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kiwi-strawberry-banana · 4 years

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So, this post is going to be an analysis on SkekTek the Scientist, comparing his movie self versus his tv self, as well as various predictions for season 2 or onwards. I know there have been analysis of him before, but this is a big ole hodgepodge of my own thoughts.

Ok, so, I will make no secret that SkekTek is my favorite, and as such I may or may not have analyzed him a lot in many pictures from the movie and tv show, and heres what I think;

The first season is only a peek at his descent into madness, as well as the lengths he will go to gain the approval of all around him.

In the show, it is already shown that SkekTek seeks the approval of those around him, especially the Emperor. He is regarded as the weakest Skeksis and, as such, is at the end of a lot of ridicule from the other Skeksis (he is most commonly referred to as "weakling" by various Skeksis including SkekVar the General, SkekMal the Hunter, and I believe SkekSo the Emperor). The ridicule is to the point where he is often secluded in his lab with his only friends being animals and Sidetic. ("SkekTek never forgets a true friend.")

His desire for acceptance from the other Skeksis is so deep reaching that he forsakes many things, such as his friendship with Aughra.

When she is being strapped to the chair, preparing to be drained, she brings up their past friendship. There is so much nuance behind here doing so. In that moment, she is reaching out to SkekTek, reminding him of what they once had, of how she hasn't forgotten.

She is reaching out and giving him a chance to stop. And if he had simply brushed her off, I wouldn't be bringing this up. But rather than immediately ignore her or respond

He looks to The Emperor, the Skeksis that rules over all of them, and one that SkekTek has been vying for approval from for so long.

And SkekSo knows it.

(Gif credit @rabid-apathy)

He doesn't tell SkekTek to get a move on, nor does he berate him. Instead, he looks to the side, almost as in a "you know what to do" type gesture. At this point, SkekTek is in too far deep, so desperate for the approval of his brethren that don't care about him in the slightest that he forsakes the possibility of rekindling a lost friendship.

"Another world, another time."

If you rewatch this scene and watch Aughras reaction after SkekTek says that (because I can't find the gif or pic of it), she is genuinely hurt and saddened by SkekTeks response. She was being genuine when she reminded him of their friendship and was hoping that maybe it could still be there, that he could stop this.

But he didn't.

And after further ridicule from multiple Skeksis and gorging himself on essence, he does what some would say is the moment he snaps.

He kills the Gruenaks.

I know this scene has already been analyzed before, so I won't go as in depth, but that moment was a very pivotal scene. Aside from it being the moment that all the anger that has been building up inside SkekTek comes out, as well as when the idea of the Garthim comes to pass, it is also both a sad and terrifying moment for both the Gruenaks and SkekTek.

For the Gruenaks, the moment is terrifying because they were so close to freedom only for the horrifying reality to come crashing back in their faces.

And for SkekTek, the moment is horrifying for two reasons. One, because he had been going through so much ridicule and mockery for so long despite everything he did for the Skeksis that the moment of two Gruenak slaves defying him ("No slaves") was the ultimate tipping point.

For so long, I don't think SkekTek even felt like one of the Skeksis. It is commented on by the Emperor when he confronts SkekTek on how much essence will be needed for immortality (Can't remember the exact quote, but it is along the lines of how SkekTek takes solace in animals compared to being around the other Skeksis). Time and time again, SkekTek rarely interacts with other Skeksis unless they need something. So when he sees the Gruenaks have turned against him, he goes on a long spiel about how he is SkekTek the Scientist, a master of life and death, etc.

But he ends it with:

"I am Skeksis!"

A yell that is desperate. A need for affirmation, one that no Skeksis has given him. And with it, he snaps.

If the Gruenaks hadn't resisted, it's likely he still would have killed them. If not, they would have at least been severely wounded. There was too much rage and, combined with him being drunk on essence, there was nothing the Gruenaks could have done to calm SkekTek down.

And that moment with the Gruenaks? That is the point where things tip.

That moment is the first big step into his descent into insanity.

There had been smaller steps up until then, such as the draining of Gelfling, the loss of his eye, the constant ridicule, and draining Aughra. But the Gruenaks was big.

Which brings me to my next point:

I don't know if this has been brought up before, if it has I have not seen it, but SkekTek is horrifyingly different when you compare his tv self and his movie self.

Tv:

Movie:

All the other Skeksis are obviously decrepit by the time of the movie (fun fact, movie SkekOk has one extra pair of glasses compared to tv SkekOk), however SkekTek is the most different.

We see him lose his eye in the show, and while the book states that he replaced his own arm and leg with robotic prosthetics, as well as put tubes in his body to study his bloodflow, those things do not happen before the tv show.

And I know this because, if you compare the two, it is clear that Skektek does have both arms in the show where as in the movie:

You can clearly see that that arm is definitely a robotic one.

(Fun fact 2, watch his scenes from the movie and watch his arms. While he will use the robotic one, he doesn't actually move that one around all that much compared to his other arm.)

Aside from his arm, movie SkekTek has a large amount of tubes, wires, and metal pieces all throughout his body, including even more where his eye prosthetic is.

I could go on with the side by side comparisons, but I think it is safe to say that there is more that happens to SkekTek aside from him aging.

But a final big change from the time of the show versus the movie has to be his animals.

I've already stated that in the show, they are his only real companions (especially Sidetic). The animals in his lab are his only company and, frankly, are rather calm when it's just SkekTek in the lab. But by the movie? He is constantly yelling at them to be quiet, regarding them cruelly and awfully while they screech about the moment he enters the room.

Which brings me to my final point and some speculation:

It is likely that, despite the creation of the Garthim, as well as him having developed the method for creating essence, SkekTek is still going to be the subject of constant ridicule by the Skeksis, to the point where his last shred of sanity snaps and he begins the experiments on his body.

Whether those experiments are due to the Emperors demand for a solution for his own deteriorating body or because SkekTek is so desperate to no longer be seen as weak that he replaces his limbs in a desperate bid for more strength, that is up for debate.

SkekTek is one of the few Skeksis to actually think about things such as the wellbeing of Thra (his momentary plea to the Emperor that the more they drain Gelfling, the faster the Darkening will spread), as well as having moments of genuine kindness to creatures that aren't Skeksis ("Hush now, hush now. All is well."), but like the rest of the Skeksis, SkekTek is driven by a combination of greed and fear, one that sends him on a downward spiral until he meets his ultimate end.

Tldr; SkekTek has a rougher time in the foreseeable future. Someone give this vulture a vacation please.

(Also, I do not condone any of the awful things SkekTek does. Yes, killing is bad.)

(Final thing, I know there is debatable continuity between the show and the movie. Even so, I still wanted to do this. Because I can.)

#the dark crystal #the dark crystal age of resistance #skeksis #skektek #my post #analysis

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