Is He Not the Kwisatch Haderach?
Ok, quick diversion into science fiction.
I just re-read Dune. Near the end, much is made of Feyd-Rautha's plan to poison Paul in combat.
But is he not the Kwisatch Haderach? Can he not control every molecule in his body? Did he not convert the Water of Life?
I don't think this is really a threat to Paul. If Feyd-Rautha scratched him with it, wouldn't he just reassemble the poison into Dr. Pepper and pop back up refreshed, yelling "Die Harkonnen Scum!" as he buried his crysknife in Feyd's smirking gut?
Discuss.
Comments
Feyd's use of poison is yet another example of the evil of the current structure, providing justification for Paul's upcoming jihad.
I also think that in Dune, Herbert did not envision Paul's power to be so powerful as to defeat a poison in the middle of combat. IIRC, his transformation of the water of life took days.
If he was poisoned in the fight, it would give him some pause and allow Feyd to cut his head off or something. Feyd & Paul were fairly evenly matched in pure melee skill, but even a non-fatal poisoning would give Feyd a huge advantage.
In later novels, the power of Paul/Bene/Honored are beefed up to comic book levels though.
Posted by: Michael | April 10, 2005 9:05 AM
Yes, it did take him days - weeks? - to convert the Water of Life.
But remember - he detected and countered the soporific on Feyd's blade during combat. And he added an acid to his own blade.
I suppose poison might have allowed Feyd to get in a killing blow while Paul did his Magic Chemistry though.
Posted by: Brad | April 10, 2005 1:30 PM