Dune: Prophecy’s Desmond is a mystery henceforth unknown to the Dune story

(Oath. note: This post contains spoilers for the end of Dune: Prophecy section 1.)

In our world, most of the dune lore is known. While Duneas a story, is rooted in picking apart the messy intricacies of propaganda and prophecy, we – as readers and watchers of the Dune franchise – know more or less what the world contains (give or take a new entry here or there).

But then this fucker named Desmond Hart walks in Dune: Prophecy and everything changes.

Desmond, played by Travis Fimmel, is a bit of an enigma in the world of Dune: Prophecy: He hails from Arrakis, where he claims his crew was attacked by the Emperor’s enemies in an attempt to damage his status. He’s invited to stay, even though the Emperor’s soothsayer knows he’s lying—she sees him in the spice-filled deserts of Arrakis staring down a giant sandworm, though we don’t know much more about her vision. He wanders around the palace and ultimately burns a child using only his mind. In our world, such pyrokinesis is not a known element of Dune’s mythos, making Desmond a very curious specimen.

Like all things Prophecyit’s safe to say that his telekinetic powers are an extension of the book’s story, rather than something that actually exists in them. Which all sets up the biggest mysteries Prophecy after just one episode: Who is he, how did he get these powers, and how will his life find its place in the annals of history? With Dune coming 10,000 years after the events here, what could Desmond be here to introduce to the franchise’s on-screen history?

This early, there are a few different ways we could take it – so here are some of our best guesses as to what Desmond might be here to do (and ultimately what it might mean he’s capable of ).

He is the start of Sardaukar

A desert-trained warrior who was not born into court life, but whose experience and skill merits the respect of those of higher rank, with a normal human personal name? Maybe a little also normal?

That’s your Duncan Idaho type, my friend. A character who began life as House Atreides’ swordsman eventually became something of a mascot for a wider Dune canon. No matter how many times Idaho dies, Brian Herbert keeps finding ways to bring him back and put him back at the center of galactic concerns (usually via cloning).

Which is just to say: if you’re doing a Dune story, you have to have a Duncan Idaho. But what is Desmond Hart actually doing in this story? I have no idea, but if I had to take a rip off 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 in Dune’s surroundings that are still unformed in its time period. And since the show really leans into the opposite of expectations — rooted in the Harkonnens, making the Atreides a little shifty — what if Duncan Idaho befriends the Fremen instead, Desmond Hart ends up being a central figure in the creation of the emperor’s infamous Sardaukar army ? —Susan Polo

He’s Kwisatz Haderach (sorta)

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’ll throw out a wild card thought about Desmond: Maybe he’s the proto-Kwisatz Haderach.

Not that he is the real thing, or even what the Bene Gesserit would eventually evolve the concept into, but rather that he is the first inkling the sisterhood has that a man can gain magical powers from strange interactions with Shai-Hulud.

Maybe whatever happens in Dune: Prophecy will lead the Bene Gesserit to decide that pursuing their own Desmond Hart, one who has been perfectly and selectively bred so they could have maximum control over him, might be a mission worth pursuing. On top of that, the idea of ​​Desmond as a powerful supernatural force might help inspire the Sisterhood to create Missionaria Protectivatoo, giving them the idea to plant the seeds of supernatural belief throughout the universe, including on Arrakis itself. — Austen Goslin

Look, my equation is simple. Desmond Hart spent some crucial time on Arrakis. Arrakis, famously, is full of desert. Deserts are famously hot. And so is the cursed fire magic Desmond used on the poor kid. Desert is hot + fire is hot = Desmond uses desert power. It’s just simple math. —Pete Volk