Dune: Prophecy Just Introduced a Major Element of Dune 3

Face Dancers are a creation of another group mentioned in Dune: Prophecy, the Bene Tleilax, the patriarchal society that practices genetic engineering. Those practices led to the creation of Face Dancers, asexual and servile shapeshifters who perform a variety of functions within the Imperium. Often, the Face Dancers provide forms of entertainment for citizens in the Imperium, but they can also serve as spies and assassins.

In fact, that’s how Face Dancers are introduced in Dune Messiah. Picking up 12 years after the end of Dune, Messiah deals with a conspiracy targeting Emperor Paul Atreides, whose Fremen Jihad has intensified his enemies’ anger against him. That conspiracy includes expected members, including Irulan, Paul’s legal wife and daughter of the previous emperor, and Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, as well as Scytale the Face Dancer.

As has been commented many times since its initial appearance in Galaxy Magazine in 1969, Dune Messiah is a much knottier book than Dune. Not only did Herbert make Paul a much more unlikable character in Messiah, part of his goal to underscore a mistrust of charismatic leaders, but much of the action happens off the page, with more of the book’s attention devoted to palace intrigue and secret plots, not unlike Dune: Prophecy.

However, Scytale brings some dynamism to the storyline. The book opens with Scytale assassinating a Fremen leader and then sneaking into Paul’s court in the guise of a trusted figure. It’s no wonder that David Lynch counted Scytale as one of the elements that most intrigued him about adapting Dune Messiah for Dune II. In fact, he already began seeding that part in his take on Dune, as the next movie would have revealed that Baron Harkonnen’s doctor (played by Leonardo Cimino) was Scytale in disguise.

Given that it takes place 10,000 years before Dune Messiah, it’s hard to draw too many connections between the book and Dune: Prophecy. However, the appearance of a Face Dancer among the acolytes does shore up one of the show’s major theories. Like the Bene Gesserit, the Bene Tleilax haven’t reached their full power yet, and thus they do not quite have the same rivalry with the Sisters as they’ll develop. However, they do have their own goals, and aren’t above giving their creations as gifts to enemies to strengthen their positions.

In fact, that’s probably what’s happening with Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), who may be twice born because he’s a ghola created by the Bene Tleilax. He could be working for Emperor Javicco (Mark Strong) as part of a Tleilaxu plot to gain power, something the Emperor’s too dense to realize.