The Dark Crystal early Script{online

[skekKot]

Here is a link to my post about an early revised Shooting script for The Dark Crystal

http://www.darkcrystal.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/982/

 

[Laszlo]

Wow, excellent find! Thank you!
Highly interesting, lots of additional scenes, looks like the workprint!
How about posting it here, before the archive is deleted?

 

[Laszlo]

?THE DARK CRYSTAL?
THIRD REVISION SHOOTING SCRIPT
19/6/81 -- REVISED 22/4/81
DC 4D 4/3/81
1 SKY - DAY – STORM
The sky. A sky like we have never seen before,
boiling with angry clouds, rippling with electrical
discharges and unearthly lights. A storm that is
almost alive.
2 LANDSCAPE - DAY – STORM
We look down at an unfamiliar landscape: mountains,
deserts, rivers, forests, huge craters, and ravines.
As we move across this alien landscape, a pattern
becomes apparent: a kind of line links certain
features together. Suddenly a distant flash on the
horizon sweeps toward us along this line in a surge
of energy, leaving a dying glow on the ground for an
instant behind it.
3 LANDSCAPE - SKEKSES CASTLE – STORM
We follow this surge along its line toward a dark,
ominous castle, set on a bare, lifeless escarpment,
where several of these energy lines converge. The
castle seems to be drawing energy from the earth in
opposition to the raging heavens above it.
4 INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER - DAY – STORM
We move inside the castle, a vast and ancient
edifice of grotesquely carved stone and wood.
Through a triangular portal, high in the dome of
the central room, a shaft of light shines down
directly onto a huge Dark Crystal, which hangs
suspended over a deep shaft.
The light is refracted into ten beams which shoot
out of the Crystal into the large ceremonial room.
Standing motionless, bathed in the radiance of the
beams of light are nine Skekses, wearing their
finest ceremonial robes.
One place is vacant, and the beam shines onto a dias
in front of a long silken drape suspended from high
in the dome.
The other Skekses eye the vacant place uneasily as
they stand motionlessly in their beams of light.
Worked into the embroidery in the silken drape are
the symbols of royalty. This is the emperor's
place, but he is not there to participate in the
ceremony.
5 INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER - TRIANGULAR PORTAL IN
ROOF - DAY
The shaft of light diminishes as the single sun
moves out of the portal. The ceremony is over.
6 EXT. SKEKSES' CASTLE – DAY
The camera pulls away from the Castle. The storm
seems to be dying. The fissure in the clouds, that
had revealed the single sun overhead, closes up.
A strange batlike thing, with a glinting crystal in
its claws, circles past.
7 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY – DAY
In the distance is the castle with the storm
threatening around it. But here the air is clear.
Below a circle of grotesque peaks rim a circular
valley.
The camera pans down to reveal a tracery of tiny
waterfalls running down the circle of peaks and into
pools in the valley.
8 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - POOL – DAY
The camera follows one waterfall as it turns into a
stream and runs down into a series of small pools.
The camera moves into a tighter shot of the water.
A body is swimming gracefully under the water.
The head of Jen the Gelfling bursts through the
surface of the water.
And he climbs up onto the bank. In the background
ominous flickerings herald the approaching storm.
Jen picks up a strange two-pronged flute he has left
on a flat rock beside the pool. He sits down at the
edge of the water and begins to play a haunting
double melody on his flute.
A small wary scampering creature pricks up its ears
at the first notes.
Jen plays an oddly muffled note. He frowns, taps
his flute on the rocks as if to clear it, and then
blows the offending note with a loud piercing
shrillness.
9 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - POOL – DAY
A large four-armed Mystic suddenly rears up behind
Jen. There is a flash of lightning and a rumble of
distant thunder. The Mystic towers over Jen, but
Jen does not seem afraid.
JEN
Pardon, Ancient One.
I did not mean to disturb you.
The Mystic speaks with long pauses, as if summoning
up his ancient wisdom. (His people call themselves
the Ur, which means "old and wise" in their tongue.)
MYSTIC
To mean is not to do.
To make a sound
Is to trouble the roots of silence.
To play the flute
Is to make a slave of air...
Jen turns away impatiently.
JEN
I know. You told me that before.
The Mystic cocks his head as if listening to a
distant sound. Jen plays a delicate figure on his
flute, bored by the pause.
MYSTIC
In your cave there is one who has
need.
JEN
My master?
Jen doesn't wait for a reply, but reaches for his
clothes.
The Mystic seems not to have heard the question. He
looks up at the sky. The storm is getting closer.
MYSTIC
The storm comes.
But does no harm to one who runs.
Jen pauses for a moment as the meaning sinks in.
Then he turns and starts to go past the MYSTIC
toward his home cave --- just as the first fury of
the storm breaks on the valley.
Rocks and pebbles are blown past Jen as the wind
rips into the walls of the valley and turns the
waterfalls into wild plumes of spray.
10 OMIT 10
11 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE - STORM - DAY 11
Jen runs up a spiral pathway toward his Master's
cave. Three Mystics are watching the storm and
talking. They move apart to let Jen through.
Jen runs past a Mystic cave, its entrance decorated
with runes carved into the rock. The Mystic inside
sticks his head out and follows Jen with his gaze.
Jen approaches his home cave. It is larger and the
runes more elaborately carved than the others. He
pauses at the entrance. Behind him the storm lashes
the peaks of the valley.
12 INT. MYSTIC'S CAVE - MYSTIC VALLEY – DAY 12
Jen enters the cave. He walks past a Gelfling-size
bed carved into the rock toward the rear of the
cave, where his Master lies draped across a
sleepframe.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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5
12 CONTINUED 12
The Mystic's head is in an awkward position and his
eyes are glazed over.
Jen crosses quickly to the Master's side.
JEN
Master, what is wrong?
The Mystic's breathing is labored and noisy. He
looks up at Jen and seems to recognise him dimly as
if through a cloud. He beckons weakly for the
Gelfling to come closer.
MASTER
I was born......
Under a Shattered sky.
JEN
Master, please, it's me, Jen.
MASTER
A castle sang... To the Three made
One. The rule of the Skekses has
brought forth... pain, and taste of
woe fills the dark waters.
Jen is bewildered and upset by this pointless raving.
JEN
You are ill. You must rest.
His master silences him with a gesture of one hand,
and continues, seeming to summon his last reserves
of strength.
MASTER
On High Hill, watching the Heavens,
Sits the Dome of Aughra, keeper of
secrets.
The Mystic passes his hand over a basin of liquid
beside him and the liquid forms itself into the
shape of a mountain on top of which is a curious
domed house: the house of Aughra.
MASTER
A Wanderer may come...
From under the Mountain bringing
Murder and birth...
JEN
Master, I don't understand.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
6
12 CONTINUED 12
The Mystic interrupts him, and passes his hand over
the basin of liquid again. An image of a Crystal
Shard appears.
MASTER
Mark well this orphan Shard.
An orphan must restore it
To its rightful place.
Heal the Wound at the World's core.
You are that orphan Wanderer
And this the tool to forge your Fate.
And now... you are alone.
The image of the Shard rings with a high pitched
double note, then fades and vanishes.
JEN
Alone? But I'm here with you.
The Mystic closes his eyes and speaks in a voice
that sounds as if it is coming from very far away.
MASTER
Your Journey must begin for the
three suns will not wait.
Remember me, Jen.
We may meet... In another life
but not again in this.
The Mystic's eyes close, and he seems to lapse into
a kind of coma, still breathing laboriously.
Jen leans closer.
13 INT. SKEKSES CASTLE - CORRIDOR - STORM – DAY 13
A Skeksis walks through the dark halls of the
Castle, past mysterious hulks (Garthim) lurking in
alcoves.
This Skeksis is the General, or Garthim-Master: the
largest of the Skekses. His costume is wrought with
armor-like, military motifs.
He swaggers toward an ornate doorway.
The Chamberlain, an unctuous upstart, suddenly
appears in an alcove, where he has been waiting for
the General.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
7
13 CONTINUED 13
The General is startled, and draws back, hissing.
Then he continues toward the ornate doorway,
followed by the reptillian Chamberlain.
14 INT. CASTLE - EMPEROR'S BEDCHAMBER - STORM – DAY 14
The General and the Chamberlain enter and walk
toward the sumptuous bed of the Emperor, who is
dying.
The other seven Skekses hover around the bed,
watching. They make room for the General and the
Chamberlain.
The Emperor's eyes are dull and he is breathing
laboriously. His head lolls to one side, and a
jewelled septer slides out of his hand onto the bed.
The Chamberlain reaches out a bony, clawlike hand
for the septer.
The Emperor's eyes blaze awake suddenly, and he
lashes out at the Chamberlain with a snap of his
still powerful jaws full of crooked yellow teeth.
The Chamberlain withdraws meekly.
Suddenly the Emperor collapses back onto his bed and
stops breathing. A black membrane slides over his
eyes.
The nine remaining Skekses look at one another with
suspicion.
On the bed, the Emperor's body begins to crack and
crumble into dust.
15 INT. MYSTIC'S CAVE - MYSTIC VALLEY - STORM – DAY 15
Jen's Master seems to evaporate, slowly, as Jen
looks on with awe.
JEN
Master! Don't go. I... need you...
Soon there is nothing left of his body. His empty
robe remains behind, draped over the sleepframe.



DC 4D 4/3/81
 REVISED 22/4/81
8
16 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY – DUSK 16
In the valley of the Mystics, the storm suddenly
clears.
Small creatures come out of shelter and look up at
the sky.
17 INT. MYSTIC'S CAVE – DUSK 17
Jen stands at the cave mouth. In the b.g. is his
master's sleepframe, now empty.
18 EXT. SKEKSES CASTLE – NIGHT 18
Inky night enfolds the castle and a death-like
stillness oppresses the landscape. From deep within
the bowels of the castle, faint sounds of solemn
music filter to the outside.
19 INT. SKEKSES CASTLE - COUNCIL CHAMBER – NIGHT 19
Burning Urns flicker in the high, vaulted room. The
Emperor's funeral begins with organ-like chanting
from a group of slave musicians in a gallery
overlooking the main floor.
The Skekses enter in single file, carrying the
casket containing the dust of the Emperor and his
jewels and clothing. They move in stately progress,
threading the intricate pathways of a maze inlaid
with jewels and precious metals in the marble floor,
winding towards a central space.
The casket is carried by the Chamberlain, the High
Priest, and the General.
The Skekses pass the Emperor's casket one by one,
and perform a final act of homage, muttering a few
words in their harsh language, which is then
repeated in chorus by the others.
A slave passes among the Skekses with an ornate
metal bowl. Each Skekses takes a smoking orb from
the bowl. Then they turn and face the casket.
The High Priest chants a final invocation, the music
rises to a climax and they throw the smoking orbs in
unison at the casket.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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9
19 CONTINUED 19
The Skekses cry out in a harsh voice, as the orbs
land on the casket which blazes alight with blinding
brightness.
The Emperor's remains are burnt to smouldering
embers in a few moments.
20 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE – DAWN 20
The Mystics celebrate a different kind of funeral
ceremony. The nine remaining Mystics chant as they
carry the dead Mystic's possessions down from his
cave and place them at the base of one stone pillar
in a circle of ten.
Jen follows them, playing on his forked flute. The
Mystic's music has none of the pomp and barbarity of
the Skekses'.
The Mystics circle around the stone pillars wreathed
in a veil of mist and incense as they deposit the
Mystic's possessions at the foot of one pillar.
One of the Mystics (Ur-Zah, the one who had spoken
to him at the pool) steps out of the circle and
speaks to Jen, while the others continue in the
background.
UR-ZAH
A task is set for the disciple.
JEN
I haven't set foot outside the valley
of the Urru since you found me.
UR-ZAH
On High Hill, watching the heavens,
sits the Dome of Aughra, keeper of
the secrets. Go.
JEN
How do I know I can do what I'm
supposed to?
UR-ZAH
Without a dawn, there is no set of
sun.
JEN
But Ur-Zah, you can see the future,
can't you? Tell me what will happen.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
10
20 CONTINUED 20
Ur-Zah pauses. Behind him wraith-like phantoms form
and seem to circle in the mist along with the
chanting Mystics.
UR-ZAH
The future is many. We see them all.
Which one will be yours, is for you
to find.
Ur-Zah turns and points to three concentric circles
inside a triangle carved on the nearest stone pillar.
UR-ZAH
But know this, Gelfling.
Unless you gain your goal
before the three-made-one look down,
the foul Garthim hordes will kill you,
And destroy all things whole and good.
Now go.
Ur-Zah turns and joins the circle of the chanting
Mystics again.
Jen starts off on his path.
But after a few steps he turns and calls back.
JEN
Ur-Zah, what are Garthim?
Ur-Zah pauses and looks up at Jen.
UR-ZAH
Whenever you find out,
it will be too soon.
His answer has an air of finality, so Jen continues
on his journey out of the valley.
Behind him, a lambent blue glow descends from the
sky and surrounds the dead Mystic's possesions until
they evaporate just as he did.
21 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY RIM – DAWN 21
When Jen turns back for a last look from the rim of
the valley, all the Mystics look up at him,
simultaneously, an instant. And then they return to
their chanting.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
11
21 CONTINUED 21
Jen walks over the lip of the valley, out of sight
of the Mystics, and his home.
22 EXT. WILDERNESS – DAY 22
Jen walks through a strange new country, quite
different from the valley he's used to. Tall exotic
plants tower over him. Small wary creatures scatter
and hide at his approach.
23 INT. CASTLE - COUNCIL CHAMBER 23
The Skekses are standing conversin cordially with
one another. Behind them the Emperor's throne sits
empty on a raised dais.
The Chamberlain eyes the empty throne and starts
sidling towards it.
The High Priest sees his move, and hurries to head
him off.
The General arrives at the throne first, and
attempts to sit in it. He is the largest of the
Skekses, and dressed in clothes that suggest a kind
of military style.
The three Skekses struggle for the Emperor's throne,
hissing and screeching at one another. Then the
High Priest withdraws, leaving the dispute to the
Chamberlain and the General, who utters a solemn
word of challenge.
GENERAL
Haakskeekah!
The Chamberlain repeats the challenge.
CHAMBERLAIN
Haakskeekah!
Slaves pull a long rope and a ceremonial rock raises
from the centre of the floor. The rock is gashed
and scarred in many places.
The Chamberlain and the General advance toward the
rock, take two swords, and swing them with identical
ceremonial motions.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
12
23 CONTINUED 23
The Chamberlain winds up and smashes his sword into
the rock. There is a dull clank and nothing
happens.
The General smashes his sword into the rock and
knocks off a tiny chip.
The watching Skekses cheer his effort in their harsh
voices.
The Chamberlain swings again and knocks off a tiny
chip.
The General sneers at him and unleashes a mighty
blow that smashes a huge chunk of rock off with an
explosion of released energy.
The white hot chunk of rock spins across the floor.
The Skekses cheer wildly. The General accepts their
homage.
The Chamberlain cowers wretchedly beside the rock.
Suddenly the other Skekses surround him, rip off his
jewels, robes, and badges of office, leaving him
clad only in rags.
He slinks out of the hall in disgrace.
One of the other Skeksis moves to the General,
babbling with great excitement. He is an obeses
gourmand, and normally only cares for food. But now
he is clearly terrified by something.
GOURMAND
Kellffinnkh! Kellffinnkkh!
('A Gelfling, a Gelfling. In the
Dark Crystal. A Gelfling alive!)
The General rushes out, followed by the other
Skekses. The deposed Chamberlain watches them leave
from the shadows.
24 INT. CASTLE CRYSTAL CHAMBER 24
The Skekses enter the Crystal room and gather around
the Crystal, staring into its depths and talking
excitedly.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 15/6/81
13
24 CONTINUED 24
The General pushes to the front of the crowd and
looks into the Crystal.
The General stares with astonishment, then becomes
outraged and angry. He begins to scream for his
Garthim.
GENERAL
Kelflinkh! Garthim Klaka Krakwhee!
('Gelflings! Garthim, Kill them!')
On the balconies of the Crystal room huge looming
Garthim come to life and limber out the door.
24A INT. CASTLE – CORRIDOR 24A
The Garthim lumber down the corridor. They are
joined by other Garthim from niches in the walls.
The deposed Chamberlain, lurking out of sight, waits
till the Garthim have passed and then sneaks after
them.
24B INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER 24B
Inside the Crystal room the Skekses crowd around the
Crystal to see better, and mutter ominously among
themselves.
The camera reveals what they see: The image of Jen
(from Sc 25) climbing up a cliff on a mountainside.
25 EXT. AUGHRA'S MOUNTAIN 25
A dark purple crystal hanging from the talons of a
batlike creature shows Jen's image reflected in it
as he climbs past on his way up the cliff.
Aughra's observatory towers above Jen.
26 OMIT 26
27 EXT. AUGHRA'S MOUNTAIN – DAY 27
Jen is walking on a path among tree-like plants. He
brushes past a vine-like tendril hanging down, and
it seizes him.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
14
27 CONTINUED 27
More tendrils fling themselves around him and wrap
him up tight.
Jen yells and struggles in vain. He is hoisted
aloft, wriggling and helpless. He disappears into
the foliage above.
Jen struggles in the tendril snare, hanging helpless
high up in the trees.
He stops struggling and listens to the sound of
someone approaching below on the ground: crackling
undergrowth, rheumy breathing. He can't see through
the thick foliage.
An eye held by a gnarled hand is thrust up through
the leaves. Jen gasps with astonishment as it
stares at him unblinkingly.
Aughra withdraws her hand, replaces her eye in its
socket, and touches a trailing vine with a whispered
word.
Jen is lowered from above and hangs a few feet above
the ground, looking at the strange figure of Aughra:
an ancient witch of terrifying appearance.
AUGHRA
You Gelfling?
JEN
I am.
AUGHRA
Can't be. All dead. Wiped out.
JEN
My name is Jen. The Gelfling.
I am not dead.
AUGHRA
Ha. Maybe. Maybe not.
Gelfling, hmmm?
JEN
I see a watcher of the Heavens,
Aughra.
AUGHRA
Who sent you?


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
15
27 CONTINUED 27
JEN
My master. Ur-Zah. Wisest
of the Urru.
AUGHRA
(Looking around nervously)
Where's he? Huh? Around here?
JEN
He's dead.
AUGHRA
Could be anyplace then.
Aughra examines Jen more closely. She pinches the
flesh of her upper arms. He shrinks from her. She
cackles with glee at his terror.
AUGHRA
Ha. Afraid of me? Think I'm gonna
eat you? Nice roast Gelfling for my
dinner? Eh? Might not be so bad at
that. Ha.
She suddenly thrusts her face a few inches from his.
AUGHRA
What you want with Aughra?
JEN
... a shard, Crystal. I saw it in
a vision at my Masters cave.
AUGHRA
That's all? You want a piece of
crystal? Why didn't you say?
She strokes the tendrils in a certain manner and
they whip away from Jen. She starts to walk off as
Jen is still rubbing the circulation back into his
limbs.
AUGHRA
Follow.
Plants on the cliff face draw aside for her and she
disappears into a hole. Jen pauses an instant as he
looks into the forbidding darkness, then plunges in
after her.



DC 4D 22/4/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
16
28 INT. TUNNEL TO AUGHRA'S OBSERVATORY – DAY 28
Jen stumbles through a dark passage, lost and
confused. Aughra seems to have vanished ahead of
him. Jen calls out a couple of times, but there is
no answer except the echoes of his voice.
JEN
Hello? Wait.
It's dark.
I can't see.
Hello?
29 INT. AUGHRA'S OBSERVATORY – DAY 29
Suddenly he pushes through an unsuspected door in
front of him and discovers he is inside a vast dome,
illuminated with a kind of golden radiance.
Jen stares up at the dome. On it are painted faint
zodiac figures in fine gold, stars indicated by
twinkling jewels.
Below the dome is a complicated orrery model of the
suns and planets---large shiny discs of metal on
long arms that revolve and interweave in a complex
cosmic dance that Jen cannot begin to comprehend.
The discs are polished and sharp-edged, and their
movements are surprisingly swift---forcing Jen to
duck or jump at crucial moments in the following
scene.
Beneath this clockwork planetarium which fills the
giant dome, is Aughra's house, a messy collection of
alchemist tools, crude half-assembled machines,
biological specimens, and domestic clutter, all
mixed up together.
Jen is gawking at this spectacle, when Aughra
appears beside him. Jen jumps with surprise.
AUGHRA
Like my house, Gelfling?
JEN
So many wonders ...
AUGHRA
What you expect?
A hole in the ground? Ha.
Gelflings.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
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29 CONTINUED 29
Aughra ducks casually as a giant metal disc
representing a moon slashes past her head with the
whish of a rapier. Jen barely misses being
decapitated.
JEN
What is that?
Jen gestures at the orrery model.
AUGHRA
Suns. Planets. Moons. Comets.
How else you know about conjunctions?
Humm? Big one coming up. Better be
underground for that one. No telling
the damage. Whole planet might burn
up. End of Auhgra. Fffffft.
Smoke rings.
A scimitar-like comet sweeps past from another
direction. Jen dives for the floor. Aughra side-
steps unconsciously and continues her musing.
AUGHRA
So what? We all turn to smoke in the
end. Come from smoke too, some say.
Don't know. Might not be so bad,
smoke. Float around. In the air.
See the world. Hmm?
JEN
What's a conjunction?
Aughra laughs and picks up an iron alchemist's
triangulum. She puts it over her face and stares
out with her one eye at Jen through the little
triangular opening: three concentric circles inside
a triangle.
AUGHRA
The Great Conjunction! Soon.
The end of the world.
Or the beginning.
She laughs hysterically and puts down the triangulum.
AUGHRA
End, begin. All the same.
Big change. Sometimes good,
Sometimes bad. Don't touch!

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29 CONTINUED 29
She suddenly shrieks at Jen, who has reached out
toward a little pot seemingly suspended in mid air
over a bright flame.
She slams her hand down on top of Jen's, pinning it
to the table.
JEN
I just wondered what held it up.
AUGHRA
Questions! Too many questions.
You want a shard... find it!
She opens a cabinet door, revealing a shelf full of
crystalline shards, glittering at him.
JEN
Which one?
AUGHRA
If I knew, I wouldn't need you.
Head. Down.
JEN
Huh?
Aughra shoves him down, just as a sharp disc on the
orrery slices past his head.
AUGHRA
Suns can be dangerous.
The camera follows the orrery as it revolves.
DISSOLVE TO:
29A EXT. AUGHRA'S OBSERVATORY – NIGHT 29A
The observatory glows against the dark sky.
30 INT. AUGHRA'S OBSERVATORY – NIGHT 30
A different configuration of the orrery. Time has
passed.
Jen is sitting cross-legged on Aughra's table,
examining crystals.
Aughra enters with a bowl of mushrooms.

DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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30 CONTINUED 30
AUGHRA
You want mushrooms?
Caught them myself.
JEN
No thank you. These three are
similar to the one I seek.
Jen holds up three identically shaped shards.
AUGHRA
Must choose. All life is choice.
JEN
If I find the right one, how do I
know you'll let me take it?
Aughra laughs hysterically.
AUGHRA
Don't know.
Don't know Aughra.
Don't know Shard.
Don't know anything.
Aughra continues to mutter to herself.
Jen stares at the line of identical crystals for a
moment, then takes the forked flute hanging from a
thong around his neck and blows the two notes that
he heard when his master showed him the vision of
the Shard.
The two notes resonate shrilly, and echoes fill the
huge dome.
Aughra looks around at the dome and then at Jen.
Through the orrery one of the crystals seems to pick
up the sound and vibrate slightly, sending back the
two notes an octave higher. At the same time the
crystal catches the light and seems to twinkle
unmistakably.
Jen picks it up and stares into the depths of the
thick triangular shard. He is fascinated by the way
it breaks up the light into infinite refractions.
Aughra walks through the orrery toward Jen, rubbing
her hands and cackling.
Suddenly, Garthim smash their way through the wall
of Aughra's observatory and move toward Jen.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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20
30 CONTINUED 30
AUGHRA
Garthim!
Benches full of glassware and delicate optical
equipment crash to the floor. Jen shoves the shard
into his tunic, and leaps to his feet.
Aughra screams with fury a.d desperately scurries
in front of the advancing Garthim to save her
precious things.
AUGHRA
Out of my house.
Garthim out! Out!
Don't touch! No!
Jen jumps down from the table he was standing on,
knocking over the bright flame with the little pot
suspended above it.
The little pot spills a flammable liquid over the
table, and the table bursts into flame.
Aughra screams with horror at the sight of the
flames.
AUGHRA
Fire! Now see what you've done!
Put it out. Fire!
My house! My house!
She stamps her foot with rage and hurls an astrolabe
at the Garthim.
Jen finds himself backed against a leaded glass
window, trapped by approaching Garthim.
As the main arm of the orrery swings past, Jen grabs
it and is pulled into the air just as the Garthim's
claws snap at where he was standing. Jen is
propelled around the circle and thrown off at the
upper level of the observatory. He breaks through
the glass dome and falls outside as the Garthim
smash their way across the floor toward him.
30A EXT. AUGHRA'S OBSERVATORY AND MOUNTAINS – NIGHT 30A
Jen rolls down a steep slope, tumbling over and over
until he lands in a gully far down from the
observatory.

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21
30A CONTINUED 30A
He picks himself up and turns to look back up at the
observatory.
Aughra's observatory bursts into flames above.
Faint sounds of destruction and Augra's high pitched
screaming can be heard.
Jen plunges headlong into the underbush, fleeing in
terror.
The Chamberlain, far away, across a deep ravine,
sees Jen escape into the wilderness.
The Chamberlain is too far away to catch Jen, but he
turns away from the burning observatory and starts
to struggle slowly and awkwardly through the thick
jungly brush after the fleeing Gelfling.
Distant figures of Garthim are silhouetted behind
the Chamberlain against the flames of the burning
house of Aughra.
31 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE – DAWN 31
Ur-Zah sits beside a curious monolith in the center
of the Valley. He is chanting and drawing complex
patterns on the ground with colored sand.
The moving shadows complete a certain pattern in the
sand painting. Ur-Zah rises, looks up at the three
suns and calls out a ritual word in a loud voice.
The other Mystics look up at the sky from all over
the Valley and join in a nine-toned chant.
32 EXT. SWAMP – DAY 32
The camera wanders through a fantastic swamp: huge
tree-like things move slowly through the muck.
Mushrooms sprout wings and fly away. A swarm of
fierce crystalline hornets herd a terrified
reptillian weasle across the swamp: the weasle
coils and strikes at them repeatedly with it's fang-
filled mouth, and then slithers away trying to
escape. The crystal hornets drive the weasle into a
gaping hole in the muck which snaps shut, revealing
itself as the mouth of a buried monster.



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 REVISED 22/4/81
22
32 CONTINUED 32
The camera discovers Jen sitting under a giant
fungus, staring into the depths of the Crystal Shard.
He seems to be in a kind of trance.
In the depths of the Shard and image forms:
X1 OMIT
X2 OMIT
X3 INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER - DAY
POV from the Crystal.
A creature reaches up and smashes the Dark Crystal
with a heavy club. The image shatters.
32 EXT. SWAMP – DAY 32
Jen, in the swamp, looks up with a start. He hears
a sound behind him.
He thrusts the Shard into his tunic and turns to
look.
A clump of fronds snaps back where it had been
parted as if by a creature peering at him.
Jen rises and walks to the clump of fronds. He
cautiously peeks around it. There is no one hiding
behind the fronds. He looks down at the ground.
A footprint in the soft muck. A trickle of water
just beginning to fill it in tells him it is fresh.
Jen stares at the footprint. He looks around
nervously.
A flash of movement behind another clump of fronds.
A sound of rustling leaves as something runs away.
Jen races to the second clump of fronds.
A line of freshly broken caps leads through a carpet
of mushrooms directly into the open end of a fallen
hollow trunk.
Jen cuts across the mushrooms to the other end of
the trunk.
He kneels beside the root end of the trunk like a
hunter awaiting his prey.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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23
32 CONTINUED 32
A sound like laughter from somewhere.
He looks around uneasily.
Then, resolute, he sweeps away the curtain of vines
that cover the opening.
He sees the face of a ferocious monster inside
growling horribly.
Jen scuttles backward, terrified.
He stumbles and falls in a small pond.
Definitely laughter this time. Behind him.
He turns and sees a beautiful Gelfling girl.
She steps out of concealment and stands smiling at
him.
Jen glances back at the hollow log.
The monster is still growling.
The Gelfling girl (Kira) whistles and the monster
hops out of the end of the log. It is all face.
The rest a ball of fur.
KIRA
Don't be afraid. Fizzgig won't hurt
you. He's a terrible coward.
Fizzgig scurries behind Kira and hides.
Kira steps toward Jen. She is the most beautiful
thing he has ever seen in his life. He is
astonished by her. He hasn't seen another Gelfling
since he was an infant.
JEN
Are you Gelfling?
KIRA
Yes.
JEN
I thought I was the only one.
But you...



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24
32 CONTINUED 32
KIRA
I have hidden all my life.
Here. I too thought I was
alone. I am called Kira.
JEN
My name is Jen.
Jen tries to stand up. Fizzgig peeks out and growls.
JEN
I seem to be stuck. (He laughs)
KIRA
Here... Take my hand.
She reaches out a hand to him.
He reaches his hand toward her.
Their hands touch. Something like an electric spark.
Huge close-ups of their eyes enlarge to engulf them
in each other's innermost thoughts, while they are
overwhelmed by a rush of images that weld their two
minds into one consciousness:
Z1 EXT. JEN'S GELFLING VILLAGE - DAY
Jen as a baby Gelfling, crying amid the flaming
ruins of a Gelfling house. A blurred image of
something like Garthim dissappearing in the distance.
Y1 EXT. KIRA'S GELFLING VILLAGE - DAY
Kira as a Gelfling infant. Her mother stuffs her
into a hole under the roots of a tree. From Kira's
POV inside the hole, we see her mother seized by a
pair of bony, claw-like hands. They are the hands
of a Skeksis, but all we can see are the hands as
Kira's mother is strangled.
In the background shapes like Garthim smash and
destroy.
Z2 EXT. JEN'S GELFLING VILLAGE - DAY
Infant Jen is picked up, from the ruins of his
house, by the four arms of a Mystic.



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25
32 CONTINUED 32
Y2 EXT. POD VILLAGE - DAY
Kira wanders into a settlement of lumpish peasant
folk. They surround her babbling excitedly. Her
POV looking up at them.
Z3 OMIT
Z7 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - DAY
Baby Jen splashes in a waterfall.
Y3 EXT. POD VILLAGE - DAY
Kira swinging in a hammock. A peasant woman feeding
her from a gourd.
Z4 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE - DAY
Jen learning to draw runes with his finger on a
black rock surface. His master patiently corrects
him.
Y4 EXT. POD VILLAGE - DAY
Kira jumps from a tree. The peasants gasp in fear.
Z5 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE - DAY
Jen helping while his Master mixes herbs and
mushrooms in a giant cauldron. In the background
another Mystic patiently weaves a magic garment.
Y5 EXT. WILDERNESS - DAY
Kira hiding among the swamp plants while a troop of
Garthim pass.
Z6 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY POOL - DAY
Jen swimming.
Y9 EXT. POD VILLAGE - DAY
Kira playing catscradle with pod village children.
She transfers it on childs hands.
Z8 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE - DAY
Jen helping Weaver.


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26
32 CONTINUED 32
Y10 EXT. WILDERNESS - DAY
Kira examining plants.
Z9 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE - DAY
Jen working with abacus and Numerologist.
Y11 INT. POD DWELLING - POD VILLAGE - NIGHT
Kira singing with Pod People.
Z10 INT. MYSTIC CAVE - MYSTIC VALLEY - DAY
Master teaching, Jen listening.
The flow of dream-like images suddenly breaks off:
33 EXT. SWAMP – DAY 33
Jen is up to his chin in the little pond.
A kind of quicksand is sucking him down. Only his
head and hands are above the surface.
JEN
Help!
KIRA
It's alright, don't struggle.
Kira holds back her head and calls out in a high-
pithced wailing sound.
A roiling of the surface begins on th% far side of
the pond and rapidly churns toward Jen.
Jen is raised up and lifted onto the bank by a huge
swamp grub.
Kira pats the grub affectionately on the muzzle and
feeds it a dried mushroom from a pouch at her waist.
JEN
How did you do that?
KIRA
This is a Nebrie. They graze the
bottoms of ponds for the Krewin.


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33 CONTINUED 33
She speaks a few more words to the Nebrie in his
tongue.
Jen slides down from the Nebrie's back to stand
beside her.
JEN
How did we talk without speaking?
KIRA
Mindspeach. You don't
know mindspeech?
He reaches out to take her hand again. There is a
growl from the ground. They look down.
Fizzgig is snarling up at Jen.
Kira laughs.
KIRA
Fizzgig, don't be jealous. This is
Jen. He's like me, only different.
The two Gelflings walk away hand in hand through the
swamp.
The camera lingers on the Nebrie, placidly grazing
on wild Krewin grass.
Fizzgig growls at the Nebrie and bounces along after
Jen and Kira.
Two baby Nebrie poke their heads out of the water.
34 INT. CASTLE - BANQUET ROOM – DUSK 34
A Nebrie, like Kira's friend, roasted on a huge
platter, is carried in from the kitchen by slaves
and set down before the Skekses. They greedily rip
succulent shreds of meat from the still steaming
carcass.
The High Priest sits at one end of the table
watching calmly as the other Skekses gorge
themselves orgiastically.
The General sits opposite the High Priest on an
elaborate imperial chair as befits his rank. He
also has the worst table manners.

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34 CONTINUED 34
A crab runs down the length of the table. Each
Skekses tries to grab it. The designer draws back
from the table in fright.
The General removes his head from a cauldron where
he has been "licking the dregs." He observes what
is going on.
The General laughs, and quickly spears the crab on a
long fork and stuffs it in his mouth.
A troop of Garthim march into the room (fresh from
the raid on Aughra's house). They stand at
attention in front of the General.
The General looks haughtily at the High Priest and
speaks a command to the Garthim.
The Garthim fling down a box woven of gnarled roots
onto the floor of the banqueting room.
The General reaches over without getting up and taps
the box in a certain way. The roots fall apart
revealing:
Aughra crouched inside, snarling and cursing her
captors.
The General seems startled to find her there,
instead of a Gelfling. He looks around helplessly.
GENERAL
K'luh Kelffinnkhh.
("This is not a Gelfling.")
AUGHRA
Of course I'm not a Gelfling.
Never have been. Ruined.
My house ruined! By you.
You build me new house.
GENERAL
Shhka Kelffinnkhh?
("You captured the Gelfling?")
AUGHRA
Yes. In my house. Was going to
send word to you, when stupid
Garthim burn down my house! Ashes!
The High Priest steps over to Aughra and yells at
her threateningly.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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29
34 CONTINUED 34
HIGH PRIEST
Kelffinnkh K'nim. Krahkwhee!
("Gelfling is dangerous. Must kill
it. Where is this Gelfling?")
AUGHRA
Stupid Garthim. Let him escape.
Ran away. Aughra could have brought
him here. No. You ruin my house.
Years of work. Ashes. Ruin.
The General gestures to the Scientist and the Slave
Master.
GENERAL
Aukhra na Rakhash! ("Take Aughra
to the chamber of Life!")
Aughra is dragged away, taunting them.
AUGHRA
Let go! Stupid Skekses don't know
so much! Ha! You'll see. The
prophecy was right. Just wait.
(Mutter... Mutter...)
The High Priest looks over at the General, who is
finishing a few last delicacies from the table.
The High Priest gives a signal.
HIGH PRIEST
Kelffinkkh Krakwhee!
("Kill Gelfling!")
The camera tilts upward from the banquet chamber
toward the shadowy heights of the ceiling.
Huddled on ledges just below the arched vaults of
the roof, a flock of strange bat-like birds crouch,
with seeing-crystals embedded in their chest. They
open their eyes and spread their wings, as the
shrilling sound grows louder.
One by one they take off from the ledges, and fly
out a high open window into the purple twilight.






DC 4D 4/3/81
 REVISED 22/4/81
30
35 EXT. CASTLE – DUSK 35
We see the batbirds flying away from the Castle.
One passes close to the camera and we notice the
glint of his seeing-crystal.
36 EXT. BLACK RIVER – DUSK 36
Jen and Kira are floating down the river at sunset
in the shell of a great dead whirligig beetle.
The landscape along the river is alive with humming
Spanish moss, whistling trees, and resonant bubbles
that surface from the mud, creating a musical
landscape. Kira sings a wordless ancient melody,
and the landscape comes alive with sweeping colors
and movement as well as sound. Jen takes out his
old hand-carved flute and accompanies her. It is a
moment of achingly perfect union between them, and
harmony with the environment. Even Fizzgig forgets
to fidget, and stares at his reflection in the water.
Kira suddenly pushes Jen down in the boat. He lands
on Fizzgig, who squeaks loudly and wriggles free.
Kira ducks down. The three of the lie hidden in the
bottom of the beetle shell.
JEN
What...?
KIRA
Up there. A crystal bat.
A batbird flies overhead, carrying a seeing-crystal
in its chest.
Kira stands up and swings a double weighted thong
around her head, then lets go.
The thong spins in the air as it flies directly
upward, wraps itself around the flying batbird, and
brings it down flapping and squawking.
The batbird lands in the black glossy river,
struggles for a few seconds, and disappears beneath
the gooey surface.
Fizzgig gives a smug, defiant growl.
The two Gelflings sit up. Jen is awed, Kira matter-
of-fact.

 

[Laszlo]

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31
36 CONTINUED 36
JEN
Are there more of those?
KIRA
More and more all the time. What
they see, the Skekses see too.
JEN
Did it see us?
KIRA
(Shaking her head)
I don't think so.
The Gelflings float on down the black river toward
distant lights. Behind them, unseen, the batbird
struggles up from beneath the surface of the water.
It crawls onto a rock, pointing its crystal at the
two Gelflings.
The seeing crystal captures the image of Jen and
Kira in their boat.
37 EXT. MYSTIC VALLEY - CAVE CIRCLE – DUSK 37
In a long slow procession, the Mystics are leaving
their valley, taking the same route Jen took when he
left on his quest.
38 EXT. POD VILLAGE – NIGHT 38
Jen and Kira emerge from the underbush of the
wilderness into a clearing. In the midst of the
clearing is a cluster of large pods from some kind
of plant.
Peasants bustle in and out of the hollow pod.
Fizzgig bounces toward the village, barking.
JEN
I know this place from
the mindspeech.
KIRA
It is my home.
Y6 OMIT
Y7 OMIT

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32
38 CONTINUED 38
Y8 OMIT
Y9 MOVED TO SCENE 32
JEN
Will they welcome me?
KIRA
Oh, yes. When they see I am Happy.
The two of them walk toward the largest pod.
Suddenly the Pod People catch sight of them and come
rushing joyfully to them, whooping with delight in
their babbling musical speech.
An old woman embraces Kira, her foster mother Ydra.
39 INT. POD DWELLING - POD VILLAGE – NIGHT 39
We are inside a large hollowed out pod: peasants
are enjoying a kind of harvest feast day. In the
center of the room peasants jostle against cooks
stirring big kettles of soup over glowing fires.
Jen and Kira are seated at a table.
A villager brings a new plate of food to Jen and
Kira.
VILLAGER NO. 1
Valya lyee away seer?
("Good cheese isn't it?")
The villager looks at Jen and waits. Jen leans over
to Kira.
JEN
How do you say thank you?
KIRA
Fala vam.
JEN
(To villager No. 1)
Fala vam.
The villager nods and continues to look at them.

DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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33
39 CONTINUED 39
VILLAGER NO. 1
Taka ee kaynoochatype.
("Good... eat.")
JEN
Fala vam.
VILLAGER NO. 2
Yabuka. ("Fruit.")
VILLAGER NO. 3
(To Jen)
Lyepa Kira?
("Kira's a beauty, isn't she?")
JEN
Fala vam.
Jen takes out the Shard and looks at it.
The room full of happy villagers and musicians are
becoming more raucous. Jen talks to Kira over the
noise.
JEN
No. He knew Aughra had the Shard and
he said, "my journey must begin, for
the three suns will not wait." And
that's all, then he died.
VILLAGER NO. 4
Myeela Kirinshka! ("It's our Kira!")
More random shots of peasants having fun.
JEN
How long can we stay here?
KIRA
As long as we want.
Jen is pulled up by Ydra to dance.
YDRA
Vsesleetyee! ("Be happy!")
JEN
Then I don't want to go, ever.
KIRA
What about the Shard?

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34
39 CONTINUED 39
Jen is too busy dancing with the peasants to hear
Kira.
Many villagers dance around the room. The others
watch, clap, and stamp their feet.
Kira and Fizzgig are still sitting at their table.
Fizzgig is whining and growling. Kira sniffs in the
air.
An enormous Garthim claw slashes through the wall of
the pod.
Screams. Panic. Overturned tables.
VILLAGERS
Peripasnoto! ("Look out!")
Garthimnu! ("Garthim!")
Razabaratyee! ("Scatter!")
Detsya! ("The children!")
Garthimnu namadatu!
("It's a Garthim attack!")
Fizzgig screeches and rolls up into a ball.
Pod People stampede in every direction trying to get
away. Some are grabbed in Garthim claws.
VILLAGERS
Eema mulganu! ("Lots of them!")
Haydyem! ("Come on!")
Pomosh pomosh pohmohtchy! ("Help!")
Avo nyepryeeyatyel! ("It's the enemy!")
Kukumenyee! ("We've no chance!")
Huge Garthim enter from all sides, and make for Jen
and Kira.
Jen and Kira realize the Garthim are after them.
They duck behind a table.
A Garthim flings aside tables as it approaches them.
VILLAGERS
Bezumlyee! ("It's madness!")
Brata! ("The door!")
Na brzu ruku, pa redu, evnyeh domu!
("Quickly, one after the other,
get out of the house!")
Jen pulls the Shard from his tunic, holding it like
a knife. He steps in front of Kira to protect her.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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35
39 CONTINUED 39
A Garthim claw grabs him by the arm.
Jen stabs at it with the Shard.
The Shard connects with the Garthim claw and rings
with a deep resonant note.
40 EXT. WILDERNESS – NIGHT 40
The Ur pause in their journey as the deep resonant
note rings out across the valley.
41 INT. POD DWELLING - POD VILLAGE – NIGHT 41
The Garthim claw starts to losen its grip on Jen.
He pulls away.
Kira rips a dried seed pod off a string around her
neck. She tosses it into the fire.
The seed pod explodes and fills the pod with dense
white smoke.
VILLAGERS
Nada! Begatyee! ("Now! Run!")
Sa mnyem! ("With me!")
Doklyeh? ("How far?")
Dalyeko! ("A long way!")
Pemerchyeena! ("It's dark!")
Stanyee uzu mnyeh!
("Stand close to me!")
YDRA
Danasukreevyee.
("It is a tribute of blood.")
Jen finds Kira in the smoke, crouched low to the
floor. The feet of the blinded Garthim stagger
randomly in the background.
They clasp hands.
Mindspeech: Image of a door opening to the outside.
The edge of the forest and freedom beckon beyond.
Jen follows Kira through the smoke, crouching close
to the floor, to the little door.
Jen's arm seems hurt. Blood is staining his shirt.

DC 4D 4/3/81
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36
42 EXT. POD DWELLING - POD DWELLING – NIGHT 42
The doors open and Kira peeks out. Garthim are
grabbing Pod People. Smoke pours out of the
fissures in the side of the pod.
A Garthim turns his back on the little door as he
swoops to grab Ydra, Kira's foster mother.
Jen and Kira run from the door across the clearing
toward the foliage. Jen's arm hangs bloodied and
useless.
The Garthim turns, sees them and starts to pursue.
Jen and Kira duck into hiding at the margin of the
forest.
The Chamberlain suddenly appears out of the margin
of the underbush and steps between the Garthim and
the Gelflings.
He motions the Garthim away.
The Garthim hesitates for a moment, then turns and
mindlessly begins to pursue the Pod People again.
Jen and Kira run away into the underbush.
43 EXT. GLADE DEEP IN THE FOREST (GELFLING RUINS) – NIGHT 43
The camera follows Jen and Kira as they scramble
through the forest. At last they come to a halt,
exhausted, on a mossy bank.
They are scratched and bleeding from their escape.
Jen's arm hangs useless at his side.
KIRA
This is far enough. They'll
never follow our trail through
the wetlands.
JEN
Was that... thing... a Skeksis?
KIRA
Yes. But I don't know why it
saved us from the Garthim.



DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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37
43 CONTINUED 43
Fizzgig pokes his head out of her garments where he
has been hiding and sniffs the air. He hops over to
munch on a flower.
JEN
It's all my fault. I never should
have come. First Aughra's and now
your village. I wish I'd never
heard of this dumb Shard.
Jen plucks the Shard out of his tunic and flings it
away into the darkness. He collapses at the foot of
a tree, holding his arm.
KIRA
Your arm...
JEN
It hurts.
KIRA
Here, this moss has healing powers.
Kira pulls up strips of the moss as Jen curls up and
falls asleep. Kira wraps the moss tenderly around
Jen's arm.
44 EXT. WILDERNESS – DAWN 44
Mystics move onward toward the Castle.
45 EXT. GLADE IN FOREST (GELFLING RUINS) – DAWN 34
The camera moves down through the tree branches to
the Gelflings asleep, Jen nestled in Kira's arms.
A forest creature singing on a branch above them
seems to wake Kira. She looks up at it and smiles.
Jen stirs in her arms and opens his eyes.
JEN
Where are we?
KIRA
We are safe.
Jen gets up and starts to look around. He disturbs
Fizzgig, who is munching on a flower. Fizzgig
snarls up at him.


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38
45 CONTINUED 45
KIRA
Quiet Fizzgig.
Jen becomes aware they are standing in the
gracefully beautiful remains of a Gelfling village,
now in ruins.
JEN
What is this place.
KIRA
The houses of the Old Ones.
Jen examines the building.
JEN
(To himself)
I feel something.
Jen sees the Shard on the ground pointing toward an
opening. He walks to the entrance.
JEN
Kira look.
KIRA
I was told never to enter...
She makes a movement to get away, but Jen stops her
with a gesture.
JEN
I have to see them. Come on.
Jen disappears into the entrance.
Kira walks to the entrance, picks up the shard, and
puts it in her pocket.
KIRA
I'm afraid.
45A INT. PASSAGE WAY - GELFLING RUINS – DAWN 45A
JEN
They were Gelfling. Like us.
He strides forward, drawn by some psychic affinity.



DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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39
45A CONTINUED 45A
At the entrance Kira hangs back, torn between her
fear and her feeling for Jen. The she scoops up
Fizzgig and, clutching him close for reassurance,
she follows Jen.
KIRA
How do you know they were Gelfling?
JEN
I feel it.
He walks inside the magnificently wrought main door.
46 INT. GELFLING RUINS - ENTRY HALL – DAY 46
A high vaulted room. Light streams down through
huge holes in the ruined roof. Dead leaves and
debris litter the floor. Moss and fungus have
covered much of the original decor. Fizzgig sniffs
around in the corners.
Jen and Kira look around, marvelling at the splendor
of the vanished civilization.
Kira stops at a chair carved from a single mother-
of-pearl snail shell inlaid with filigree designs in
bright metal and gems.
She brushes away some cobwebs and leafmold and sits
in the chair.
Jen smiles and walks into the next room, exploring.
His arm still hangs stiffly at his side, but the
moss which Kira has bound around it with plant stems
seems to have eased his pain.
46T INT. GELFLING RUINS - ENTRY HALL – DAY 46T
The room subtly transforms itself around Kira as she
sits there like a queen. For an instant it glows
with the sounds and the shadows of its former glory,
until Jen punctures the moment with a shout from the
next room.
JEN'S VOICE
Kira! Come look at this!
She rises and hurries from the room and the vision
fades abruptly. Fizzgig follows.
DC 4D 4/3/81
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47 INT. GELFLING RUINS - ROOM OF THE FRESCOES – DAY 47
The walls are covered with pictures of carefree
Gelflings in noble costume at work and play. They
could be Jen and Kira's ancestors.
Jen and Kira stare a long time at the paintings,
drinking in this glimpse of a lost golden age.
Then they move on to scenes of war: Garthim attacks
on helpless Gelfling villages. Gelfling warriors
fighting back.
Then the Castle: three suns in concentric circles
overhead. Light shines down onto the Crystal.
A strange kind of creature, part Ur, part Skeksis,
circles around the Crystal.
JEN
I saw this in the Shard.
The next panel shows the Crystal with a hole in it,
and a shard to fit the hole, beside it.
Two lines of creatures walk away from the Crystal in
opposite directions: the Ur and the Skekses.
JEN
Look. It's my Shard.
Kira holds his Shard up against the painting. The
resemblance is perfect. She offers the Shard to Jen.
He pauses a moment, staring at it and then quietly
takes it and smiles at Kira.
She points to some runes at the bottom.
KIRA
What are those funny marks?
JEN
That's writing. Can't you read?
KIRA
No one ever taught me.
Jen tucks the Shard back into his tunic and bends
down to read.





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41
47 CONTINUED 47
JEN
My Master taught me. It says:
'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.'
Fizzgig looks up from sniffing the corner of the
room and starts making ferocious noises.
A shadow falls across the two Gelflings. They turn.
KIRA
Jen, Skekses.
The Chamberlain appears in a doorway, smiling at
them.
CHAMBERLAIN
Prophecy...
Fizzgig turns coward at the sight of the Skeksis and
flees to safety behind Kira.
Kira dives for an opening in the far wall.
CHAMBERLAIN
Ssstay! Am friend. Friend to
Gefflinkh. I save you from
Garthim. Am I enemy?
JEN
I have heard Skekses kill Gelflings.
CHAMBERLAIN
Ssstupid prophets say Gefflinkh end
Skeksisss power. Skekses afraid.
Bad missstakes. My people fear
Gefflinkh. Yess.
JEN
What do you want with us?
KIRA
Don't listen, it's a trick.
CHAMBERLAIN
Pleasse listen. Come with me to
Casstle. You will ssee. I show
brothers you want peace and will
not harm us... Please.

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47 CONTINUED 47
The Chamberlain beckons to Jen. Jen takes a few
steps toward him.
JEN
Why should we trust you?
CHAMBERLAIN
Tired of killing, tired of fear.
I am outcasst. If I bring peace,
I am outcasst no more.
Come with me...
JEN
If I come with you and make peace,
the Garthim attacks will stop?
The Chamberlain reaches out his hand in friendship.
CHAMBERLAIN
Yes. Garthim control by Crystal
in Skekses Castle. Peace bring
end to ssslaughter.
JEN
What is this Crystal?
The Chamberlain steps closer to Jen.
CHAMBERLAIN
Crystal in centre of Skekses Castle,
Source of Skekses power. I'll show
you. Come... pleassse... make peace.
JEN
Yes, I want peace...
Kira dashes out between Jen and the Chamberlain.
She looks directly in his eyes.
KIRA
Jen!
Jen looks around the room, then at Kira, at the wall
paintings, and at the Chamberlain.
JEN
Peace, the right kind of peace.
I know what it is.
The Chamberlain steps forward with open arms.


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47 CONTINUED 47
CHAMBERLAIN
Come... pleassse... you will see.
Kira and Jen dash out a breach in the wall.
The sound of escaping Gelfling footsteps, from the
room beyond, echoes in the room of the frescoes.
CHAMBERLAIN
Come back! Little ones!
Want peace... Peace.
He hangs his head dejectedly.
48 EXT. HILL IN A CLEARING – DAY 48
Jen and Kira emerge from the brush cautiously.
Fizzgig peeks out of Kira's garments.
JEN
(To himself)
Master was right after all.
(To Kira)
How do I get to the castle?
KIRA
I'll show you.
She calls out in a strange insect-like series of
chirps and clicks.
Three Landstriders emerge from the foliage and
gallop toward the Gelflings.
Kira turns to reassure Jen.
KIRA
Don't be afraid. They'll take
us. They hate the Skekses.
Kira walks to the crest of the little hillock and
talks to the Landstriders.
JEN
The castle will be dangerous...
KIRA
I was alone too long.
I cannot leave you.


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48 CONTINUED 48
They look in each other's eyes for a moment of
commitment and total understanding.
JEN
All right. Together then.
Kira steps off the crest of the hillock onto the
back of the biggest Landstrider.
KIRA
Climb up.
Fizzgig sets up an incredible commotion on the
ground.
Jen start to struggle up onto the back of the other
Landstrider.
KIRA
(To Fizzgig)
Not you, little big mouth.
Fizzgig refuses to be left behind. He starts to
bounce up and down. He bounces higher and higher.
Finally he is at Kira's height on the peak of his
bounce. She laughs and grabs him.
KIRA
All right. Come with me.
Jen looks uneasily at the Landstrider.
JEN
The prophecy didn't say anything
about this.
KIRA
Prophets don't know everything.
Kira clicks to her mount and they are off, running
through the forest at incredible speed. She calls
back to Jen.
KIRA
Hold tight. They go fast!
JEN
I already figured that out!




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49 INT. CASTLE - CHAMBER OF LIFE – DAY 49
In a laboratory deep underground, the Skeksis
Scientist removes a squirming peasant, with black
snapping eyes, from a wicker cage.
He inserts the peasant in a kind of clamp against
the stone wall, and then pulls a lever.
A portal opens in one wall revealing a vertical
shaft with a beam of energy running through the
center.
A fragment of crystal on the end of a long rod
protrudes into the beam, and a ray of purple light
is refracted into the laboratory... directly into
the peasant's face.
The peasant stops squirming.
A crackling force field flows from the peasant's
fingertips onto a metal rod, where it condenses
into thick oily droplets and runs down into a small
jewelled flask below.
The General enters with the High Priest.
The Scientist bows low and ushers them to the
apparatus as the camera follows, revealing:
The laboratory is full of cages, with maimed and
tortured creatures of all kinds inside, the fruit of
cruel experiments.
The peasant's eyes are now milky and staring. He
seems weak and without will.
The scientist releases the peasant, who walks meekly
to join a group of other new-made slaves standing
against one wall.
The General takes the jewelled flask that has been
collecting the droplets. He drains the liquid and
smacks his lips. He begins to change, from the
wrinkled old veteran, to a younger, more vigorous,
almost handsome version of himself.
He stares into a mirror on the wall with pleasure
and immense vanity.
Then the transformation fades, as suddenly as it
began.


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49 CONTINUED 49
The General groans with disappointment. He breaks
some of the glassware and storms out.
50 EXT. HILL - A DISTANCE FROM THE CASTLE – DAY 50
The Landstriders crest a hill, revealing for the
first time to the two Gelflings the immense towering
castle.
Jen looks up at it with awe.
KIRA
Look!
Kira points down at the foot of the hill.
The Garthim raiding party is preparing to enter the
long trachea-like entrance tube that crosses over
the deep ravine surrounding the castle.
JEN
The ones who raided your village.
Kira clicks to her mount and her Landstrider charges
downhill, running full speed toward the Garthim.
Jen, left behind for a moment, quickly follows on
his mount.
51 EXT. CASTLE - ENTRANCE TUBE AND RAVINE – DAY 51
The captives from the pod village are being carried
in a wicker cage. One of them, Kira's foster mother,
sees the two Gelflings charging down the hill at
them. She cries out.
The Garthim turn just as Kira's Landstrider attacks
the Garthim with the wicker cage.
Kira's Landstrider zaps the Garthim. The cage is
dropped on the ground, where it rolls toward the
edge of the abyss.
Kira's Landstrider turns and prepares to attack the
Garthim again, but is hamstrung from behind and
knocked down by another Garthim.
Kira is thrown free as the Landstriders and Garthim
roll over in the background. Fizzgig is beside her,
whining cravenly.
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51 CONTINUED 51
Jen's Landstrider arrives to help the first. Jen
jumps down beside Kira.
Kira points to the wicker cage, full of wailing Pod
People.
Jen runs over to the cage and tears at the tough
wickerwork with his fingers. Inside, the Pod People
moan and cry. He undoes the leather thongs binding
the wicker joints.
Kira joins him, and soon several prisoners squeeze
out of the cage and scramble away to safety. But
the gap is too small to allow all of the out.
Kira's foster mother, Ydra, is still trapped inside.
The Landstrider is wrestled to the edge of the cliff
by the Garthim. Jen and Kira dodge away from the
thrashing limbs.
The Landstrider and the Garthim roll over the cliff
and go crashing down to the bottom of the ravine.
The Garthim turn on the other Landstrider, which
sinks from sight under a horde of assailants.
The Garthim turn and head for the two Gelflings.
Jen steps in front of Kira, holding the Shard out
like a dagger. Fizzgig whimpers on her shoulder.
Just as the Garthim loom over them, Kira grabs Jen
and jumps into the ravine.
To Jen's amazement they don't fall: Wings unfold
from under Kira's costume and support them as they
flutter down to the bottom of the canyon like an
elm seed.
The Garthim mill around aimlessly on the edge of the
precipice above, their prey escaped.
52 EXT. BOTTOM OF RAVINE – DAY 52
Jen and Kira and Fizzgig land softly on a pile of
debris that the Skekses have thrown into the abyss.
Kira folds her wings and lets go of Jen. In the
background lie the bodies of the Garthim and
Landstrider.

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48
52 CONTINUED 52
JEN
How did you do that?
KIRA
Ages ago we could fly, not just
flutter to the ground. Didn't
those Mystics teach you anything?
She feels the two hard lumps on his back.
A giant scavenger worm crawls over from the other
side of the debris pile and roars at them.
Fizzgig shrieks and dives into Kira's clothes.
Kira makes shooing motions at the creature.
KIRA
Get away!!
(To Jen)
It's just a scavenger worm.
They're harmless.
JEN
We'd better find a way up into
the Castle before the Garthim come.
Kira picks her way across a pile of garbage. Jen
follows, looking over his shoulder warily, but the
scavenger doesn't attack.
They walk along the base of the sheer cliff walls.
There seems to be no way back up.
They round a curve in the wall and come face to face
with a gargoyle face that glares at them from the
rock wall. It seems to be carved out of the
foundation stones of the Castle. Fizzgig ducks back
inside Kira's clothes with a squeak of fear.
Through the teeth of the gargoyle trickles a foul
sewer outlet from the Castle.
JEN
The teeth of Shkreesh...
'Give entrance to one who
has his ear...'
The Skekses told us... remember.
KIRA
We don't want to go in there, do we?


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49
52 CONTINUED 52
JEN
I don't want to do any of this,
but I have to.
He crawls in through the teeth.
Kira shudders, backs away from the hole for a second
look over her shoulder, and follows him in.
52A EXT. EDGE OF CLIFF AT CASTLE – DAY 52A
High above them on the edge of the cliff, the
Chamberlain looks down at them and smiles.
53 EXT. WILDERNESS - STONE MONOLITHS – DAY 53
The Mystics walk along slowly beside the line of
standing stones. In the sky, the three suns edge
closer together.
54 INT. CASTLE - SEWER TUNNELS – DAY 54
Jen and Kira stumble along in the dimly lit
labyrinth. They pass side tunnels and branching
conduits. Strange slimy stalactites hang from the
tunnel roof. One of them takes a bite at Fizzgig
as they pass.
The Gelflings stop at the intersection of the three
tunnels.
JEN
Anyone of these might lead
us to the Crystal. Which one
would you choose?
KIRA
I want to go back. I smell
death here. I don't want to
die in the dark.
JEN
It's too late to go back.
KIRA
All right. This one.
They turn to go up the central tunnel.

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50
54 CONTINUED 54
The Chamberlain steps into the tunnel head and walks
toward them.
CHAMBERLAIN
I knew you would come.
We make peace... Yes.
Fizzgig leaps away from Kira's shoulder and goes
bouncing off down the tunnel.
CHAMBERLAIN
Pleasse... come with me... pleasse.
The Chamberlain grabs Kira and then Jen and starts
dragging them up the tunnel.
CHAMBERLAIN
We must go now or it will be
too late.
Jen draws the crystalline Shard out of his tunic.
He holds it like a dagger.
Jen plunges the Shard into the Chamberlain's arm
with all his might.
The shard enters the Chamberlain's arm with a
blinding flash and a low rumbling concussion.
The Chamberlain lets go of Jen and is momentarily
stunned as if by lightning. Jen drops the Shard.
The Chamberlain cries out in pain at his wounded arm.
55 EXT. WILDERNESS – DAY 55
The Mystics are in a long single file. Moving
toward the Castle in the distant background. They
all look suddenly at one of their number, who raises
an arm, freshly wounded, in the exact way as the
Chamberlain's arm. Three suns draw closer together
above the mountains.
56 INT. CASTLE - SEWER TUNNELS - DAY 56
The Chamberlain reaches up with his wounded arm and
grasps a beam supporting the roof of the tunnel.
With a single heave he pulls down the beam and
triggers a cave-in.


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51
56 CONTINUED 56
Rocks and stones fall on top of Jen, burying him
completely.
Kira cries out in horror as the Chamberlain drags
her off along the tunnel, up towards the Castle.
Fizzgig bounces along behind them, following loyally.
Kira sees him and calls out desperately.
KIRA
Fizzgig! No, go back.
Fizzgig disobeys at first, but finally stops,
whimpering softly, and watches her disappear with
the Chamberlain.
56A INT. CASTLE - CORRIDOR – DAY 56A
Two Skekses are walking down the corridor when the
Chamberlain appears out of the tunnel entrance with
Kira. They react violently and run ahead to the
Council Chamber, screeching.
57 INT. CASTLE - COUNCIL CHAMBER – DAY 57
The Chamberlain enters triumphantly, dragging Kira
toward the throne. The other Skekses gasp with
astonishment.
They rush over to examine this wonder. A live
Gelfling.
The General looks down suspiciously from the throne
at his former rival.
The Chamberlain bows humbly and submissively to him,
and starts talking rapidly and pointing to Kira.
The High Priest interrupts, points at Kira and
screeches the death sentence:
HIGH PRIEST
Kelfinkhh Krakweekah!
('Kill Gelfling! Now!')
He draws a claw across his throat in an unmistakable
gesture.
The Chamberlain protests.
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52
57 CONTINUED 57
The Scientist whispers something urgently in the ear
of the General.
The High Priest leans over Kira with a drawn dagger
in his hand.
The General steps down from his throne and confronts
the High Priest.
GENERAL
Kelfinnkkhh na Rhakhash!
('Gelfling goes to Chamber of Life!')
The High Priest snarls and hisses defiantly at him,
then sheathes his dagger and slinks away.
The Chamberlain continues to implore the General.
The General cuts him off and gestures to the
Scientist, who drags Kira off to the Chamber of Life.
Then the General turns and places the Chamberlain's
old insignia of office back on him. The Chamberlain
bows humbly.
The other Skekses cry out with a harsh salute.
58 INT. CASTLE - SEWER TUNNELS – DAY 58
Fizzgig cautiously approaches the pile of rubble
under which Jen lies buried.
He sniffs at a pale lifeless hand extending from the
mound. The hand does not move. Fizzgig digs for a
moment.
Then Fizzgig sits down patiently and waits beside
the hand.
59 INT. CASTLE - CHAMBER OF LIFE – DAY 59
The Scientist straps Kira into a holding device
against one wall. Then he pulls the lever which
opens the portal onto the shaft.
The beam of light shines directly into her eyes.
She struggles and cries out. The vital force begins
to drain from her fingertips into the jewelled flask.


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53
59 CONTINUED 59
Aughra is visible in the background, sitting blinded
in a golden cage.
Kira's eyes begin to cloud. She cries out.
KIRA
Jen! Help me!
59A INT. CASTLE - SEWER TUNNELS – DAY 59A
Jen stirs under the pile of rock, frightening
Fizzgig. His hand comes alive and begins to claw
rocks off of himself.
Jen's face becomes visible.
JEN
Kira! Fight them. Don't...
Jen sits up slowly, pushes rocks away and looks
bewildered.
59B INT. CASTLE - CHAMBER OF LIFE – DAY 59B
Kira is still transfixed in the beam of light.
KIRA
Jen! Jen!
Aughra calls out from her golden cage across the
room.
AUGHRA
Call out, Gelfling. You have powers.
Use them. Help is all around you.
Kira hears and looks around the laboratory. She
sees the dozens of imprisoned creatures watching her
through the bars of their cages. She begins to cry
out in all the tongues of the animals of the wild.
The Scientist is startled. He looks around
nervously at all the cages. He bangs against some
of the bars with a stick.
The animals begin to cry out in answer to Kira's
plea for help. The laboratory echoes with screeches,
yowls, and squawks.
Aughra cackles with delight in her cage.
DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
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59B CONTINUED 59B
AUGHRA
Yes, all together at once.
Free. They can be free!
Tell them, Gelfling.
Kira redoubles her cries. The Scientist tries to
cover her mouth with his clawlike hand, but she
bites him.
The animals fling themselves against the bars of
their cages with growing frenzy. The cages begin to
break under the concerted assault.
Singly at first, then in dozens, the imprisoned
creatures break out and jump down to the floor.
Those who can fly, circle around the Scientist
feinting and jabbing at his eyes.
Others attack his feet and trip him.
The Scientist backs toward the portal knocking the
machinery askew that shines the beam of light onto
Kira's face.
The animals back the Scientist to the edge of the
portal. He teeters on the brink and then falls down
the shaft toward the lake of fire.
59C EXT. WILDERNESS – DAY 59C
The long line of Mystics trekking across the
landscape does not pause, as one of their number
suddenly bursts into flame and is reduced to ashes
in a second.
59D INT. CASTLE - CHAMBER OF LIFE – DAY 59D
The freed animals smash the remaining cages and
apparatus.
Kira struggles to free herself from her bonds.
Aughra calls out to her from her cage.
AUGHRA
Good work, Gelfling. But
too late. Too late.
KIRA
What do you mean?
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59D CONTINUED 59D
AUGHRA
Great Conjunction comes.
Skekses get such power... no one
can fight them. All is lost.
Unless... you have the Shard?
Kira shakes off the last of the golden chains and
crosses to Aughra's cage to free her.
KIRA
Jen has it. How do you
know about the Shard?
AUGHRA
My Shard. If Shard be put back
before Conjunction, then Crystal
be healed... Skekses fall.
KIRA
When is the Conjunction?
AUGHRA
They took my eye, but inner
eyes still see sky. Very soon
three suns begin to touch.
KIRA
I've got to find Jen.
She swings open the gate of Aughra's cage, Aughra
remains inside.
Kira runs out of the Chamber of Life. Aughra nods
sagely and mutters to herself.
AUGHRA
Go Gelfling. Go find your
friend. And also death.
60 INT. CASTLE - UNDERGROUND TUNNELS – DAY 60
Jen proceeds cautiously, checking side tunnels to
avoid possible flank attacks.
Behind him Fizzgig stops and begins to bounce up and
down and squeal noisily. Jen turns with annoyance.
JEN
Quiet, we've got to be
careful down here.

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60 CONTINUED 60
Jen takes one more step and falls through a trapdoor.
61 INT. CASTLE - BLACK PIT – DAY 61
Jen lands on a rough stone floor.
JEN
Owww.
Jen takes out the Shard and holds it up, casting a
faint glow in the dark chamber. Dark shapes can
dimly be seen lining the walls.
An ominous clicking sound begins.
Fizzgig whimpers with fear from up above where he is
peering down through the hole in the ceiling.
JEN
Uh-oh.
Glowing purple eyes blink on one by one in the
darkness.
JEN
Garthim!
The whole nest of Garthim come to life and advance
on Jen.
Jen holds the Shard out like a sword and charges the
nearest Garthim with a wild yell.
Two Garthim lunge for Jen and crash into each other.
They stagger apart from the blow and Jen ducks in
between them. They try to turn around, but crash
into other Garthim in the confined space. The two
Garthim topple sideways, and other Garthim swarm
over them to get at Jen.
Jen stands at bay with his back to the wall holding
out the Shard like a sword.
Jen ducks as a huge Garthim claw snaps at him. The
claw misses his body and closes on the hem of his
tunic.
Jen is snatched into the air. His garment rips, and
Jen flies across to the other side of the narrow
chamber.

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61 CONTINUED 61
Jen bounces off the wall and lands on the back of
another Garthim.
Jen's Garthim wheels and twists in vain trying to
reach the Gelfling on his back or to shake him off.
The other Garthim swarm toward him, colliding and
smashing into each other. The biggest of the
Garthim aims a hammer blow of his claw at Jen and
hits the rock wall of the chamber instead.
The wall cracks and a dim glow filters in through
the fissure.
Jen sees his chance and leaps for the crack in the
wall. Jen hangs suspended from the crack by one
hand.
The Garthim converge on him.
Jen heaves himself up and into the hole. Heavy
blows rain on the wall behind him enlarging the hole.
Jen scrambles through the crack, toward the light,
pursued by a snapping Garthim claw.
62 INT. CASTLE - SHAFT – DAY 62
Jen looks out of the crack into a huge vertical
shaft. Far above floats the Dark Crystal. Below is
the Lake of Fire. He puts a hand into the purple
glow in the center of the shaft. The hand starts to
smoulder, and Jen jerks it back with a wince of pain.
A garthim claw jams itself out far enough to grab at
Jen.
Jen scrambles into the shaft, holding onto the rough
stonework with his toes and fingers. He hugs the
wall to avoid the burning purple glow.
Garthim claws smash out of the hole and snap at him,
as he dangles precariously on the wall of the shaft.
63 EXT. CASTLE APPROACH – DAY 63
The Mystics travel in a long slow line across the
hill to the Castle. Overhead the three suns form an
equilateral triangle.


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64 INT. CASTLE - SHAFT – DAY 64
Jen inches steadily upward. He looks down at the
Garthim, far below now, and almost loses his grip
from vertigo. But he steadies himself and with the
last of his ebbing strength, he muscles up to the
portal leading into the Chamber of Life.
64A INT. CASTLE - CORRIDOR AT SEWER TUNNEL ENTRANCE – DAY 64A
Fizzgig wanders alone through the corridor, lost and
whimpering. A castle insect scurries across his
path. Fizzgig squeals in fright and flies in the
opposite direction.
65 INT. CASTLE - CHAMBER OF LIFE – DAY 65
A mess. Cages hang open. Straw litters the floor.
A few stray maimed creatures still hop or flutter
about in the corners.
Aughra squats on the table fumbling blindly around
for her eye.
Jen heaves himself up into the Chamber of Life, and
sees her.
JEN
Aughra! I thought you were dead.
Aughra finds the box containing her eye. She pops
it in as she talks.
AUGHRA
No time. No time. When
single shines the triple sun...
JEN
Kira?
Aughra nods and points upwards.
AUGHRA
She seeks you above. Your fate,
and hers, beside the Dark Crystal.
Jen dashes out the door without stopping to thank
her.





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66 EXT. CASTLE ENTRANCE - ENTRY TUBE – DAY 66
The long procession of Mystics reaches the entry
tube. Lined up across the entrance is a solid wall
of Garthim, their claws bristling outward like
spears.
The Mystics do not seem perturbed. They chant a
nine-toned chord and the Garthim withdraw to a rest
position. The Mystics push past them and enter the
tube.
Overhead the three suns draw closer together, almost
touching.
67 INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER – DAY 67
Jen appears on a high balcony. He stops in awe at
the sight: The vast hall completely deserted and
the Dark Crystal floating above the deep shaft. The
Shard in his hand is glowing with cold white fire.
The flaw in the Crystal seems to glow with longing
for its absent fragment.
The triangular portal in the great dome is open.
Three suns are poised at each vertex.
68 INT. CASTLE - CORRIDOR – DAY 68
Kira creeps along the hall hiding in niches and
behind tapestries. She hears something and ducks
out of sight.
The Skekses march solemnly past wearing their
ceremonial robes for the Ceremony of Power. They
look neither to the left nor to the right, but
mumble a barbaric chant.
Kira emerges from hiding and follows warily.
69 INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER – DAY 69
Jen, still looking at the Dark Crystal, hears the
Chant of the approaching power ceremony. He drops
to the middle balcony and hides himself.
All the Skekses enter in their Robes of Power.
They move to their positions and start the ceremony.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
60
69 CONTINUED 69
The General and High Priest notice the Scientist is
missing. They exchange glances.
Kira enters on the balcony opposite Jen's hiding
position. She is haggard and aged.
Jen sees Kira and is shocked by her appearance. He
signals her. They talk by sign language and
gestures about what has to be done.
Fizzgig enters on Kira's balcony, making a huge
racket. Kira tries in vain to quiet Fizzgig. The
High Priest signals to stop the ceremony.
HIGH PRIEST
Garthim! Kelflinkh!
Gathim enter the balconies and try to catch Kira and
Jen. Kira distracts them for a moment. Jen takes
advantage of the general turmoil. He takes out the
Crystal Shard, looks down into the pit of fire, and
leaps toward the Dark Crystal. He lands at the top
and scrambles for a good hand-hold to keep from
slipping.
The Shard slips from his grasp and spins downward
toward the shaft.
Kira cries out with despair.
The Shard lands poised on the lip of the shaft and
hangs there.
The High Priest sees the Shard and the terrible
realization hits him how the Prophecy can be
fulfilled. He shrieks a command.
HIGH PRIEST
Klakk smaithhh Skwee Kreh!
('Grab that Shard!')
All the Skekses lurch toward the Shard. Kira leaps
down from the balcony on fluttering wings.
The General's hand picks up the Shard. Fizzgig
enters and grabs the General's arm. The General
drops the Shard and shakes Fizzgig off into the
Crystal fire pit. Fizzgig screams.




DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
61
69 CONTINUED 69
Kira snatches the Shard just before the High Priest
does.
She reacts to Fizzgig going into the pit.
The Skekses shrink back from Kira, who menaces them
with the Shard.
Jen calls out to her.
JEN
They're afraid.
Kira turns slowly around, surrounded by a circle of
Skekses, holding them off with the Shard like a
knife-fighter.
The High Priest makes a move toward her while her
back is momentarily turned.
JEN
Look out!
Kira whirls and slashes at the High Priest, nearly
wounding him.
70 OMIT
71 INT. CASTLE - HALL OF CRYSTAL – DAY 71
The Chamberlain approaches Kira, his hand
outstretched.
CHAMBERLAIN
Gif me the Shard, Gelffinnkhh,
and you go in peace.
KIRA
No.
The three suns touch in the center of the triangle
above. Jen calls down to the Chamberlain.
JEN
Don't harm her. Let her go.
You can have the Shard.
Kira turns and holds the Shard up toward Jen.


DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
62
71 CONTINUED 71
KIRA
No. Jen, heal the Crystal.
JEN
Don't. They'll kill you.
She tosses the Shard up to him in a high slow arc
and gives him a smile of love and farewell.
Jen screams an inarticulate cry of despair.
The High Priest stabs Kira from behind.
Jen catches the Shard with an automatic reflex and,
stunned, he watches Kira sink to the floor, dead.
The Skekses turn toward Jen.
Jen looks down at the Shard in his hand, turns and
raises his arm to drive the fragment deep into the
flaw of the Crystal.
Suddenly from above, a brilliant shaft of light
comes flooding down from a hole in the ceiling,
bathing Jen and the Crystal in an envelope of
blinding brightness.
The three suns are aligned in three perfectly
concentric circles. The Skekses recoil from the
intense radiation.
Jen pauses for an instant... and plunges the Shard
into the Crystal.
The Crystal emits a brilliant high-pitched sound
like a celestial bell. A flash knocks Jen to the
floor.
The Skekses cover their ears in pain at the sound.
The Dark Crystal clears to a lucid transparency
revealing a deeply cracked and fissured interior.
Then the cracks begin to heal themselves and
disappear as the Crystal returns to its original
perfection.
Jen crawls to the lifeless body of Kira. He cradles
her in his arms, sobbing with grief, oblivious to
the awesome changes he has brought about in the
Crystal.

 

[Laszlo]

DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
63
71 CONTINUED 71
The High Priest looks at a Garthim beside him as its
claws fall off and the burning purple coals of its
eyes are snuffed out to darkness.
Garthim fall apart all around the Hall of the
Crystal. Their claws and armor plates fall to the
floor with a mettalic clatter. Once the armor
plates have fallen away, there is nothing left of
the Garthim.
Choir slaves stand up and murmur in confusion as
their milky eyes darken and return to their original
color, their free will returned. They look around
themselves with a wonder like awakened dreamers who
find that reality is more strange than their dream.
72 INT. CASTLE - DAY 72
The entire Castle begins to reverberate with a low
rumble of almost subsonic pitch. The ugly
encrustations from centuries of Skeksis residence
begin to fall and melt away, revealing a beautiful
crystalline structure beneath.
73 INT. CASTLE - THE CHAMBER OF LIFE – DAY 73
The room shakes, as if in an earthquake. The doors
of the empty animal cages swing open and shut,
clanging noisily. What apparatus was left standing
after the revolt falls over and smashes.
Aughra hobbles from her cage to the door, greatly
exited.
AUGHRA
The Great Conjunction!
At last!
Fizzgig squeals. Aughra turns and sees him clinging
to the rod in the shaft.
74 INT. CASTLE - CRYSTAL CHAMBER – DAY 74
The Mystics enter. No longer doddering wizards but
now like a conquering army.
They give voice to a mighty cry: Eight tones of
truth and majesty piled into an irresistable chord
of power.

DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
64
74 CONTINUED 74
The Mystics form a circle about the Crystal.
The Skekses scatter to the periphery of the room in
terror.
The Mystic, Ur-Zah, raises his hand in a gesture of
power... or is it acceptance?
Beams of light shoot out of the Crystal, transfix
the eight Mystics, and continue through their bodies
to impale the eight Skekses ranged around the edges
of the room. The Skekses seem paralysed.
Slowly and ineluctably the Skekses are dragged
toward the Mystics, who have begun to chant and move
their bodies in a swaying hypnotic rhythm.
Aughra peeks into the room from the balcony, panting
and wheezing. It has been a long climb from the
dungeon, but she wouldn't miss this for anything.
Fizzgig sits on her shoulder, chattering.
Jen calls out to her from where he is bent over
Kira's corpse.
AUGHRA
"What was sundered and undone,
shall be whole, the two made one."
Aughra points to the circle of Mystics and Skekses.
Jen looks up, shields his eyes with his hand. The
light in the room has become too intense to see
clearly.
The Skekses are being drawn into the bodies of the
Mystics and merging with them, until the two races
join and form some new kind of creature.
One by one the newly formed creatures are drawn into
the Crystal on beams of light and then shot out the
other side into another dimension.
The final remaining creature pauses and looks down
at Jen. A voice speaks inside Jen's mind as he
looks up into the wise gaze of the figure towering
above him.





DC 4D 4/3/81 CONTINUED
 REVISED 22/4/81
65
74 CONTINUED 74
VOICE
Gelfling. You have freed us
from the chains of the world.
We now may pass to the next
world. Rejoined. In the form
we had when we were born.
Now we return your favor.
JEN
Who are you?
The creature reaches down and touches Kira's
shoulder.
Jen looks down at Kira. Her eyes are fluttering
open. Her wound is healed.
The creature dissapears through the Crystal after
the others. The room is filled with silence.
Kira sits up, opens her eyes, embraces Jen and they
watch the Crystal.
The three suns move out of their position above and
the Great Conjunction is over for another thousand
years.
The camera moves into the Crystal revealing various
happy images of the characters and the end titles.
75 OMIT

 

[skekKot]

Wow, excellent find! Thank you!
Highly interesting, lots of additional scenes, looks like the workprint!
How about posting it here, before the archive is deleted?

Laszlo,

Check out the dialogue between AUGHRA & JEN; when they first meet. You will notice a name that
does not fit there! Likely an error in transcription{Typographical error.
You may want to check out the Dark Crystal Community Forum. We have many interesting discussions
http://www.darkcrystal.com/index.php/forums/

 

[skekKot]

Selected page from Script
Third Draft
[This Script page contains narration dialogue that pre-dates May 14, 1982]-when additional changes were made to this dialogue.
*below is a link to the dialogue changes
http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/DC_2153_ThirdDraft_01.jpg


(UNDER SHOT OF CASTLE, MOVING TO INTERIOR)
CLASSY NARRATOR
Behold the Castle of the Dark Crystal.
(ten sec.) Within its walls
lives a cruel and ancient race...

(INSIDE)
CLASSY N.
...called the Skekses.
For a thousand years they have
cheated death,
draining the life force from other living things,
from the land itself,
and even the stars above.

Each day the Skekses join in
the Power Ritual,
portioning out a fraction of this stolen life force,
which is contained in
the sacred Source of all their might:
The Dark Crystal.

(approx.
thirty
seconds) (END ON SHOT OF THE DARKCRYSTAL)