The Dune: Prophecy finale teases who’s responsible for Desmond Hart’s powers, and I have a theory: the Ixians are the show’s big bads.
Until Episode 5, Desmond Hart was Dune: Prophecy’s biggest mystery. However, the finale clears up a few things: he’s definitely Tula and Orry Atreides’ son, she sent him away so he wasn’t raised under Valya’s tyranny in the Sisterhood, and he did survive a Shai-Halud attack.
However, one big question remains: who gave him his powers, specifically his ability to trigger a deadly fear response in dormant cells using nanotech embedded into one of his eyes?
In Valya’s vision, we see a silhouette watching Desmond as a thinking machine augments his eyeball, but they remain in the shadows. There are a few possibilities (the Bene Tleilax, or an operative of the New Synchronized Empire perhaps), but one stands out: the Ixians.
Who are the Ixians?
The Ixians are a powerful technological culture in the world of Dune. Unlike other houses (but similar to Richese), they weren’t greatly impacted by the Butlerian Jihad (the “Great Machine War,” as the show calls it), so they’re considered to have a superior grasp of thinking machines.
Their innovation is extraordinary; for example, they invented the no-ship, a massive starship invisible to presence (in other words, they can’t be detected by the Bene Gesserit or others with prescient abilities), and another ship that avoided the need for a Guild Navigator to fold space to travel across the universe.
Crucially, though, some of their advances test the limits of anti-tech legislation in the wake of the machine wars… which may hint at their involvement in Dune: Prophecy.
Why the Ixians could be Dune: Prophecy’s true villain
Firstly, the Ixians are known to be a dab-hand at nanotechnology, which is exactly what’s used to augment Desmond’s right eye – there’s the first clue.
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Secondly, as noted above, the Ixians may be opposed to the Imperium’s anti-thinking machine laws after the Butlerian Jihad; we saw how much outrage Pruwet Richese’s toy caused, so imagine the restrictions that have been placed on technology that could actually help people.
Thirdly, the Ixians have been mentioned in a key scene. In Episode 4, Mikaela reveals that it was an Ixian who sold them “the autonomous drone modified with a thermal bomb” – in other words, it was a thinking machine, and an Ixian sold them a weapon knowing it would be used against the Emperor.
Fourthly, there’s a line in Chapterhouse: Dune that suggests the Ixians are responsible for Desmond’s powers. In the book, it’s said that Leto never rejected the Ixians because “he was fascinated by the idea of human and machine inextricably bound to each other, each testing the limits of the other.”
Fifthly, and perhaps most importantly, there’s an interesting line in God Emperor of Dune. As Leto II lies on his deathbed, he says: “Do not fear the lxians… they can make the machines, but they no longer can make arafel. I know. I was there.”
That should sound familiar, because the Sisterhood refers to the reckoning as “Tiran-Arafel”, and the fact that Leto II says the Ixians are “no longer” capable of it suggests they did it before.
We won’t get any answers until Dune: Prophecy Season 2. Until then, find out what’s happening with Dune 3 and check out the best movies of 2024.
