Warning! SPOILERS ahead for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and The Dark Crystal movie.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 1’s ending not only sets up the events of the original Dark Crystal movie, but it outlines where the series could go in future seasons. Age of Resistance is a prequel to the 1982 film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, featuring again the stunning puppetry and effects of The Jim Henson Company. The 10-episode series greatly expands on the lore of The Dark Crystal, pulling much of its inspiration from Henson and Oz’s original notes on the world and creatures from the original film.

In The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, three Gelfling - Rian (Taron Egerton), Deet (Nathalia Emmanuel), and Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy) - discover that the ruling lords of Thra, the Skeksis, are draining the Gelfling of their essence in order to prolong their own lives. They struggle to convince their fellow Gelfling of the atrocities taking place, eventually needing to travel to a sacred site, the Circle of the Suns, in order to learn the truth about the Skeksis, their world, Thra, and the Dark Crystal. There, Rian, Deet, and Brea gain the knowledge they seek, but it alone won’t be enough to defeat the Skeksis and save Thra.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 1 ends with the Gelfling winning a battle against the Skeksis, but sadly, this victory only marks the beginning of what will be a very long and troubling time. And not just for the Gelfling, but for all of Thra. Still, the Age of Resistance season 1 ending isn’t totally without hope. Here’s what the ending of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 1 means for the future of the series and how it can connect with The Dark Crystal.

The urSkeks Explained

Upon reaching the Circle of the Suns, Rian, Deet, and Brea (as well as their Podling friend, Hup) meet a most strange pair - a Skeksis known simply as The Heretic, and an urRu called urGoh the Wanderer. The odd couple perform for them a puppet show (“that most ancient and sacred of arts”) that reveals a startling truth: every gentle urRu (Mystics) and cruel Skeksis are one half of another whole being, the urSkeks. It’s a reveal The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance holds until this moment, but one that anyone who’s seen the original Dark Crystal has been anxiously awaiting.

Since having learned the truth themselves, all The Heretic and urGoh wish for is to be reunited - and perhaps in their deaths, which interestingly aren’t really explained, they are reunited. The other Skeksis, however, don’t appear at all interested in being reunited seeing as professing such a desire is why they banished The Heretic in the first place. This detail, though, does and will continue to factor in to Age of Resistance’s story. During the final battle, the Archer kills himself, and his other half, the Hunter, up and dies at the very same time, only further emphasizing the link between the two species. And we can only assume that with the deaths of both the General and the Collector, there must also be two corresponding Mystics who die.

However, knowing the truth about the Skeksis is only one step on the path to defeating them. In order for the Gelfling to free Thra from their grip, they’re going to need to fight together as one.

The Crystal Shard Reveal Begins The Age Of Resistance

A new age dawns in Thra at the end of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, born from the battle at Stone-in-the-Wood where the Gelfling send the Skeksis scrambling back to their castle. But more importantly, this battle marks the moment when the seven Gelfling clans are united as one thanks to the Dual Glaive. As foretold to them by The Heretic and urGoh, the creators of the Dual Glaive, this sword holds the power to unite the Gelfling and defeat the Skeksis because it “carries the spirit of Thra.” The battle at Stone-in-the-Wood proves this to be true, but it’s not just because the Dual Glaive is some special sword that can communicate via the fires of Thra or suck the stolen essence out of Skeksis - it’s because the Dual Glaive holds the Crystal Shard!

The reveal that the Crystal Shard is the gem in the hilt of the Dual Glaive is hugely important, as anyone who’s seen The Dark Crystal will attest. The loss of this shard when the Crystal of Truth was cracked in the aftermath of the split between Skeksis and urRu is why it darkened and became The Dark Crystal. Returning the shard will not only heal the Crystal, it will also reunite the Skeksis and urRu together in their urSkek forms. Now that the Gelfling possess the Crystal Shard, they are finally a real threat to the Skeksis’ power.

The Skeksis Create the Garthim

In The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance ending, the Gelfling appear well on their way to saving Thra and defeating the Skeksis. Unfortunately, it’s only going to get much harder for the Gelfling in the years between now and The Dark Crystal film, and the final scene of Age of Resistance offers up one big reason why - the Garthim.

The Garthim play a large role in The Dark Crystal film, acting as the Skeksis’ personal guard and army. They are ruthless monsters with no purpose other than to destroy and they will be the biggest threat to the Gelfling from this point on. Not to mention, learning that the Garthim are not merely a Skeksis creation, but one made from the gruesome combination of two native species of Thra - the Arathim and Gruenaks - only makes them all the more horrific.

The creation of the Garthim signal that the devastating Garthim War is not far off. It also means more Skeksis, like skekUng, the soon-to-be Garthim Master, will be returning to the castle. The Gelfling may have won a great victory against the Skeksis at Stone-in-the-Wood, even recovering the Crystal Shard, but their battle to free Thra is far from over.

Deet’s Darkening Transformation Explained

Much of what is revealed in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance season 1 ending is already established thanks to The Dark Crystal film. This includes the truth about the Mystics and Skeksis, the discovery of the Crystal Shard, and creation of the Garthim. However, there’s one major event from Age of Resistance that is never referenced by the film and is, therefore, left as one of the series’ biggest surprises - Deet’s transformation.

What happens to Deet in Age of Resistance is never fully revealed, but in being gifted the powers of the Sanctuary Tree, she experiences a crucially important vision and gains the ability to absorb and manipulate the Darkening (a terrible blight seeping from The Dark Crystal and tainting all of Thra). Deet’s vision is a hint of what’s to come - even including a scene taken directly from The Dark Crystal movie - but it also suggests that her new powers will lead a cruel fate.

The final shot in Deet’s vision shows her seated on the Skeksis Emeperor’s throne, her face streaked with purple veins. This isn’t all that different from how she appears after absorbing and firing the Darkening energy back at the Skeksis during the battle at Stone-in-the-Wood, suggesting her condition will only get worse each time she manipulates the Darkening. Following the battle, Deet is seen by Rian wandering away from everyone else, and in her wake, the plants of Thra wither and die. Deet is being changed by the Darkening, that’s clear, but does this mean she could actually turn evil and join the Skeksis as her vision might imply? Hopefully not, but Deet becoming a vessel of the Darkening most likely won’t have a happy ending.

What Comes Next For The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance?

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is the beginning of a story that’s already had its ending told in the film, The Dark Crystal. Luckily, that hasn’t really hurt Age of Resistance’s storytelling as there is quite a lot of left to be explored between the two points in time. There hasn’t yet been an official number of years given for how much time passes between Age of Resistance and The Dark Crystal, but there is at least one clue that suggests it’s many, many years - the Wall of Destiny.

In The Dark Crystal, Jen discovers an ancient Gelfling ruin called the Wall of Destiny that depicts how to heal the Crystal with the Crystal Shard. The carving, it’s implied, is very old by this point. Just how old isn’t clear, but this suggests there’s a significant time-frame in which Age of Resistance can tell its story. It’s possible, and even likely, that something like the creation of the Wall of Destiny is what’s next for Age of Resistance, with the Gelfling next learning how to heal The Dark Crystal now that they’ve discovered the lost shard.

There are other events which must happen, too, like the Garthim War, but perhaps what’s most devastating is the knowledge that before the Age of Resistance ends, the Gelfling must lose. Their victory over the Skeksis happens in The Dark Crystal and that means Age of Resistance must show defeat of the Gelfling. All hope is not lost, of course, but this hints at a very somber The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance ending.

Next: What To Expect From Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Season 2