Dune Part II Review
There are times when foretold figures come to life, and it seems like they are Kwisatz Haderach. Paul found himself in a position where he was amending the prophecy in Arakis. Sandworms lurk beneath the shifting sands and the water flowing beneath the ocean just above the abyss. The push and flow. The never-ending cycle of things. Dune Part II has shown me the power of internalizing the identity being declared to us. It would be a question of possibility if the prophecies were not told to the frames or Paul himself.
Ironically, that is not the case for Paul. A greater Kwisatz Haderach is probably to be seen in part III. So, what are we left with? Is it safe to amend to shoulds when they align with our long-term vision? Or if they promise our desires but not us in the end? Those questions have been my fundamental lessons from part II. Can we be our authentic selves if others show that? Besides, this question is a matter of authenticity.
Kwisatz Haderach, long may it reign over the title bearers. The power to choose and the choice of the power. The fundamental cycle of beings. And Dune Part II, yet again, recursively shows its main message. A messiah for the believers and an emperor to its citizens. Do we choose, or are we chosen? Do we rule, or is the power to rule granted to us? In the social world, for every taker, there has to be a part-taker—the inseparable nature of human order, both outside and inside, and the eternal conflict between them. The conflict itself is conflicted with not being a conflict. And what are we left with? A direction of foreseen events or a back-fitted estimation of our current beliefs?
During my acquaintance with him, I did not see Paul sincerely wanting to be Kwisatz Haderach. But, the circumstances forced him to be so. I also did not see him meeting with his Chani. The sifting sands departed us at that point. But the next time, in the Dune, where the grasses grow once more in the cycle of the Arakis, we shall start the next cycle.
Besides teaching me the fluid state of things, Dune Part II also taught me that power is a mean rather than an end (though it becomes a literal end for those who see it as an end). When the power is only used to preserve itself, it becomes anti-power. And the purpose becomes the new power, dominating the will to preserve and, yet again, transforming it into the will to change. Dune, Fremens, and Haderach themselves, with by both example and direction, showed me that the only actual and remaining is the change itself. A change that is the ultimate and the most natural reflex to the surroundings; however are they far in the space-time horizon.
…I do not fear. So, only I remain.
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