things I misunderstood as a child *spoilers*

Not like I was any genius as a kid, but I can pretty clearly remember this being one of the first films I made it all the way through at age 4 or 5. At that time, it may have been a little "much" for me, but I wonder if anyone else here had similar experiences watching this as a youth.

A few things not clear when I was little but pretty abundantly obvious to adults would be:

* I thought that the shot of the castle at the beginning of the film was just a shot of some random bush in a field during a storm (maybe due to poor VHS quality).

* I thought Jen was a girl... up until Kira informed him that he's a boy (due to name and hair)... similarly on Sesame Street I remember thinking the same about Big Bird.

* I thought Chamberlain was a woman due to feminine voice and mannerisms.

* When he calls him a Spithead, I certainly heard a more R-rated word.

* When the General said "Kneel! Bow!" I thought he was just randomly reminiscing about "Fear! Power!".

* When the Garthim were marching down the hallway looking both directions, I thought that their eyes were in fact their beaks and they were habitually spasming one side of their mouth as they walked.

* When Jen escapes from the Garthim into the crystal pit, I thought he had all of a sudden some kind of ability which allowed him to shrink himself.

* I didn't understand that the Garthim were different creatures than the Skeksis and thought that they all fell apart because they couldn't find Mystics to bond to.

* I didn't understand that Kira was stabbed or killed at the end - I thought she was just incapacitated somehow and fainted because of all the commotion & being picked on so much.