[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,........