Taking You with Me: The Hunter Skeksis tells Ordon this verbatim as he's being eaten alive by Gobbles.Redemption Equals Death: Ordon redeems himself for doubting his son just in time to die for him.

Pragmatic Villainy: The Chamberlain and Scientist both urge the other Skeksis to drain only the bare minimum amount of Gelflings they need to survive, not gorge recklessly.The Ornamentalist then says 'How exciting!' and 'There's going to be a fight!' when watching them squabble, and the Gourmand gets excited as well while still eating and remarks 'A meal and a show!' Pass the Popcorn: The Chamberlain and the General get into a violent argument and leave the table during the Skeksis' dinner to yell at each other behind it.Papa Wolf: Ordon surely won't let the Skeksis Hunter touch his son.Leaning on the Fourth Wall: As the camera passes through a torch at the beginning of the episode it flares up and sets the logo on fire.And whereas most of his compatriots prefer subterfuge, backstabbing and relying on mooks to do their dirty work, the Hunter actively pursues his quarry all by himself, posing a much more immediate threat to the protagonists. Knight of Cerebus: Not that The Dark Crystal is lighthearted by any means, but skekMal the Hunter is notably more violent and agile than the other Skeksis, who are visibly perturbed by his presence.Inopportune Voice Cracking: When skekSo makes an unannounced visit to the laboratory, skekTek reacts with a surprised shriek of 'Sire!!'.Heroic Sacrifice: Ordon sacrifices himself to save his son from the Hunter.Heel Realization: While trying to solve the mysterious puzzle in the secret chamber, Brea finally questions why 'Grotton are always last' like her people always say, and then wonders why her people say that, and then slowly realizes that the Fantastic Racism that Gelflings hold against each other is all lies.They urge the Emperor to consume only the bare minimum they need to survive and to keep Thra's imbalance to a minimum, not gorge recklessly. Even Evil Has Standards: The Scientist and the Chamberlain are as nasty as any other Skeksis, but even they think draining too many Gelflings and further disrupting the balance of Thra is going too far.The Scientist then coos and comforts the poor animal after the Emperor leaves. Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Surprisingly, the Scientist seems to genuinely care about the 'pets' locked up in cages around his lab ( even if they only ever hiss and shriek), and the Emperor slowly strangles one to make him talk.Egomaniac Hunter: skekMal initially feels insulted when given a Gelfling target.Divided We Fall: The message that is implied by the riddle that Brea faces in the crypt beneath the throne room in Ha'rar: the Gelfling clan hierarchy, which Brea has known all her life, is a falsehood that exists only to divide the Gelflings.All for Nothing: Ordon sacrificing himself to stop skekMal could be seen as this, as the latter survives being eaten by Gobbles.

skekMal survives Ordon's sacrificial attempt to stop him with ravenous Gobbles and then runs off with Rian as Deet and Hup watch powerlessly. As skekVar and skekZok leave to recruit 'volunteers' from the Gelfling tribes, skekMal finds Rian after he dreamfasted the truth to Tavra, Ordon, Gurjin's sister Naia, and Kylan. This leads skekSil to summon skekMal the Hunter to retrieve Rian. At the same time, the Skeksis' banquet in honor of skekEkt's return turns sour when Emperor skekSo replaces skekSil the Chamberlain as his advisor with skekVar the General. Meanwhile, Aughra encounters urVa the Mystic Archer, who advises her to learn from Thra to restore her connection to the planet. The voice introduces the giant as Lore and explains that he will guide her to the Circle of the Suns, attracting the attention of Brea's oldest sister Seladon. In Ha'rar, Brea attempts to decipher the hidden chamber's riddle before realizing it reveals the Gelfling clan hierarchy to be false while awakening a stone golem that plays a recording on its body to talk to her.

Deet frees Hup from the Stonewood clan's dungeon by pretending to be a monster that scares the guards, using her luminescent moss from the Caves of Grot to great effect.

The dark crystal tv tropes