The Dark Crystal

    When single shines the triple sun/What was sundered and undone/Shall be whole,                                        

            the two made one/By gelfling hand or else by none.

Jen believes he is the last of the Gelflings. After his parents were killed by the soldiers conjured by the Skeksis, he was raised in a lush valley in which the urRu reside. When Jen's master urSu is on his deathbed, he calls Jen to his side and reveals that his (Jen's) destiny is to "heal" the crystal by finding the shard, which may be found at Aughra's observatory. As this occurs, urSu's Skeksis counterpart, the emperor SkekSo, dies as well, resulting in a confrontation between the Chamberlain SkekSil and the General SkekUng, who both desire to succeed him. Deciding to settle this with the "trial by stone" (Haaksheekaah in an earlier conceptualization), SkekUng becomes emperor and SkekSil is stripped of his clothes and exiled from the palace in rags. Moments later, the Skeksis are summoned by the crystal and are made aware of Jen's existence.

Jen reaches Aughra, a wisewoman character of unknown species, and discovers the needed crystal shard, which is hidden among others like it, by playing music on his flute, to which it resonates. In the process, Jen learns of the upcoming Great Conjunction by means of Aughra's orrery-assisted predictions, but learns little of its connection to the shard before the Garthim arrive and destroy Aughra's observatory, capturing Aughra but failing to capture Jen. Jen spends the night in a swamp, while Aughra is taken to the castle of the crystal, where she indignantly rebukes and mocks the Skeksis, scoffing at their blustery claims of power and promising Jen's arrival to destroy them. Meanwhile, the urRu urIm, hearing the calls of the Crystal, gathers his kind for return to the Castle.

The next day, Jen awakens in marshes, where he is frightened by a doglike pet known as Fizzgig and meets another Gelfling, Kira. They stay for a night amongst the Podlings who raised Kira after the death of her parents, only to be ambushed by the Garthim. Kira, Jen, and Fizzgig escape the attack; but many Podlings are captured by the Garthim and taken as slaves. Blaming himself for the Garthim raid, Jen discards the crystal shard, whereupon Kira reassures him that he is not to blame.

In the morning, they discover the ruined Gelfling City, where Jen reads the prophecy of the Crystal and Kira recovers the shard, learning that it is part of the Dark Crystal and must be reinserted to restore integrity. Jen and Kira are then confronted by the disgraced SkekSil, who attempts to trick them in believing he would help them, but they refuse and escape him. Riding on furry, long-legged 'Landstriders', the Gelflings arrive at the Castle of the Crystal, where they see the Garthim that attacked Kira's village. Kira, followed by Jen, ride to attack the Garthim and try to free the captured Podlings while the Landstriders fight the Garthim to distract them from the rescue effort.

The Gelflings fail to rescue the Podlings and find the Garthim, who have slain the Landstriders, closing in on them at the edge of the moat that encircles the castle. Sweeping Jen and Fizzgig into her arms, Kira jumps off the cliff and floats gently to the bottom, revealing that female Gelflings have wings. At the bottom of the gully, Jen and Kira enter the castle via the Teeth of the Skreesh, an undefended sewer entrance to the lower parts of the castle. SkekSil meets them again and attempts to convince them to offer peace to the Skeksis. As Jen and Kira attempt to escape, SkekSil seizes Kira. Fearing for Kira's safety, Jen strikes SkekSil, using the crystal shard as a dagger and wounding SkekSil's arm. Concurrently, the urRu chanter urSol suffers a spontaneous wound on his arm in the corresponding location. Enraged, SkekSil forces Jen into a wall, inciting a cave-in. SkekSil then takes Kira prisoner, believing Jen to be dead.

For capturing Kira, SkekSil is restored to his position as Chamberlain. On the suggestion of the scientist SkekTek, SkekUng decides to regain his youth by draining Kira's life essence, recalling that the potency thereof allows a Skeksis emperor to maintain his youth for longer periods than did that of the Podlings on whom SkekTek was forced to rely since the Gelfing genocide. Kira maintains a telepathic connection with Jen, who is still conscious. Only a few drops of the "everlasting essence" are drawn from Kira before she, urged by the telepathic voice of Jen and by the captured Aughra, calls out to the animals imprisoned in the laboratory, who break free and attack SkekTek. SkekTek falls into a volcanic pit to its death, resulting in the urRu Alchemist urTil's disintegration into flames. Kira escapes as her bond with Jen gives him the strength to escape the cave-in, but he is separated from Fizzgig during a confrontation with the Garthim. Aughra escapes her prison while urRu enter the castle.

While the two Gelfings meet back up at the central interior chamber where the Crystal is housed as the three suns begin to align, the Skeksis arrive to prepare for the immortality that they will gain from the Conjunction if the Crystal is not restored. Jen leaps onto the Crystal, but the shard falls from his hands; Kira grabs it, but is surrounded by the Skeksis. She throws the shard to Jen, whereupon the Ritual Master SkekZok kills her. When the Conjunction begins, Jen places the shard in its appropriate place, unifying the crystal as the urRu arrive. When the Garthim shatter and the Skeksis' influence on the castle crumbles, the urRu and Skeksis reunite into their original urSkek incarnations. The urSkek leader, UngIm, speaks to Jen of their history, communicating through a sign language. UngIm restores Kira to life, then with his brethren departs the current plane of existence, leaving the Crystal and an injunction to "make your world in its light" to the Gelflings. Outside, the devastated world has been restored to its former beauty and harmony.

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