Warning! SPOILERS ahead for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and The Dark Crystal movie.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance features a vision of the future that includes some explicit references to the 1982 film, while also setting up where the series could go next. Age of Resistance is a 10-episode Netflix prequel series to The Dark Crystal, returning audiences once more to Thra and the conflict that rages over the titular Crystal.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is set many year before the events of the original movie. It follows three Gelfling as they uncover the Skeksis’ dark secret, eventually rallying all the Gelfling in rebellion against the Skeksis. While this is happening, however, Thra is being poisoned by The Dark Crystal. A substance known only as The Darkening leaks from the Crystal, infecting more and more of Thra’s lands and animals with its blight. Were The Dark Crystal to be healed, then The Darkening would stop, but for many that won’t happen soon enough, and so one Gelfling, Deet, takes it upon herself to heal them.
In The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 1, the Sanctuary Tree gifts Deet its powers just before it, like everything in Grottan Caves, is consumed by The Darkening. It warns Deet that it does not know the full consequences of giving her these powers, but with that with them she will be able to defeat The Darkening. As Deet receives the powers of the Sanctuary Tree, she also experiences a vision. Here’s how Deet’s vision references the original Dark Crystal movie and what it might mean for an The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 2.
Jen Being Saved By His Mother
Deet’s vision primarily contains scenes of a female Gelfling carrying a childling through the woods as she flees from the Garthim. It’s the first time the monsters appear in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (though not the last), and their presence here chasing the frightened Gelfing suggests this is a scene from the Garthim War - the forthcoming conflict during which the Garthim will wipe out all Gelfling save two, Jen and Kira, the Gelfling later seen in 1982’s The Dark Crystal.
Age of Resistance season 1 ends with skekTok the Scientist unveiling the first of his new creations to the rest of the Skeksis, an obvious tease that more Garthim are on the way and the war isn’t far behind. But the creation of the Garthim is only one of the ways Age of Resistance is setting up The Dark Crystal, and this moment from Deet’s vision holds more clues. For instance, the Gelfling seen fleeing from the Garthim in her vision likely isn’t just any Gelfing, but Jen’s mother. Jen only survives the Garthim War because his mother manages to smuggle him to safety, leaving him to be raised by the Mystics (the urRu). This is almost certainly what Deet is witnessing in her vision, and what she sees next only offers more proof.
Jen Healing The Crystal
Following the scene of the Garthim and the Gelfling in the woods comes the climactic moment from the original Dark Crystal movie - Jen returning the Crystal Shard and healing the Crystal of Truth. This is when the whole audience - those who’ve seen The Dark Crystal before watching Age of Resistance and those who haven’t - are on the same page. With this short glimpse at the future (a scene that appears to be newly filmed and not taken directly from The Dark Crystal), as well as the explanation of the Skeksis and urRu’s true origins as the urSkeks, even those viewers who weren’t familiar with the original movie before watching Age of Resistance now know the film’s biggest reveals.
Including the scene of Jen healing the Crystal directly after that of the Gelfling fleeing with her childling is also a strong indication that it actually is Jen’s mother in that previous scene. This vision of Deet’s is what the future holds for the Gelfling - their destruction by the Garthim, but also their being key to Thra’s salvation. The death of Jen’s mother and all the other Gelfling is inevitable, but so is Jen being successful in his quest. Deet witnesses both of these moments in her vision, but then, what does that mean for the final and most harrowing moment she sees?
Deet On The Skeksis Emperor’s Throne
The lasting image of Deet’s vision is not the Garthim or Jen, it’s her seated on the Skeksis Emperor’s throne. In the vision, Deet’s eyes glow purple and her face is streaked with veins of purple energy. This, sadly, appears to be Deet’s future, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 1 finale only helps to confirm that. During the Gelfling’s battle with the Skeksis at Stone-in-the-Wood, Deet absorbs The Darkening energy skekSo the Emperor fires at them, firing it right back and killing skekLach the Collector. Doing so, however, corrupts Deet, and she’s last seen wandering away from Rian and her fellow Gelfling, her face looking just like her’s in the vision as everything in her wake withers and dies.
It’s an ominous ending for a character as cheerful as Deet, but there may be even more to it. In her vision, Deet appears seated on the Skeksis Emperor’s throne in addition to looking blighted by The Darkening. Could this mean that come The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 2 (were it to happen), Deet takes over skekSo the Emperor’s role of tending to The Darkening? Throughout Age of Resistance season 1, skekSo watched over The Darkening, helping it to fester and grow, which is how he came to have some of its energy to use in battle. Given Deet’s state at the end of season 1, it may be that she is now so consumed with Darkening energy that she will now act on its behalf, using her power to taint Thra instead of healing it.
If that’s the case, then The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 2 would almost certainly see Rian, Hup and the other Gelfling working to save Deet from this cruel fate. Whether they’re successful or not, though, remains a complete mystery. None of these characters are specifically referenced in The Dark Crystal, so all of their individual fates are unknown. And given it’s also unknown exactly how much time passes between the Netflix series and the original film, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance has plenty of space to continue telling its own story while still laying the groundwork for The Dark Crystal.
Next: Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’s Season 1 Ending Explained (& What’s Next)
