SkekSo

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In the film The Dark Crystal and the accompanying book, The World of The Dark Crystal, skekSo is the emperor of the Skeksis. His spiritual other half in the film is the UrRu master, urSu. In the film, skekSo is only seen shortly before and during his death.

SkekSo had reigned since the split of the Crystal, and the division of the ruling UrSkeks. He was part of an alliance consisting of skekSil, skekAyuk, and skekEkt, the largest, and therefore the successful, faction for enthronement. In the early part of his reign, skekSo had shone with glory, leading feast processions and dances, beating all his rivals in tournaments. As the Skeksis aged and diminished, skekSo kept his authority through favoritism, suspicion, and sheer courage. His sight weakened, his rotting body burst with ulcers, and the other Skeksis awaited his death.

Production notes for the film emphasize the Emperor's face going dark like a "piece of bad fruit", as opposed to Master urSu turning into light. For the final deterioration of skekSo, his figure was made of wax with high melting points so that it would crumble and slough away at different rates. The website habidabad.com suggests that Skeksis decompose so quickly because they have no soul to arrest the process.

Emperor skekSo may be compared with Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars universe. Jim Henson was a major contributing artist for both films. The Dark Crystal and Star Wars also shared other puppeteers and sculptors.

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