In Dune: Prophecy, Desmond Hart does something impossible: he resists Valya Harkonnen's use of the Voice. The Voice was the Bene Gesserit's special skill by which people were made to do things using mind control. In Episode 2, Valya tries to make Desmond kill himself, just like she did to Dorotea before.
Remarkably, Desmond reacts and even uses the situation to show his strange powers. He acquired this mutation as a result of his bizarre resurrection after being completely ingested by a sandworm. The Voice operates according to the release of primal and instinctive responses. Desmond's skills appear to be shielded from that psychic control.
Desmond is unlike the ones such as Gurney Halleck, who have fought with training against the Voice. The theme of protection (as portrayed through Desmond) occurs through supernatural means. His transformation in Arrakis, a rebirth "once in spice," endowed him with powers such as telekinesis and the ability to destroy enemies from within.
He has now become a strong enemy after having refused the Sisterhood's methods of destruction and changing the balance of power in the Imperium.
What is the Voice in Dune: Prophecy?
In the stories of Dune, the Voice is one of the means of controlling other people that the Bene Gesserit created. In the glossary by Frank Herbert, it is called "combined training," wherein a skilled user can actually influence others with the voice. It works with the unconscious mind. Based on how the brain naturally reacts, the Voice can make people obey, reveal secrets, or even hurt themselves.
Valya Harkonnen is an important character in Dune: Prophecy. The Voice was originally intended as a learning device. It soon became a controlling agent. When Valya gained power, she used the Voice to force Dorotea to kill herself, showing one of its dangers. But it is not infallible. The special mental conditioning or transformation of one such as Desmond Hart can overcome it.
As Dune: Prophecy looks at the early stages of the Voice, it also shows its limits. Characters such as Gurney Halleck in Herbert's books fight against it through training, while others, like Desmond, question its basic ideas with strange powers.
Are Desmond Hart's powers a gift or curse from Arrakis?
Desmond Hart's power over the Voice in Dune: Prophecy is his incredible rebirth. After being swallowed by an Arrakis sandworm, he awakens with strange abilities. Perhaps this rebirth is tied with the spice or, alternatively, the fabled Water of Life, symbolic of what the Bene Gesserit uses during their ceremonies.
Desmond has special powers, like moving things with his mind and the scary ability to set his enemies on fire from within. He uses this skill in episode 1 to kill Pruwet Richese and Reverend Mother Kasha. His ability to ignore the Voice makes him unique in the Imperium. Valya finds that Desmond's refusal to obey her invalidates the Sisterhood's strongest weapon.
These make Desmond the "revenant full of scars" that Mother Superior Raquella spoke of. With the capacity to resist the Sisterhood's influence and great power, he has, in a way, become a change that can actually change the future of the Bene Gesserit on Dune: Prophecy, and even of the Imperium itself!
What does Desmond’s resistance to the Voice mean for the Bene Gesserit on Dune: Prophecy?
Desmond Hart’s refusal to obey Valya’s Voice shows a big change in the power structure of the Imperium. The Sisterhood, which depends on the Voice to keep control, now faces a new and serious danger. Desmond’s statement that “the witches’ tricks do not work on him” questions the basis of their power.
In Dune: Prophecy Episode 2, Valya tries to force Desmond into suicide but fails. On the other hand, when she controls him, Desmond exploits his strength with the Emperor to deny the Sisterhood an inclusion in royal counsel. This marks the start of a greater strife between Desmond and the Bene Gesserit, where their secret plans may spill out.
As the story goes on, Dune: Prophecy introduces Desmond as this opposition force to the Sisterhood. This is the "reckoning" that Raquella's vision had told them was coming. The central question is whether he will desecrate the Sisterhood or transform it.
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