Yes, but it is not the skesis general; is it one of the merged beings. But since they all look the same, it cannot be discerned which it is.

Death is the road to awe.

There is a scene in the movie when Jen is looking at the shard and it shows him the Skeksis general striking the Crystal and breaking it.
They initially tried to purge themselves of thier imperfections and were split in two. The Skeksis were not so twisted and evil when they first emerged.
I am assuming the general shattered the crystal out of a desire for self-preservation.

I took it to mean that they tried to divide themselves thinking to become more pure, and this act caused the crystal to break. Thus their arrogance was their downfall.

So how did the Skesis make the Gartham and the Crystal Bats?

the comicbook and book novelization says they tried to use the crystal to burn away their imperfections but instead it split them in two. because of their dimention, they thought that the mirror reflection of a lit candle would be darkness; not the reverse of a lit candle.
i found this out from research and reading long after my initial post.
yes there was a fight and the crsytal broke in the process.
the movie gives no indication of that.

If I remember correctly, wasn't there a fight which broke the crystal by accident?