The Dark Crystal

Jen:
The prophecy didn't say anything about this!

Kira:
Prophets don't know everything!

Historian:
Hold her to you, for she is part of you, as we all are part of each other.

Aughra:
What was sundered and undone shall be whole - the two made one.

Jen:
[reading the prophecy] 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.

Aughra:
End, begin, all the same. Big change. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad.

Aughra:
Mouldy mildew, mother of mouthmuck, dangle and strangle and death.

Aughra:
Another Great Conjunction coming up! Anything could happen! Whole WORLD might burn up! [snorts] End of Aughra! Hm!

Aughra:
Ya look like Gelfling... [sniffs] SMELL like Gelfling... [sniffs] maybe y'ARE Gelfling!

Jen:
Wings? I don't have wings!

Kira:
Of course not. You're a boy.

Aughra:
Where is he?

Jen:
He's dead.

Aughra:
Could be anywhere, then.

Jen:
Where is this Augrah? How does she look like? How will I find her? "Follow the Greatest Sun for a day to the home of Augrah"... hmph. Some directions!

General:
Chamberlain! I challenge!

Chamberlain:
Trial by stone.

General:
Trial by stone!

Jen:
Are you a Gelfling? Like me?

Kira:
[surprised] Yes!

Jen:
I thought I was the only one.

Kira:
I thought I was.

Jen:
I wish I'd never heard of this shard!

Jen:
Dear, dear master. I'll find the shard. I'm not ready to go alone... [pause] Alright. Alone then.

Aughra:
Now, ask what the Great Conjunction is, what's the Great Conjunction?

Jen:
What's the Great Conjunction? You tell me!

Aughra:
THE GREAT CONJUNCTION IS THE END OF THE WORLD! Or the beginning. Hm!

Jen:
Where are we?

Kira:
Safe.

Jen:
I don't think anywhere is safe any more.

Chamberlain:
Hmmmmm...

General:
I hate your whimper!

Chamberlain:
HMMMM! [they proceed down the hallway]

Chamberlain:
Hmmmmmmm-mmmmm...

General:
QUIET!

Kira:
What's writing?

Jen:
Words that stay. My master taught me.

Kira:
[to Jen] Heal the Crystal!

Scientist:
You're next, little Podling! [puts Podling in chair] This won't hurt. We just want to drain your living essence. Then you can be the same as the other Podlings here, a slave. [turns to his assistant] Open the wall! [wall opens revealing fiery shaft] Now, Podling. Out there is the great shaft of the castle. Position the reflector. [reflector moves into position] The reflector will capture the beams of the Dark Crystal floating high above. Look into the relfector, Podling. Feel the power of the Dark Crystal! [the reflector shines purple light into the Podling's eyes] Mmm, yes, and now the beam will rid you of your fears... your thoughts... your vital essence.

Aughra:
Questions, questions, too many questions. You want a shard? Here!

Narrator:
The Skeksis, with their hard and twisted bodies, their harsh and twisted wills. For a thousand years they have ruled. Yet now, there are only ten: a dying race, ruled by a dying Emperor, imprisoned within themselves in a dying land.

Jen:
Wings? You have wings! I don't have wings

Kira:
Of course not - you're a boy

Aughra:
Kira! Call the animals! You have the gift!

Kira:
Kahmalaiah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Aughra:
Don't know. MmmmmMmmmmah! Don't know.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Another world, another time, in the age of wonder. A thousand years ago, this land was green and good - until the Crystal cracked. For a single piece was lost; a shard of the Crystal. Then strife began, and two new races appeared: the cruel Skeksis, the gentle Mystics. Here in the castle of the Crystal, the Skeksis took control. Now the Skeksis gather in the sacred chamber, where the Crystal hangs above a shaft of air and fire. The Skeksis with their hard and twisted bodies, their harsh and twisted wills. For a thousand years they have ruled, yet now there are only ten. A dying race, ruled by a dying emperor, imprisoned within themselves in a dying land. Today, once more, they gather at the Crystal as the first sun climbs to its peak. For this is the way of the Skeksis. As they ravaged the land, so too they learned to draw new life from the sun. Today, once more, they will replenish themselves, cheat death again, through the power of their source, their treasure, their fate - the Dark Crystal. [Title card]... But today, the ceremony of the sun gives no comfort. Today, an emperor lies dying. Today, a new emperor must seize the throne.

Narrator:
[In the Valley of the Mystics] A thousand years ago, the Crystal cracked. And here, far from the castle, the race of Mystics came to live in a dream of peace. Their ways were the gentle ways of natural wizards. Yet now there are only ten. A dying race, numbly rehearsing the ancient ways in a blur of forgetfulness. But today, the ritual gives no comfort. Today, the wisest of the Mystics lies dying. Today, they summon the one who must save them. [All Mystics sing a low tone of summoning] [cut to Jen playing a double-pipe by a pond] In the valley of the Mystics, there lives a Gelfling, Jen. The Skeksis killed his family, destroyed his clan. Only Jen survived, to be raised by the wisest of the Mystics. But there is a prophecy. A thousand years have passed, and now, once more, the world must undergo a time of testing. Now it must he healed, or pass forever into the rule of evil. At this time, Jen is the chosen one. Today, Jen's pipe gives no comfort. For today, his master lies dying. And a journey must begin - the journey of Jen.