Rian, Brea, Deet, Hup and Lore reach the Circle of the Suns where they're surprised to meet a benevolent Skeksis, skekGra the Heretic, as well as his Mystic counterpart, urGoh the Wanderer. skekGra and urGoh put on an opera then a puppet show for the group, in which they gradually reveal their races' origins as the splintered urSkeks, with the Darkening being a byproduct of the Crystal's corruption. They announce their desire to merge back into their unified form GraGoh and need the Gelflings' help in using the Dual Glaive (a legendary sword) to end the Skeksis' rule — that desire got them banished by their brethren in the first place. As Rian's group set out to the Caves of Grot where the Dual Glaive is located, they are ambushed by skekMal the Hunter, who escapes with Brea after being mortally wounded by his Mystic counterpart urVa the Archer. Meanwhile, keeping secret the fact that the Caves have been compromised by the Darkening, skekSo wins the Arathim Ascendancy's services by giving them back their ancestral home if they help put down the Stonewood Gelflings. The Ascendancy request Tavra as a host for their mind-controlling Arathim, which take over the Stonewood clan as they are preparing for battle and have them march to the Castle.
Tropes featured in this episode include:
- Cassandra Truth: Aughra tries to warn Maudra Fara that the Stone-in-the-Wood attacking the Skeksis will almost surely end in failure. Fara doesn't listen, with tragic consequences.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends on a Skeksis victory, with their Arathim allies mind-controlling the Gelflings of the Stonewood clan and the latter being brought to the castle.
- Creator Career Self-Deprecation: After a long and boring opera, the Heretic and urGoh will explain how to end the Skeksis rule with the ancient and noble art... of puppetry! Brea, Rian, and Hup all groan, and Hup goes straight back to sleep.
- Enemy Mine: skekSo gains the Arathim Ascendancy to his side despite the Skeksis-Arathim enmity by promising to give the Caves of Grot back to them... without mentioning that they're corrupted by the Darkening.
- Evil Laugh:
- The Arathim Ascendancy, after making the deal with Emperor skekSo and telling him to bring them Gelflings to show how they will subdue them.
- skekVar the General lets a very small laugh out as Aughra powerlessly watches the Stonewood Gelflings being mind-controlled by the Arathim and captured by the Skeksis.
- The episode closes with Emperor skekSo laughing evilly as he watches the mind-controlled Stonewood Gelflings being brought to the castle.
- Exact Words: Aughra tries to warn Maudra Fara and the Stone-in-the-Wood that she has seen many timelines, and in almost all of them, they fall when trying to fight against the Skeksis. Unfortunately, this just convinces Fara that there is a chance of victory, and she works that much harder to ensure that they will not fail. Aughra really needs to work on her sales pitches.
- Foreshadowing: There is a piece of crystal in the pommel of the Gelfling puppet's Dual Glaive. Guess what's in the real thing three episodes later.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Maudra Fara fears that Seladon is turning into this as the new All-Maudra.
- Hive Mind: The Arathim seem to share one since they often speak as one, and those they control as puppeteer parasites also speak with a Voice of the Legion.
- Impaled Palm: The Hunter does this to The Heretic (and thus The Wanderer) when he makes his presence known.
- Innocently Insensitive: skekGra keeps addressing Hup as "slave", even after being told that he isn't one. It very likely dates back to his days at the castle as the Skeksis Conqueror, since Skeksis have Podling slaves as servants.
- I Warned You: Aughra tries to warn Maudra Fara that if the Stone-in-the-Wood tries to attack the Skeksis, they will almost certainly fail. Naturally, Aughra turns up to oversee the damage when they inevitably fall.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Maudra Fara ultimately proves to be this for the Gelflings. Aughra tries to warn her that foolishly rushing into war alone will end in defeat, and it would be better to gather the other Gelfling Clans and form a united front and solid plan later. Fara does not listen, and her defeat is as swift as the Crystal Castle Gelfling guards' defeat had been.
- Metaphorically True: skekGra's answer to Rian about being alone at the Circle of the Suns, since urGoh is the second half of the urSkek they once formed."Yes, I am alone. So very alone... yet, I'm also with myself! urGoh! Get out there and greet our guests!"
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After the protagonists arrive at the Circle of the Suns, The Heretic shuts down Lore since he considers his job to be completed. Thus, he is in no position to help when The Hunter attacks. Brea tries to reawaken him but is too late.
- No-Sell: One of the Threader Arathim tries to control Aughra. She's insulted by the attempt.Aughra: You dare try to control Aughra?! Aughra can barely control Aughra! Hmph!
- Oh, Crap!: The entire group travelling to the Circle of the Suns gets one when they notice the sandstorm rapidly approaching. Hup, in particular, exclaims "Apopiopodpo aslamo!", which this 'Hup Teaches Podling'
clip tells us means "We're all going to die!" - Power at a Price: Manipulating the Darkening causes skekSo's body to rot, as we see when he takes off his beak mask."True power demands sacrifice!"
- Pride Before a Fall: Mother Aughra tries to warn Maudra Fara that if she and her Stone-in-the-Wood Gelflings rush to attack the Skeksis before uniting other Gelfing Clans, it will almost surely end in failure. Fara insists on leading the charge anyway, to prove that she is not a coward by running, and to prove that she alone is strong enough to stand up to the Skeksis. The battle ends before it even begins.
- Puppeteer Parasite: The Threader Arathim, who latch onto faces and control the minds of their hosts. They do just that to the Gelflings as part of the Skeksis' diabolical plan. One of them unsuccessfully tries pulling this on Aughra.
- The Reveal: The urSkek tricked Aughra into traveling the stars and leaving the Crystal of Truth with them, with the intention of abusing it, even before they split into Skeksis and Mystics. Said split was also an accident from tampering with the Crystal, not a noble if misguided attempt to cleanse themselves of their evil natures like in the film. Could also count as a Retcon.
- Serious Business: When Brea asks if they can skip the "surprise", skekGra gets annoyed."We have waited three hundred and seventy nine trines! We're doing the surprise! And you will be surprised!"
- Show Within a Show: The opera and puppet show of skekGra and urGoh (that's right, we have puppets puppeteering puppets for other puppets) to provide exposition about the origins of the Skeksis and Mystics and what the Gelflings have to do next to fix everything. Behind the scenes, the small puppets' performer is an independent puppeteer named Barnaby Dixon.
- There's No Place Like Home: Deet has a moment of homesickness."Everything up here is strange... I miss my caves, I miss my family..."
- Voice of the Legion: The Arathim, when they speak as one.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Poor Hup gets airsick during the desert crossing and throws up off-camera."Hup... want... die!" *vomits*
