History Series / TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance

** Some Gelflings bleed pink, as shown explicitly during [[spoiler: the All-Maudra's death scene when the General disembowels her for defying him. Tavra's pink blood also coats the Chamberlain's sword when she's stabbed.]] Oddly enough, cuts on Gelflings' skin are always red, perhaps because pink would look confusing.
** [[spoiler: Gruenak blood is black.]]
** Skeksis blood looks red in most scenes, while in others it's purple

** [[spoiler: skekGra. He admits that during his time as the Conqueror he was guilty of an immense number of atrocities and crimes. Now, as the Heretic, he works to thwart the other Skeksis and reunify them with their Mystic counterparts.]]
** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler: Seladon once she realizes the error of her ways.]]

* ForegoneConclusion: Anyone who's seen the original film knows what will happen: Thra will become a dying, decaying world thanks to the Darkening, and the landscape around the Crystal Castle will become [[{{Mordor}} a barren empty desert]]. Most of the Skesis will survive — with the Emperor remaining undefeated until his deathbed, and the Chamberlain in his current position in the court at the beginning of the movie. The three new Skeksis won't make it to the time of the film. Aughra will survive, the Dark Crystal will remain shattered, the essence draining device will be "refined" with a mirror that drains the essence solely through the eyes and zombifies the victims to serve as slaves to the Skeksis instead of disintegrating them, and the Gelflings will be exterminated by the Garthim, with only Jen and Kira as the sole (known) survivors of their species. However, with the show’s cancellation, how exactly things will get to that state after the triumphant ending of the first season has been left up in the air, especially given the fan theory that this is an alternate continuity where the Gelflings win.

In September 2020, the day after the show won an UsefulNotes/EmmyAward for Outstanding Children's Program, it was announced that Netflix [[{{Cancellation}} canceled the show]], leaving several plot threads unresolved. Lisa Henson announced that other ways will be found to continue the story.

* FisherKingdom: In the first episodes in the series, the landscape around the Crystal Castle is green and verdant not unlike [[spoiler: how it is at the end of the movie when the Crystal is healed]]. However, as the series progresses and the Skeksis become more overtly tyrannical (and the Darkening spreads under SkekSo's influence), this landscape gradually deteriorates into the {{Mordor}} it becomes by the beginning of the movie.

* ForegoneConclusion: Anyone who's seen the original film knows what will happen: Thra will become a dying, decaying world thanks to the Darkening. Most of the Skesis will survive — with the Emperor remaining undefeated until his deathbed, and the Chamberlain in his current position in the court at the beginning of the movie. The three new Skeksis won't make it to the time of the film. Aughra will survive, the Dark Crystal will remain shattered, the essence draining device will be "refined" with a mirror that drains the essence solely through the eyes and zombifies the victims to serve as slaves to the Skeksis instead of disintegrating them, and the Gelflings will be exterminated by the Garthim, with only Jen and Kira as the sole (known) survivors of their species. However, with the show’s cancellation, how exactly things will get to that state after the triumphant ending of the first season has been left up in the air, especially given the fan theory that this is an alternate continuity where the Gelflings win.

* InterruptedBath: Aughra barges in on the Skeksis' spa time; the Emperor and Ritual-Master in a state of undress, and the Scroll-Keeper is literally in a bath. While the others don't seem fazed, the Scroll-Keeper is absolutely mortified - justifiably so, since Aughra literally pulls out her eye and sticks it in the bath to stare at his 'privates'.

* InterruptedBath: Aughra barges in on the Skeksis' spa time; the Emperor and Ritual-Master in a state of undress, and the Scroll-Keeper is literally in a bath. While the others don't seem fazed, the Scroll-Keeper is absolutely mortified.

'''Mira:''' 'Course I do, I'm a girl! And you're a flat-footed Nebrie!

'''Rian:''' You won because you have wings!

--->'''Rian:''' No fair, you cheated because you can fly!\\
'''Mira:''' Of course I can, I'm a girl!

* DualWielding: The Skeksis' dominant fighting style utilizes two swords. Taken [[UpToEleven Up To Eleven]] by skekMal the Hunter who, unlike other Skeksis, is capable of wielding a pair of blades with ''[[MultiArmedAndDangerous both]]'' of his sets of hands.

* BizarreAlienBiology: The Gourmand is seen engaging in "public mictication," progressively unleashing streams of urine until three are going simultaneously. Luckily, we only see the streams, so we can still only guess what's going on down there.

* HiveMind: The Arathim. Thanks to a [[PuppeteerParasite Pupeteer Parasite]] sub-species, they can assimilate other beings into their hive mind as well.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: With skekVar the General [[spoiler:killing All-Maudra Maylin in cold blood,]] not only did he create a situation where some of the Maudra [[spoiler:refuse to acknowledge Maylin's eldest daughter, and blindly loyal Skeksis servant, Seladon as the next All-Maudra,]] but also affirming to many that the Skeksis no longer have the best interests of the Gelflings at heart, turning what was once a minor bit of unrest into an all-out insurrection.

* FeministFantasy: Two of the three main characters are women - [[AllLovingHero Deet]] and [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Princess]] [[BadassBookworm Brea]] - who are both brave, intelligent, proactive and heroic in their own way. The rulers of the Gelfings (the Maudras) are all women and in Gelfing society, GenderIsNoObject; both women and men can be warriors, scholars and so forth, and indeed, BizarreSexualDimorphism strongly favors Gelfling women, who have the power of flight. The BigGood of the series is Mother Aughra, who helps guide the Gelfings in their quest to realize the true nature of the Skeksis and restore the Crystal of Truth to save Thra; Brea and Deet also play vital roles in uncovering the truth and uniting the Gelfing tribes.

* DavidVsGoliath: Whenever a Gelfling has to fight a Skeksis, it turns into this. Even when they're old, flabby and have limited fighting experience, the Skeksis are far bigger and stronger than a Gelfling and this gives the Skeksis an almost insurmountable advantage. The rebellious Palace guards found this out when they tried to take the palace and despite a huge numbers advantage, the Skeksis completlely kicked the guards's ass. Then there was Orlun and Rian losing against skekMal near the gobblers.

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Aughra runs an incredible gambit on the Skeksis that involves trading her own life for those of several prominent Gelflings, allowing her essence to be used to restore the Hunter, then trusting that the Archer will take his own life at just the right moment to destroy the Hunter and turn the tide of battle, and allowing Aughra herself to resurrect from within the Hunter's body!]] Practically lampshaded by Aughra herself when she tells Rian she wasn't sure it would work.

* DescentIntoAddiction: This is clearly what is happening to the Skeksis as they drain and consume Gelfling essence. They need more and more of it, but the more they consume, the more the Darkening poisons Thra and hastens the Skeksis' own corruption. It even poisons their behavior and attitude towards the Gelflings, causing them to gleefully abandon any pretense of being noble guardians of the Crystal. They even welcome the freedom of finally getting to be ObviouslyEvil once skekVar the General murders [[spoiler: the Gelfling All-Maudra in a fit of rage when she openly defies him.]] Exactly how immoral they've always been is a bit of a debatable point, but either way, their addiction to the essence triggers something they can't turn back from. Their greed for it is such that they immediately dismiss the Chamberlain's concerns that their rate of consumption will rapidly eliminate the supply as a hindrance to their immortality, as well as his fear of the Geflings learning their true nature. Even the Scientist's fears about the Darkening and use of the Crystal are ignored by the Emperor.

** Then again, their evil reign is destroyed, everything is restored and they're merged with their Good counterparts... So they're not complete Karma Houdinis. In the bigger scheme of things, they're fallen misguided aspects who needed redemption by becoming one with their Good Sides.

* WorldBuilding: The trailer offers a good look at the world of Thra, which was populated by Gelflings before the Skeksis took over, expanding it in a manner the 1982 film couldn't due to the Gelflings being nearly extinct by then.