Mumpy Puffinz posted:

i'm beginning to think these women are witches.

Randarkman posted:

I liked how Baron Harkonnen looked in the new one, especially how they made it look while he's floating in his long flowing robes, but unfortunately he had very little screentime and wasn't really established IMO, that goes double for Rabban and Piter was really just a face in a crowd who showed up in some scenes and then died (anyone unfamiliar with the book probably wouldn't have realized he was a character), and the Harkonnens basically just felt like orcs.

Mister Speaker posted:

Remind me again why RM Gaius Helen Mohiam keeps saying stuff like "[the test is] to see if you're truly human," "this one only kills animals," etc.? I was sort of under the impression that somehow they had doubts that Paul wasn't some sort of Ixian machine or something? That part of the test always confused me.

Wingnut Ninja posted:

They're not concerned that he's not literally a human being, they're testing if he has enough self-control over his "animal" instincts to continue being useful to the BG.

Randarkman posted:

On the topic of Bene Gesserit witches and how they must leave, I looked up the scene again. What do you guys think the guildsmen in the background are doing with those pipes/devices in their mouth? Basically all of the unmasked dudes have those. It's kind of weird, but hey why not, the front guy somehow doesn't speak like a human and needs a translation staff, so maybe all of them just have these little pipes with spice in them or something, just what the guildsmen do you know.



Also as mentioned earlier, I really do love the vacuum cleaners attached to the navigator tank that they use to clean up (a little bit of) the mess they made.

Wingnut Ninja posted:

They're not concerned that he's not literally a human being, they're testing if he has enough self-control over his "animal" instincts to continue being useful to the BG.

Randarkman posted:

It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure the book at no point implies that the gom jabbar + pain box is what has killed every man before Paul. Gom jabbar + pain box is just a BG ritual.

kiraeh posted:

Nah it's the spice agony that's killed everyone before Paul. The gom jabbar is just a preliminary test, one that - Jessica passed in training at a time when she wasn't on the Reverend Mother track at all.
The gom jabbar is basically an extreme marshmallow test. I don't think it's said anywhere, but it's probably a requirement for anyone serving the BG in a sensitive capacity.
Since it's something that even current humans could pass, it doesn't make sense as the main KH filter.

Edit: aha so late

kiimo posted:

I just re-read the first few chapters and it doesn't say this. They say they have tested far less men but the only thing she mentions about killing people is the truthsayer drug.

The Bloop posted:

A good comparison is to Plato's Republic. They are looking for gold, not bronze/iron.

Someone who has the uniquely human ability to have executive override on their impulses and appetites.

kiimo posted:

Right I read it as not accidentally giving Bene Gesserit abilities to someone like Beast Rabban.

Randarkman posted:

They must leave.

Randarkman posted:

On the topic of Bene Gesserit witches and how they must leave, I looked up the scene again. What do you guys think the guildsmen in the background are doing with those pipes/devices in their mouth? Basically all of the unmasked dudes have those. It's kind of weird, but hey why not, the front guy somehow doesn't speak like a human and needs a translation staff, so maybe all of them just have these little pipes with spice in them or something, just what the guildsmen do you know.

Randarkman posted:

What do you guys think the guildsmen in the background are doing with those pipes/devices in their mouth?

Wingnut Ninja posted:

It was cut from the final film, but the Spacer's Guild Kazoo Choir gives a stunning performance of the Imperial Anthem during their arrival ceremony.

Fuschia tude posted:

skasion posted:

Yeah this is pretty much the point. It’s implicit that they mostly use the box on BG acolytes to see if they’re ready to graduate from serving wench to serving savant witch

Spazzle posted:

Clarence Boddicker rolls into the imperial throne room and proclaims "Witches leave"

Mumpy Puffinz posted:

I'm not even sure I got that joke

Fuschia tude posted:

I assumed spice. Especially the dude with his skull cracked open and a tube running straight into it leaking orange.

Wingnut Ninja posted:

It was cut from the final film, but the Spacer's Guild Kazoo Choir gives a stunning performance of the Imperial Anthem during their arrival ceremony.

Spazzle posted:

Clarence Boddicker rolls into the imperial throne room and proclaims "Witches leave"

Tree Bucket posted:

The... what...

BeanpolePeckerwood posted:

you are 28 months too late for this joke

priznat posted:

~extremely Kurtwood Smith voice~ Witches Leave!

Mister Speaker posted:

Remind me again why RM Gaius Helen Mohiam keeps saying stuff like "[the test is] to see if you're truly human," "this one only kills animals," etc.? I was sort of under the impression that somehow they had doubts that Paul wasn't some sort of Ixian machine or something? That part of the test always confused me.

Mister Speaker posted:

Remind me again why RM Gaius Helen Mohiam keeps saying stuff like "[the test is] to see if you're truly human," "this one only kills animals," etc.? I was sort of under the impression that somehow they had doubts that Paul wasn't some sort of Ixian machine or something? That part of the test always confused me.

Ulf posted:

Nobody has said the real reason yet which is that the BG are eugenicists to a level that would make the Nazis blush. This is another case where Frank is setting them up as protagonists but not heroes.

The Bloop posted:

This is true but the problem with that reading is that it in the world of Dune it actually creates ubermensch

The biological science in dune is pretty fanciful but I don't think Frank was using the secret breeding program to say anything about Nazis in particular

sean10mm posted:

Yeah it's more of a "careful what you wish for" thing, it imagines ubermensch could be created... and concludes it would be an absolute horrorshow for humanity at large as well as the ubermensch themselves.

Dune is full of people getting what they wanted only for it to turn out horribly for them. Especially the first 3 books, holy poo poo.

Then arguably Leto II wins in the end by losing on purpose.

Imagined posted:

https://youtu.be/o97uNzbBfis

Ulf posted:

Nobody has said the real reason yet which is that the BG are eugenicists to a level that would make the Nazis blush. This is another case where Frank is setting them up as protagonists but not heroes.