Explaining the role of Dhafeer Hawat in cutting sand dunes

Frank Herbert’s original “Dune” story is very dense. Although it had a relatively simple coming-of-age and rise to power plot, involving Paul Atreides becoming a leader and revolutionary, it is in the social and political context of the vast world-building that surrounds that story that Dune’s brilliance is most apparent. Found.

What makes the story and world of “Dune” special are the small details, like how the Emperor of the Known Universe has very little real power and is only in charge because of his nearly invincible army (or how the simple ecology introduced slowly became the animals of the desert and the greenery for Arrakis Such a cult figure that he facilitated Paul’s rise as leader of the Fremen.) All of this makes Dune a truly poignant and beloved sci-fi classic.

This meant that there was no way for any adaptation of the books to fully include everything Herbert covered — except perhaps for the 2000 “Dune” TV miniseries. So, when it came time for Denis Villeneuve to revive “Dune,” he made some drastic changes. Some of these were great (Like changing the scene of the child baron being killed), others were highly doubtful. Case in point, Villeneuve cut one of the most colorful characters from the “Dune: Part Two” books after having him barely do anything in “Part One.” And I mean, of course, the hawks.

Do you remember Dhafeer for sure? Played by Stephen McKinley Henderson, Dhafeer Hawat is a man with a mark on his lower lip, his eyes turn upward and turn completely white, and That cute little umbrella. In the first film, he seemed like just another trusted advisor to Duke Leto Atreides and one of Paul’s friends, but nothing out of the ordinary.

However, this is only a small part of Dhafir’s role in the book “Dune”. Know first that Al-Dhafeer is a mentation, and it is something that happened after him The Butlerian jihad that destroyed all thinking machines. The Mentats – like the Bene Gesserit – serve as denizens of great houses, but rather than providing councils or practicing magic, they serve as accountants, strategists, and essentially living computers.

Dhafir Hawat is already revered as one of the best minds in the universe; He is a Mentat praised for his abilities as an advisor, warrior, and strategist. But his role in the Dune story needs some context missing from the films, and he remains somewhat of a mystery in the original book.

You see, in the Dune movies, the reason the Atreides were sent to Arrakis seems to be because Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV feared that Duke Leto Atreides would rival him politically. In fact, that’s only part of it. Specifically, the Emperor fears that Leto’s sheer charisma will inspire his already highly skilled soldiers to such loyalty that he is the only one who can challenge him. His true source of power in the Dune universe: Sardaukar.

Zafeer’s real skill is that he is the only person who discovered Sardukar’s secret. He decided that their supreme combat skills, which make the entire universe fear the Emperor, come from the extremely harsh conditions of the Emperor’s prison planet Salusa Secundus. Not only that, but Zafir also deduced that there was only one other world with harsher conditions, and thus might have more formidable warriors: Arrakis.

Knowing full well that sending the Emperor of the Clan Atreides to Arrakis was a trap meant to kill them all, Thvir’s plan was to use Duke Leto’s charisma to make the Fremen as loyal to him as his armies. Unfortunately, they are too late, and before they can even discover who the true leader of the Fremen is, Duke Leto is assassinated.

After the fall of the Atreides, Thufir was captured by the Harkonnens. Determined to take revenge on the house that killed Leto, and knowing full well that the Emperor orchestrated all of this after seeing the Atreides as a threat to Sardaukar, Thvir moved to propose his same plot to Baron Harkonnen. He lured the Baron to focus on Arrakis and suggested that he make alliances with the Fremen in order to challenge Sardokar, selling it as the only way to protect the Harkonnen from a fate like the Atreides – but he knew full well that this would turn things around. The Emperor against the Baron and his forces.

Along the way, he also secretly pits the Baron and his nephew Feyd-Rautha against each other, fueling Feyd-Rautha’s ambitions and ruthlessness to undermine his uncle. Unfortunately, when he suggested to Baron Harkonnen that they needed the Fremen, Dhafir began working against the new Fremen leader Moaz Dib. By the time he realized he was working against his beloved duke’s son, Hawat committed suicide with a poisoned needle that had been intended for Paul.

According to Villeneuve, Cutting Dafir from Dune: Part II was one of the most painful choices he had to makebut he decided to do it because of his specific work on the movie “Dune.” You see, Villeneuve wanted to focus his adaptation on the Bene Gesserit, which means (in his own words) “that the Mentats aren’t as present as they should be, but that’s the nature of an adaptation.”

By cutting out Thufir, Villeneuve’s “Dune” films effectively erase the Mentats from their view of Herbert’s world. Dropping or changing certain characters is understandable, but removing the Mentats entirely in favor of a story centered around the Bene Gesserit is erasing a large part of what makes the fall of House Atraides such a tragedy. Dhafir’s plan would have worked. Leto was already on his way to securing alliances with the Fremen, and could have challenged the Emperor. They could have lived if they had had more time.

Not only that, but by erasing the Mentats, Villeneuve’s “Dune” world became less ambiguous and lived-in. The Mentats are not just a rival order to the Bene Gesserit, they are also part of the brilliance of Herbert’s science fiction world – a world in which “thinking machines” have been replaced by humans. Now, the prequel series “Dune: Prophecy” continues to ignore the presence of Mentats as well, even in the background, which is a huge shame. However, with a 10,000-year-old story to cover, We can only hope that the “prophecy” will correct its mistake in the future.