Will There Be a ‘Dark Crystal’ Season 2 on Netflix?

It’s a big weekend for fans of fantasy and puppets, because The Dark Crystal is back. The 1982 film that frightened and inspired a generation or two is back in action, this time in the form of a prequel series on Netflix. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a 10-episode adventures that’s as big as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings… except everything is done with puppets and practical sets.

The show, set long before the events of the first film, required a huge cast and a whole lot of genius craftspeople to happen. That’s what makes the show a special binge; it’s quite possibly the most expensive looking show on Netflix, if only because everything you see on screen had to be physically built and animated by hand. In the CG era, puppets might just be the most breathtaking special effects.

That’s why you may have just binged the whole thing in a sitting or three. The season is a thrilling ride, and wow oh wow does it go places! But where does the season end up? And will we ever get Season 2? For those answers (and a lot more speculation) you can read ahead–but beware, SPOILERS lie ahead!

Dark Crystal ending explained: Does The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance end on a cliffhanger?

It sure does–and it ends on a bunch of them. Need that Dark Crystal ending explained? Here we go:

The season ends with Skeksis rule challenged and the tyrants all exposed for what they are: scheming villains more than willing to enhance their lifespan by draining every single Gelfling of their essence. With this truth out in the open, the fractured Gelfling tribes all united as one to stand up and intimidate the Skeksis.

Brea discovered that the missing shard of the Crystal of Truth, the shard that will plug up the Darkening if ever returned to the cracked crystal, was hidden in the hilt of the glaive passed on to our heroes from the Heretic. The last we see of Brea, she’s holding the shard in the air triumphantly… but we know from the 1982 movie that the shard won’t get inserted into the Crystal until generations later. So, how does it get from Brea’s hand to Aughra’s junk drawer? We don’t know!

Then there’s Hup, the Podling paladin-to-be who was left to recuperate at the remote Circle of the Suns with the Heretic and the Wanderer. At the end of the season finale, he finds the mystical relic that grants life to the creature Lore, who was left a pile of rocks a few episodes prior. The look on Hup’s face seems to indicate that he intends on bringing Lore back.

As for Deet, when last we saw her she was imbued with the powers of the Sanctuary Tree of Grot. She used those powers to deflect, absorb, and redirect the Darkening back at the Skeksis, effectively rendering the villains’ most powerful weapon useless against the Gelfling. But Deet paid a price; when last we see Deet, she’s wandered away from the united Gelfling tribes, her skin cracked with purple Darkening energy, leaving a trail of corrupted wildlife in her wake. Only Rian, grappling with his new feelings for his friend, sees her walk away.

And at the very end of the episode, we see the Skeksis mad scientist finally perfect a weapon to use against the Gelfling: we see the debut of the crab-like, spider-legged Garthim. The Garthim, created from a reanimated corpse of an Arathim, eventually become the Skeksis main henchmen and do their deadly bidding in the 1982 movie.

So we end the season with Deet in self-imposed exile, Brea holding the key to saving all of Thra, Hup on the verge of resurrecting an ally, and the Skeksis building an army. That’s a lot!

Will there be a Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Season 2 on Netflix?

We don’t know yet, as Netflix rarely green lights a follow-up season before a debut season premieres. However, the show’s braintrust–Javier Grilo-Marxuach, Jeffrey Addiss, and Will Matthews–have hinted that there’s more story to be told between where Season 1 ends and the movie begins. “Thra is a big world and there’s a lot of space for hope,” Addiss told Decider in our interview.

Additionally, the writers have said in other interviews that they already have plans in place for Season 2–they just have to get the go-ahead from Netflix.

When will The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Season 2 hit Netflix?

If enough Dark Crystal fans tune in and binge the whole season over Labor Day weekend (which really is the best way to ensure that the show comes back, so clear your schedules!) and Season 2 is ordered, it still might be a while before we see it. For example, Season 1 began production in November 2017 and the show is just now on Netflix. That’s because the show utilizes dozens and dozens of puppets and close to 100 practical sets. All of that had to be built, first, and then they had to film it. And filming puppets can be hard. Just watch these outtakes from the 1977 Jim Henson project Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.

Now, Season 2 of The Dark Crystal might be a quicker shoot than Season 1 just because the puppets and sets have been constructed. But still, there are things that you can’t rush with a show like this, which is why it’s likely that it’ll take longer than 12 months for a hypothetical Season 2 to come out.

If the same amount of time passes between when Season 1 started filming and when Season 1 premiered, then we may not see Season 2 until June 2021. Fingers crossed it comes sooner than that, because we need to see where the saga goes next!

Stream The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix