Why didn't Aughra heal the Dark Crystal herself?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Dark Crystal
jessicahjoy87 — 12 years ago(June 26, 2013 09:38 PM)
(sorry if this has been answered before.)
Was it just because she didn't know which shard it was? I mean, come onurSu tells Jen exactly what he has to do, at the LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE (without pursuing it himself, nor do any of the other Mystics, which I suppose can be totted up to them missing their 'evil' Skeksis half, i.e., the half that takes action, the half that fights, creates movement/dynamic motion, etc.; they're stuck in an entropic state of paralyzation), Aughra tells Jen exactly what he has to do without pursuing it HERSELFwould it really be that unthinkable of a thing to take her little sack of shards into the castle and try them all out to see which one works?? 'Gelfling hand or else by none' my butt. Worth suffering 1000 years under Skeksis rule, the annihilation of the Gelfling race etc.? I would think it'd be worth a shot, considering the stakesI mean, additionally, she's the spirit of Thra itselfthe Earth GREW her out of a need for eyes, ears, a tongue etc.wouldn't the EARTH know what shard belonged to the Crystal? All Jen had to do was play his flute to figure it outAughra's supposed to be endowed with the wisdom of the ages, I find her total lack of inclination to fix the problem unsatisfying and kind of inconsistent with her character. Why wait until the last damn minute to solve these thingsshe and her 'son' Raunip searched high and low for the shard of the crystal after it was broken in the fight after the division of the UrSkeks due to the Conjunction, so why the flying crap would she just take it and retire to High Hill and hang out with her orrery, gleefully watching the Conjunction come nearer and nearer, and not do anything?
Blah -
jessicahjoy87 — 12 years ago(June 27, 2013 07:08 PM)
In addition to and supplementation of Aughra's apparent indifference toward the fate of Thra and such, the way the story goes it would seem that she ALSO let the Gelfling be massacred into almost total extinction by the Garthim when once she apparently was very close with the Gelfling (she is the voice of Thra, after all; what mother doesn't love her children). I've loved this movie ever since it came out but just recently I'm coming to realize that her character totally and completely baffles me. Aughra's supposed to be a seer, a scientist and a sorcerer, and yet what use is all of that if she doesn't use any of that to fix the crystal and conjoin the UrSkeks, or to at LEAST protect the Gelfling from being brutally annihilated? What kind of a mother is that? Without any actual action in any positive direction she just becomes a gnarled, effete, withered old harridan with a missing eye and ram horns, collecting and hoarding shiny things with no purpose, watching her machine mark the passing of time with no aim. ??
Anybody read the graphic novels or any subsequent Crystal material who can maybe shine a light on Aughra's nature? -
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Mooseboy018 — 12 years ago(October 07, 2013 12:26 PM)
She's basically the earth itself, so she was far from young. And she did have certain amount of "power", but I guess we'll find out (hopefully) what she was doing while the Gelflings were being killed in the last of the graphic novels. She already seemed to be getting pretty detached by the time the crystal cracked, so that might have played into it.
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fiatlux-1 — 12 years ago(August 11, 2013 08:16 PM)
The film states that only a Gelfling can heal the crystal.
Hence why the Skeksis tried to annihilate the entire Gelfling population.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush." -
jessicahjoy87 — 12 years ago(August 14, 2013 08:33 PM)
That's what I meanshe let them get massacred into almost extinction.
![😕](https://filmglance.com/discuss/assets/plugins/nodebb-plugin-emoji/emoji/android/1f615.png?v=8570fb93240 ":\")
Then, when she had the crystal, urSu never even sent Jen to see her, knowing what had to be done, until the Conjunction was practically a matter of days away! >:| -
edavie89 — 11 years ago(September 12, 2014 12:20 PM)
This is why I'm not a fan of Aughra being an avatar or the "spirit" of Thra. It just doesn't
fit
to me. Why would the Guardian God of Thra let an alien racethe Skeksismassacre the Gelfling?
Also, Aughra isn't made of plants, rocks, or earth. She's got human/gelfling-like skin and ram's horns. Her face is vaguely skull-like in my opinion. Her face, body, and clothing gives zero impression that this is a being that was spat up by earth itself.
To me, Aughra has always seemed to be a member of a non-Gelfling race who just wanted to be left
alone
. A woman who said, "The Skeksis only want Gelfling dead. The Prophecy mentions only Gelfling. I'm not Gelfling, so it's not my problem." (This extermination could be comparable to those who didnt defend Jews from the Nazis. They only want Jews, they said. Im not a Jew. This isnt my problem.)
Pretend for a moment that Aughra isn't the spirit of Thra or anything, and merely an ordinary scientist. She's just a mortal woman who hid away on her hill, studying alchemy (for alternate ways to extend her life, perhaps?) and watching the stars, counting down the years until the Great Conjunction something she'd witnessed before. This could be one explanation as to why she looks so ancient and skeletal. Aughra has lived beyond her normal lifespan
just like the Skeksis
!
Say 1,000 years before the Movie, Aughra witnesses the union of the Three Suns. Observing the power of the Great Conjunction takes her eye, but her lifespan is extended many times beyond that which is normal.
Over the course of the next 1,000 years, the children of the Great ConjunctionAughra, the Skeksis and the Mysticslive on, but still age and decay. The Mystics are slow in thought and movement, the Skeksis and Aughra are like walking corpses.
Not wanting to die, Aughra builds the Observatory. She wants to predict the exact moment of the Great Conjunction. She looks forward to extending her life once again.
This view of Aughraa selfish keeper of secrets, not a thoughtless earth godmakes better sense. Also, it wasn't original intent for Aughra to be the Spirit of Thra.
During filming, Aughra really was just that: an aloof old hag on a hill. The screenwriter, David Odell, wrote that the decision to make Aughra the Thra "earth mother" figure was made later in Froud's
World of the Dark Crystal
.
Anyway, I know that this isnt a canonical explanation for Aughras behavior toward the Gelfling extermination. Perhaps the new novels to be released in coming years can try to explain why Aughra seemed to turn her back on the Gelfling.
But my non-canon explanation would be: Aughra didnt heal the Crystal because
she didnt care. -
DalekCaan — 10 years ago(November 15, 2015 03:56 AM)
I haven't read any of the expanded DC universe materials, but your explanation of Aughra makes sense to me. The whole spirit of Thra thing sounds like a retcon, and doesn't really make much sense strictly from the movies point of view.
Although I never got the impression she was as indifferent and self-serving as you make her out to be. I think she did care. She does seem inclined to help Jen, and encouraged him and Kyra when they needed it. If she really were indifferent and selfish then she wouldn't have let Jen into her observatory to begin with. Why bring the Skeksi's most wanted into your house if you have no horse in that race?
As to why she didn't heal the crystal herself I can pretty much see how that would go. Garthim capture her because she's an old woman and not a ninja, and the Skeksi's acquire the shard for themselves, which gives them more leverage to prevent the prophecy. No, I feel like the best thing Aughra could do for the prophecy is to keep the shard hidden from the Skeksi until the prophesied gelfling arrives to claim it. Aughra's role in that world is its observer and lore keeper. I always assumed her name was from the word "Augur" or "Augury" which basically means to divine the future. She doesn't have much power beyond that. She couldn't stop the Garthim's massacre of the Gelflings. So she collected knowledge, built a machine to predict the next conjunction, and waited for the prophesied gelfling to come, so that she could help him in his quest which she did, and her actions lead to the destruction of her home. And even after that, she helped Kyra escape from the dungeon. And then she saved Fizgig from the thermal vent. So yeah Aughra's inclined to be a good person when she's able to. She just has the pragmatism to know that it was a waiting game for the right hero to come. -
avia2 — 10 years ago(January 11, 2016 12:45 PM)
Also is it feasible that Aughra would have nothing to lose during the next Conjunction?
The Skeksis exploited other creatures but had no interest in the gnarly old bat, so perhaps she felt less pressured to take action as long as they left her alone.