[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the end of Dune: Prophecy episode 1.]
In our world, most Dune lore is known. While Dune, as a story, is rooted in picking apart the messy intricacies of propaganda and prophecy, we — as readers and watchers of the Dune franchise — more or less know what the world contains (give or take a new entry here or there).
But then this motherfucker named Desmond Hart walks into Dune: Prophecy and everything changes.
Desmond, played by Travis Fimmel, is a bit of an enigma in the world of Dune: Prophecy: He’s come from Arrakis, where he claims his crew was attacked by the emperor’s enemies in an effort to harm his standing. He’s invited to stay, although the emperor’s truthsayer knows he’s lying — she sees him on the spice-filled deserts of Arrakis staring down a giant sandworm, though we don’t know much more about her vision. He saunters around the palace and, ultimately, burns a kid using only his mind. In our world, such pyrokinesis isn’t a known element in Dune’s mythos, making Desmond a very curious specimen indeed.
Like all things Prophecy, it’s safe to say his telekinetic powers are an extension of the book’s lore, rather than something actually found in them. Which all sets up the biggest mysteries of Prophecy after just a single episode: Who is he, how did he get these powers, and how will his life find its place among the annals of history? With Dune coming 10,000 years after the events here, what might Desmond be here to introduce to the on-screen lore of the franchise?
This early there’s a few different ways we could take it — so here’s some of our best guesses as to what Desmond might be here to do (and, ultimately, what that might mean he’s capable of).
He’s the start of the Sardaukar
A desert-trained warrior who was not born into court life but whose experience and prowess earn the respect of those of higher rank, with a normal human person name? Maybe a little too normal?
That’s your Duncan Idaho type, my friend. A character who began life as House Atreides’ swordmaster eventually became something of a mascot for wider Dune canon. No matter how many times Idaho dies, Brian Herbert keeps finding ways to bring him back and put him at the center of galactic concerns again (usually via cloning).
Which is just to say: If you’re doing a Dune story, you gotta have a Duncan Idaho. But what is Desmond Hart actually doing in this story? I haven’t a clue, but if I had to take a rip of the bong and guess something, it would be this:
Dune: Prophecy has promised us the rise of the Bene Gesserit order, but there are plenty of other pillars of Dune’s setting that are as yet unformed in its time period. And since the show is really leaning into the opposite of expectations — rooting for the Harkonnens, making the Atreides kinda shifty — what if instead Duncan Idaho befriending the Fremen, Desmond Hart winds up becoming a pivotal figure in the creation of the Emperor’s infamous Sardaukar army? —Susana Polo
He’s the Kwisatz Haderach (sorta)
Image: Warner Bros.
Just one episode in, this show already seems very interested in providing the origin story for some of the most important tenets of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. With that in mind, I’m going to throw out a wild card thought on Desmond: Maybe he’s the proto-Kwisatz Haderach.
Not that he’s the real thing, or even what the Bene Gesserit would eventually evolve the concept into, but rather that he’s the first inkling the Sisterhood has that a male could gain magical powers from strange interactions with Shai-Hulud.
Maybe whatever happens in Dune: Prophecy will lead the Bene Gesserit to decide that pursuing a Desmond Hart of their own, one that’s been perfectly and selectively bred so that they could have maximum control over him, might be a mission worth pursuing. On top of that, maybe the idea of Desmond as a powerful supernatural force could help inspire the Sisterhood to create the Missionaria Protectiva, too, giving them the idea to plant the seeds of supernatural belief throughout the universe, including on Arrakis itself. —Austen Goslin
Image: Sony Pictures
Listen, my equation’s simple. Desmond Hart spent some crucial time on Arrakis. Arrakis, famously, is filled with desert. Deserts, famously, are hot. And so is whatever cursed fire magic Desmond used on that poor child. Desert is hot + fire is hot = Desmond’s using desert power. It’s just simple math. —Pete Volk