod the Treasurer and skekAyuk the Gourmand.
Personality
SkekZok presented himself with a proud and pompous demeanor, and was the most zealous of the Skeksis, viewing their laws and rules as absolute and immutable. Like skekOk, he behaved much more diplomatically than other Skeksis like skekVar or skekLach when in the presence of Gelfling allies, disapproving of his less cultured comrade's disregard for etiquette.
Enamored with pomp and ceremony, he saw any event favorable to the Skeksis as an opportunity to invent a new ritual. He was equally enthusiastic in dispensing punishments, boasting that he had a knife reserved for the sole purpose of skinning skekTek alive and taunting him when he was subjected to the Peeper beetle. After tasting Gelfling essence, he became much less guarded when a new batch was imminent, uncharacteristically licking his lips in full view of his unsuspecting victims.
After the death of skekSo, skekZok became less jovial and more single minded in his quest to exterminate the Gelflings, demanding their immediate extermination rather than harvesting them for their essence. He resented being made subordinate to the new emperor skekUng, and took every opportunity to tacitly question his authority.
Biography
Age of Resistance
SkekZok was particularly fearful when the Crystal failed to emit its rejuvenating energies, going so far as to say they would all die if nothing was done. He attended skekTek's demonstration of the use of essence to restore youth, and was the first to notice Rian, who had witnessed the deed.[4]
After the incriminating essence vial was stolen, skekZok supported punishments first for skekSil and then for skekTek when it became apparent that the latter would bare responsibility, and greatly appreciated skekSil's suggestion of using a Peeper beetle as a castigation. He personally escorted skekTek out and, after performing the ritual preceding the punishment itself, assured skekTek that his pain would be brief.[5]
When Aughra arrived at the Castle of the Crystal to inspect the Crystal, skekZok lied to her, declaring that both the Crystal and Thra were thriving.[6] At the welcome banquet for skekEkt, skekZok was among the most vocal in demanding more essence.[7]
SkekZok was subsequently sent to assist General skekVar in choosing Vapra Gelfling to drain for essence. Meeting with All-Maudra Mayrin, they lied that the Arathim were rebelling and needed seven volunteers from each clan to combat them. While there, skekZok was unimpressed with skekVar's brutish behavior as the General ate unamoth chrysalises in front of the All-Maudra and then killed her later, prompting skekZok to appoint Seladon as the new All-Maudra to mitigate the damage.[8]
When Rian and Lore stopped his carriage and freed the captive Gelfling, skekZok provoked Lore into attacking, causing him to lose his composure and praise skekVar for initiating a hasty retreat.[9] Later, when skekMal was believed to be dead, skekZok expressed confusion when ordered by skekSo to organize his funeral, as there was no such ritual, there having been no deaths among the Skeksis since the passing of skekHak and skekYi 1,000 trine earlier.[10]
When the Gelfling resistance was proclaimed, skekZok wore new armor with extra weapons and departed for Stone-in-the-Wood to support skekSo in destroying the Gelfling rebellion. Once Rian bested skekVar in single combat, skekZok hurled insults towards skekVar for refusing to carry on fighting. In the ensuing Second Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood, skekZok cheered for skekMal when the hunter prepared to kill Rian, but retreated to the castle once skekMal and skekLach were killed and all seven Gelfling clans along with the Arathim swarm arrived at the battlefield. Back at the castle, realizing they had lost three Skeksis in one day and that all of Thra was now against them, skekZok announced they were certainly doomed, until skekTek revealed his latest invention, the obedient soldier called the Garthim.[11]
Post-Garthim War
SkekZok killing Kira
After the death of skekSo, skekZok abstained from participating in the subsequent Trial by Stone which lead to the ascension of the Garthim Master skekUng and the banishment of Chamberlain skekSil. This was however a political calculation, as the Ritual Master knew he could not match the Garthim Master's brute strength or the Chamberlain's constitutional claim. Although he feigned loyalty to skekUng, he took every opportunity to passively undermine the new Emperor's authority. When skekUng's Garthim failed to capture the Gelfling Jen, skekZok took charge of the situation and summoned his Crystal Bats to seek him out. When the banished skekSil returned to the Castle of the Crystal with Kira, skekZok insisted on her immediate execution, while skekUng ordered her to be drained of essence first. SkekZok later began to plot with skekShod to overthrow skekUng, but the plan was never realized. As the third Great Conjunction, which would have granted the Skeksis eternal life, approached, the escaped Gelflings were discovered in the Crystal Chamber, wielding the shard. In the ensuing struggle, skekZok fatally wounded Kira with his ritual dagger, effectively sealing the Skeksis' fate, as the grief-stricken Jen used the shard to heal the Crystal and reverse the Great Division.[3]
He was revived a century later alongside his seven other comrades and urRu counterparts after the Fireling Thurma took a shard from the Crystal in a misguided quest to restore her homeland's dying Mother Sun. He reclaimed his scepter from the Crystalline Eminence and summoned the Crystal Bats to attack and drive away skekSil, whom he and the others blamed for their past defeat. He briefly fought against the Crystal Guards, but was interrupted by Jen, who took control of the Garthim and had the Skeksis incarcerated.[12] He was eventually released by the Crystalline Eminence, who was under the darkened Crystal's control.[13] When Thurma returned with the Shard upon realizing the error of her ways, skekZok was once again merged with his urRu other after she healed the Crystal.[14]
Behind the scenes
The character's pre-production notes described him as being influenced by Rasputin, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Bishop Sheen and Eric von Stroheim, and of having robes and relics evocative of those seen in the Soviet film Ivan the Terrible and the Russian opera Boris Godunov.[15]
Froud incorporated a helm with a broken circle on the character, to emphasize the ritual master's fractured view of the world.[16] His robes were made with gold thread and were inspired by ecclesiastical capes.[17]
Gallery
References
- ↑ The Dark Crystal Author Quest: The Gelfling Gathering, The Jim Henson Company (2013)
- ↑ Froud, B. & Llewellyn, J. J., The World of the Dark Crystal. Pavilion Books. ISBN 1-86205-624-2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Smith, A. C. H., & Odell, D. (1982). The Dark Crystal. Holt, Rinehart and Winston . ISBN 0030624363
- ↑ "End. Begin. All the Same." The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "Nothing Is Simple Anymore" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "What Was Sundered and Undone" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "The First Thing I Remember Is Fire" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "She Knows All the Secrets" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "By Gelfling Hand..." The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "The Crystal Calls" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ "A Single Piece Was Lost" The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Netflix. August 30, 2019
- ↑ Spurrier, S., The Power of the Dark Crystal, #3, Archaia, USA, May 2017
- ↑ Spurrier, S. & Kennedy Johnson, P., The Power of the Dark Crystal, #8, Archaia, USA, October 2017
- ↑ Spurrier, S. & Kennedy Johnson, P., The Power of the Dark Crystal, #12, Archaia, USA, March 2018
- ↑ Invader Zim (2010-06-08). "The Skeksis (one post from a messageboard thread)". Planet Irk. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ↑ C. Gaines, The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History, Titan Books, 2017, p. 123, ISBN 1-78565-592-2.
- ↑ C. Finch, The Making of the Dark Crystal: Creating a Unique Film, Henry Holt & Co, 1983, pp. 46-47, ISBN 0-03-063332-X.
