Where Are the Mystics at in 'Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'? Fans Want Answers!
Updated April 16 2020, 2:04 p.m. ET
If you're a Dark Crystal fan, then you've probably already streamed all 10 episodes of Age of Resistance on Netflix. The '80s muppet masterpiece definitely has a niche fan base (I was more of a Labyrinth fan myself, but DC was first) who were equal parts excited and surprised to discover that the streaming giant had greenlit a prequel to the film that's over three decades old.
Although the new series delves more into the world of Thra, viewers were left with a lot of questions, namely:
Where are the Mystics in Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance?
WARNING: There are some pretty big spoilers lurking ahead, so if you haven't seen the show and don't want anything revealed to you, then you should probably stop reading. If that sorta thing doesn't bother you, then go right ahead and peruse away.
Like I said earlier, Age of Resistance is a prequel, and The Dark Crystal film that came out in 1982 is the conclusion of a story that took some thousands of years to build.
AOR occurs only 50 years before the events of The Dark Crystal, so while it gives some insight into the film's ending, it can only give so much insight into the world of Thra, and sadly creates more questions once the 10-part series is wrapped. The biggest question is what exactly are the Skeksis after, and how do they relate to the Mystics?
Thankfully, the folks at Polygon looked to the Dark Crystal comics that delve deep into the lore of the series' history.
Think of it like reading The Silmarillion after checking out The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, that's what the Creation Myths comics for DC are.
Like Genesis, the world of Thra comes out of nowhere, but it begins with a song. At the heart of it, there's a crystal that forms, called "The Crystal of Truth" but there are other crystals all over the universe, including the dark one. The song unifies all of them, but there's a problem with the crystal on Thra. It hadn't finished its song.
As Thra was growing, the planet realized it needed a caretaker, so it created one by the name of Aughra. She's smart and all, and used her knowledge to chart the movement of Thra's three Suns to discover that a "Great Conjunction" was going to occur. This Conjunction brought about some new visitors to Thra, the Urskeks.
They sang songs that raised the crystal from the heart of Thra into a citadel that they created (a fortress that was reminiscent of something from their own home planet).
While they seemed like nice harbingers of peace and enlightenment, the Urskeks that migrated to Thra were actually banished from their homeworld. The thing about these beings is that they were kind of bipolar, and one Urskek in particular had grown exceptionally bitter and angry.
But that doesn't really explain:
Who are the Mystics in the Dark Crystal?
I'm getting to it. So, after 1,000 years passed and the next Great Conjunction was upon the Urskeks, they gathered around Thra's Crystal in the hopes of getting back home.
But instead of hightailing it to their original planet, they were divided into two races: the Skeksis and the Mystics (Urru). Problem is, this division also split their personality traits down the middle. You ever watch Twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito? Of course you have, because you're cool.
Well in Twins, DeVito's character was supposed to hold all of the undesirable traits of humanity, while Arnold possessed the best bits. The Skeksis are basically DeVito in Twins, while the Mystics are more like Arnold.
The Skeksis were able to put themselves into positions of power by lying to the Gelflings (much like the Urskeks lied when they first came to Thra) by saying that they were protectors of the crystal and have been there all along.
Age of Resistance chronicles the Gelflings who have had enough of the Skeksis' lies and want to rally against them. But where are the Mystics and what are they doing while the Skeksis have been running amok?
Well, because they're peace-loving, gentle beings, they're not about to get embroiled in the avaricious, power-hungry struggles that the Skeksis are obsessed with. By the time the events of The Dark Crystal film take place, the Mystics have mostly died out.
The after-credit scenes for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance are actually a documentary.
While the end of the series doesn't necessarily set up a Season 2, there very well could be one. (The Gelflings are left without a leader, Fara and All-Maudra die, and Cadia has his memory wiped.)
However, there is a cool behind-the-scenes documentary that delineates just how the series is made. Streaming numbers will most likely dictate whether or not AOR will get more episodes. Are you down for some more grisly, fantasy-themed muppet action?